It wasn't even a year ago that a 6-8 Raiders team, already suffering big losses to the Chiefs, went to Arrowhead and beat a 9-5 Chiefs team. So if anyone should know what's going to happen this Sunday in Kansas City, it's the Chiefs.
“Records are disappearing, just like last year when we played them on Christmas Day,” Pierce said. “So you understand that, we understand that. You're going to be excited, just like we're going to be excited about this game.” There were only two teams playing that day, right? It's a great opportunity for us to show what has been improved about the Raiders, right? What is different, what will change, and of course we have the chance to do that at two o'clock.
“The rivalry is what it is. I think if you look at the last few games we played them close. It was back and forth and it was physical and they're going to come after us. We know them, they know us and there is a lot of nonsense being said. And they don’t like the colors silver and black, and we don’t like red. So it should be fun.”
Antonio Pierce served as interim coach in Las Vegas for seven weeks when he led a revitalized Raiders team to Arrowhead and shocked the world with a 20-14 victory.
What no one knew back then was that the Chiefs would then win the Super Bowl and only lose again after ten games in the 2024 season. They are now 10-1 and look like they could be headed for another championship. But that's for later. You have to get through Black Friday first.
“Let’s call it what it is,” Pierce said of the duel. “The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, shall we? Let's go out and make it a dog fight. Let's make it ugly. Let's make it rough. It's Black Friday. Let's create a little chaos. Let's get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it go.”
The Chiefs may have the best record this season, but they haven't upset teams. Only two of their ten wins were by a margin of more than one point. And one of those one-score wins was the 27:20 game against the Raiders. So they are not unbeatable. I even thought it took the second best team in the league to hand them their only loss.
Playing against a 2-9 Raiders team that is currently on a seven-game losing streak would be commonly referred to as a “trap game.” However, this is usually the case when a team misses an opponent. And it's hard to imagine the Chiefs would do that in this case.
