LAS VEGAS — Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes and returned to his usual form after a surprisingly shaky stretch this season, and the Kansas City Chiefs moved into first place in the AFC West with a 41-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night.
Mahomes and the Chiefs (6-4) showed little resemblance to the team that overpowered the AFC the past three seasons over the first nine weeks, raising questions about whether they could make it back to a third straight Super Bowl.
But they used a dominant performance over the Raiders (5-4) on a day everyone else in the division lost to return to the top of the standings.
Mahomes completed three short TD passes before flashing his playmaking brilliance early in the fourth quarter after Kansas City converted a fake punt on a 16-yard pass from Tommy Townsend to Marcus Kemp.
Two plays later, Mahomes scrambled away from pressure and just before crossing the line of scrimmage lofted a deep pass across his body that Darrel Williams caught for a 38-yard TD that made it 34-14.
Mahomes added a 22-yarder to Byron Pringle and finished 35 for 50 for 406 yards. He also connected on an 8-yarder to Tyreek Hill in the first quarter and then 1-yarders to Hill and rookie tight end Noah Gray.
The Raiders have dropped back-to-back games after a promising start to the season as poor execution and off-field issues have done them in.
They won two straight games after coach Jon Gruden resigned following the publication of his old offensive emails but haven’t looked the same the past two weeks. Both losses followed the release of Henry Ruggs III, who was charged with felonies in a DUI crash that killed a 23-year-old woman.
Las Vegas has turned the ball over five times the past two weeks, matching the total from the first seven games, and the improved defense was unable to slow down Mahomes.
Derek Carr threw two TD passes but also had his third interception in the past two weeks and the Raiders were held to 82 yards in the first half, their fewest in a home game in eight years.
ROUGH DEBUT
The Raiders brought in speedy receiver DeSean Jackson this week to fill the void left by Ruggs’ release. Jackson had an inauspicious welcome to Las Vegas. On his first target of the game in the third quarter, Jackson caught a 40-yard pass from Carr. But Rashad Fenton knocked the ball out and Tyrann Mathieu recovered.
Instead of the Raiders having a chance to cut into a 10-point deficit, the Chiefs drove for a field goal to make it 27-14.
PUNTERS ARE PEOPLE
Punter AJ Cole delivered one of the plays of the first half for the Raiders when he forced a fumble by returner Mike Hughes that Foster Moreau recovered at midfield.
That set up Las Vegas’ only scoring drive of the first half when Carr connected on a 6-yarder to Hunter Renfrow.
INJURED
Chiefs: CB Charvarius Ward left the game with an illness.
Raiders: FB Alec Ingold left the game in the first half with a serious knee injury and didn’t return. … RB Jalen Richard (ribs) left in the second half.
UP NEXT
Chiefs: Host Dallas on Sunday.
Raiders: Host Cincinnati on Sunday.
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