Hostilities will be renewed between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8 as Patrick Mahomes and his team look to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
With the Chiefs sitting nicely at 6-0, what is perhaps a little frightening is that Andy Reid's team has yet to fully click on all cylinders.
The Raiders are the only team to beat the Chiefs in their last 12 games, dating back to Week 16 of 2023, and Mahomes has revealed that the 20-14 loss at Arrowhead Stadium was the catalyst for Kansas City's undefeated run, which is still going full throttle heading into Week 8.
“I think it was just a wakeup call for us to know that we're not going to be able to just come to the game and win,” Mahomes said. “We kind of battled through the year, and it was like everybody was just building for the playoffs. We weren't even worried about the regular season.
"I think you've seen that mentality since then, guys are taking every single practice and getting the best out of it, so that every single week we can play our best football. I think that's translated into this season, so we're continuing to get better as the season goes on, and that's how you have to play in the NFL, and it's still early, but I feel like we've had a great start to it.”
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) embraces Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams (17).
Denny Medley-Imagn Images
With the Chiefs rattling off 12 straight wins since the loss to the Raiders, it appears that Mahomes is right and that defeat stung the champions into action.
Now, with last season's loss burning in the mind, the Chiefs will want retribution against their division rival. Plus, the Raiders will want to be the team that ends the Chiefs' undefeated start, so there will be plenty of storylines to follow.
With Mahomes having a 10-2 record all-time against the Raiders, he will want that impressive run to continue, and using last season's loss as fuel to add to the fire will hopefully push the Chiefs' undefeated streak to 13 games.
