It wasn’t a year ago a 6-8 Raiders team that had already lost big time to the Chiefs went into Arrowhead and beat a 9-5 Chiefs team. So, if anyone should know not to anticipate what is going to happen this Sunday in Kansas City, it’s the Chiefs.
“Records go out the window, just like they did last year when we played them on Christmas Day,” said Pierce. “So they understand that, we understand that. They’ll be excited, just like we will be excited for this game. Only two teams playing that day, right? It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase what’s improved about the Raiders, right? What’s different, what’s going to change, and obviously we got a chance to do that at two o’clock.
“The rivalry is what it is. I think if you look at the last couple games, we’ve played them close. It’s been back and forth, and it’s been physical, and they’re going to come after us. We know them, they know us, and there’s a lot of trash talking. And they don’t like the color of Silver and Black, and we don’t like red. So, it should be fun.”
Antonio Pierce had been on the job as interim head coach in Las Vegas for seven weeks when he took a revitalized Raiders team into Arrowhead and shocked the world by leaving with a 20-14 win.
What no one knew at the time was that the Chiefs would then go on to win the Super Bowl and not lose again until ten games into the 2024 season. They now sit at 10-1 looking like they could be headed for another championship. But that’s for later. They have to get through Black Friday first.
“Llet’s call a spade a spade,” Pierce said of the matchup. “The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, right? Let’s go out there and make it a dog fight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy. 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 loose.”
This season, the Chiefs may have the best record, but they haven’t been blowing teams out. Only two of their ten wins have been by more than one score. And one of those one-score wins was their 27-20 game against the Raiders. So, they’re not unbeatable. Even thought it took the second best team in the league to hand them their lone defeat.
Facing a 2-9 Raiders team currently on a seven-game losing streak would be what they commonly refer to as a trap game. Although, that’s usually when a team overlooks an opponent. And it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs doing that for this one.
