Raiders can’t right wrongs, lose 27-20 to Chiefs

Things are beginning to go from bad to worse in Las Vegas.

The losing slide slipped to four straight losses after a, 27-20, loss for the Raiders to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Oct. 27 from Allegiant Stadium. Back-to-back champs haven’t lost a game since losing to Las Vegas at home on Christmas Day of last season.

Since then the franchise has captured its second straight Super Bowl and started this season 7-0.

“Obviously, [you’re] always just a play or two away,” quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “We have some more we can learn from and take but I also think we have more to build on from this week.”

The Raiders have now lost to every opponent in the division as part of an 0-3 start in the AFC West. Overall, the team is 2-6 on the year with a 1-3 mark at home.

A road trip to Cincinnati looms with that game scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 3. Kickoff is slated for 10 a.m. from Paycor Stadium. That will be the team’s final game played before heading into its bye week.

“I think we’ll have to look at it,” Minshew said. “Figure out what we’ve done well over the last little bit and figure out what’s not working and go from there.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was perfect on his second drive of the day and it ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce on National Tight End Day. It marked the first passing touchdown in the month of October for Mahomes after entering the season with 54 in his career.

“We have to get off the field,” Pierce said. “They did a good job on third down. Patrick was really good on third down, did a really good job there.”

Mahomes was keen on third downs when it mattered most. His team converted 12 of its 16 attempts on third down.

That allowed for Kansas City to keep drives alive while creating opportunities behind the long, sustaining possessions. Five drives consisted of at least eight plays with a high of 19 plays coming in the fourth quarter. With that, the Chiefs had drives of more than eight minutes and another that lasted just under 10 minutes.

“You can’t make mistakes,” Pierce said. “You can’t kill yourselves, right? If you have great opportunities like we did twice in the third quarter to get points on the board, we have to do that.”

Las Vegas went 2-for-3 in the red zone but just couldn’t come away with enough points along the way. The team produced a touchdown and field goal but would be turned away on downs in its final red zone appearance.

The Raiders started the drive that ended on downs from the opponent’s three yard line following an interception from safety Tre’Von Moehrig. Momentum would be killed after four straight stops by the Chiefs’ defense near the goal line.

A touchdown plus the extra point would’ve given the home team a three-point lead while a field goal would’ve shaved the deficit down to a point.

“You’ve got to punch it in,” Pierce said. “Last week we had the same opportunity and we threw it four straight times. [We were] trying to get it, we just got knocked back. They won the line of scrimmage on those plays.”

Despite the finish, it was a strong start from Minshew in the absence of second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who recently had surgery to repair a damaged right thumb. O’Connell suffered the injury in the first quarter of last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams inside SoFi Stadium.

Minshew led a touchdown drive on the team’s opening possession of the game. He now has 15 first quarter touchdowns versus just two interceptions in his career.

“Just getting back to kind of focusing every play,” he said. “Focusing on your drive and that’s really it. Just showing up each play with a blank slate and giving it your full focus and effort.”

Minshew went 24-for-30 with 209 passing yards with two touchdowns. His lone turnover of the game came in the fourth quarter on a fumble with his team down, 20-13.

”He got off to a hot start,” Pierce said. “I thought he made some good throws, good time — had a little rhythm. Hell of a job even on that reverse, I thought I saw him throw a block out there [for] the wide receiver.”

Rather banged up team did get Jakobi Meyers back after missing the last two games with an ankle injury. He hauled in the Raiders’ first touchdown in the loss on his way to 52 yards on six receptions.