Chiefs @ Raiders · Week 12

WEEK 12 · FINAL

THE READ

Chiefs win the turnover battle and the game

Patrick Mahomes completed 19 of 31 passes for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns to 1 interception, while Xavier Worthy hauled in 8 catches for 139 yards and 2 scores as Kansas City won 35-28, a game decided by turnover margin—the Chiefs gave it away once, the Raiders 4 times. Las Vegas dominated on the ground with 163 rushing yards to KC's 71 and outgained the Chiefs 424 to 335 overall, yet Fernando Mendoza's 2 interceptions and the Raiders' 4 giveaways proved catastrophic; the turnover differential alone, which predicts teams will win or lose based on takeaways and giveaways, separated an 8-3 team playing at a 73.2% expected win rate from a 6-5 team at 48.6%. The Raiders showed a better adjusted scoring margin (8.7 points per game versus 1.2) and played a weaker schedule, but carelessness with the football cost them this one.

Charlie Kirkster Analyst

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Chiefs	+2.1	+1.7	+0.4	+10
Raiders	+13.3	-0.7	+14.0	+21

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Raiders — AFC #3 · division · 11-3 Chiefs — in the hunt · 8-6 Playoff picture →

In the MVP race

#7 Mike Washington Jr. HB · Raiders · 0.5% of the field

The whole board →

IN THE BOOTH

Kayla James The showman

Las Vegas brought everything today—Jeanty was unstoppable, Thornton Jr. found another gear—and still couldn't hold on, because 4 turnovers is the kind of gift you don't get to return, not against Kansas City.

Luca Santana Analyst · replying

Kansas City won this with a arm tied behind its back—71 rushing yards, 335 total, a quarterback who completed 61% of his passes—because Las Vegas handed them the game 4 times over and the Chiefs only needed to not lose it.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Patrick Mahomes

Chiefs

19/31, 264 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT

Fernando Mendoza

Raiders

29/49, 261 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Xavier Worthy

Chiefs

8 catches, 139 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Ashton Jeanty has not had a better afternoon this season.

📈 Dont'e Thornton Jr is in form: 78 receiving yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 46.

WHAT DECIDED IT

On the ground Raiders 163, Chiefs 71 Raiders

Total yards Raiders 424, Chiefs 335 Raiders

Through the air Chiefs 264, Raiders 261 Chiefs

Giveaways Raiders 4, Chiefs 1 Chiefs

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 12 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 68% · Rush 32% · 30.9 scored, 30.6 allowed

8.6 yds/att 59.9% completions 5.1 yds/carry 409.1 yds/game 1.9 giveaways/game 7.0% sack rate last 5: 4-1

Primary weapon: Xavier Worthy WR — 33% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Aggressive Balance 82 Ball security 46 Back usage 26% QB runs 3.6/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 96 WR 90 TE 77 RB 88 OL 85 DL 86 LB 85 DB 84

Best: Kenneth Walker HB 97 Fastest: Xavier Worthy WR 99 SPD 7 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

will2nice400

Chiefs · his last 8 games

Throws it

Pass / run62% / 38% Points for / against30.9 — 24.0 Margin+6.9 Giveaways a game0.9 Sacks taken7.9% of dropbacks Lead backKenneth Walker · 13.5/g Top targetXavier Worthy · 27% QB carries2.9 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Chiefs receivers vs Raiders secondary 90 v 85 CHIEFS

Raiders receivers vs Chiefs secondary 84 v 84 EVEN

Chiefs line vs Raiders front 85 v 86 EVEN

Raiders line vs Chiefs front 86 v 86 EVEN

Chiefs backs vs Raiders run defence 88 v 84 CHIEFS

Raiders backs vs Chiefs run defence 92 v 86 RAIDERS

Chiefs passer vs Raiders secondary 96 v 85 CHIEFS

Raiders passer vs Chiefs secondary 97 v 84 RAIDERS

TOP PERFORMERS

Patrick Mahomes QB Chiefs 264 pass yds

Fernando Mendoza QB Raiders 261 pass yds

Xavier Worthy WR Chiefs 139 rec yds

T.J. Moore WR Chiefs 77 rec yds

Ashton Jeanty HB Raiders 76 rush yds

Dont'e Thornton Jr WR Raiders 70 rec yds

Mike Washington Jr. HB Raiders 62 rush yds

Tre Tucker WR Raiders 54 rec yds

Kenneth Walker HB Chiefs 51 rush yds

Will Echoles DT Raiders 1.5 sacks

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

CHIEFS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Patrick Mahomes QB	19/31	264	3	1	2	60	107.4

RAIDERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Fernando Mendoza QB	29/49	261	2	2	4	22	70.1

CHIEFS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Kenneth Walker HB	11	51	4.6	2	3	22	11
Patrick Mahomes QB	4	23	5.8	0	0	0	9
T.J. Moore WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Xavier Worthy WR	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Brashard Smith HB	1	-3	-3	0	0	0	0

RAIDERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Ashton Jeanty HB	10	76	7.6	2	5	34	23	0
Mike Washington Jr. HB	15	62	4.1	0	1	9	16	1
Fernando Mendoza QB	5	25	5	0	1	3	8	0
T.J. Hockenson TE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

CHIEFS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Xavier Worthy WR	8	139	17.4	2	78	0	55
T.J. Moore WR	3	77	25.7	1	60	0	60
Jared Wiley TE	2	27	13.5	0	6	0	18
Noah Gray TE	4	18	4.5	0	4	1	8
Jeff Caldwell WR	1	5	5	0	2	0	5
Kenneth Walker HB	1	-2	-2	0	0	0	0

RAIDERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Dont'e Thornton Jr WR	4	70	17.5	0	15	0	22
Tre Tucker WR	4	54	13.5	0	13	0	21
Ryan Coleman-William WR	6	46	7.7	1	18	1	16
Brock Bowers TE	6	40	6.7	1	13	0	13
T.J. Hockenson TE	4	36	9	0	13	0	12
Sincere Brown WR	3	13	4.3	0	6	1	6
Mike Washington Jr. HB	2	2	1	0	6	0	4

CHIEFS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	FF	CMP ALW
Drue Tranquill WILL	12	0.5	1	1	0	4
Amare Ferrell FS	7	0.5	0	0	0	6
L'Jarius Sneed CB	6	0	0	1	0	6
Jelani McDonald SS	5	0	0	0	0	2
Evan Johnson CB	5	0	1	0	0	2
Nick Bolton MIKE	4	0	0	1	1	3
Mansoor Delane CB	3	0.5	0	1	0	1
Wesley Bissainthe MIKE	3	0	0	0	0	1
Peter Woods DT	3	0.5	0	0	0	0
Jeffrey Bassa WILL	2	0	0	0	1	1
Nohl Williams CB	1	0	0	0	0	1
Ashton Gillotte REDG	1	0.5	0	0	0	0
George Karlaftis LEDG	1	0	0	0	0	0
R Mason Thomas LEDG	1	1	0	0	0	0
Cole Brevard DT	0	0.5	0	0	0	0

RAIDERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	CMP ALW
Darien Porter CB	6	0	0	0	2
Tre Hawkins III SS	3	0	0	1	3
Jeremy Chinn SS	3	0	0	0	2
Maxx Crosby LEDG	3	0.5	0	2	2
Jermod McCoy FS	3	0	1	0	6
Eric Stokes CB	2	0	0	0	2
Brandon Jones FS	2	0	0	0	0
Will Echoles DT	2	1.5	0	0	0
Nakobe Dean MIKE	1	0	0	0	1
Quay Walker WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Moro Ojomo DT	1	0	0	0	0
Malcolm Rodriguez MIKE	1	0	0	0	0
Taron Johnson CB	1	0	0	0	0
Treydan Stukes CB	1	0	0	0	1

RECENT FORM

Chiefs

W 20–13 vs Ravens WK 10

L 30–34 vs Giants WK 9

W 26–20 vs Steelers WK 8

Raiders

W 20–10 vs Titans WK 11

W 35–34 vs Chargers WK 10

W 51–13 vs Broncos WK 8

TEAM STATS

Chiefs		Raiders
335	TOTAL YARDS	424
264	PASSING YARDS	261
71	RUSHING YARDS	163
2	SACKS ALLOWED	4
4	SACKS MADE	2
1	GIVEAWAYS	4
4	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 CHIEFS — 1 RAIDERS

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