Chiefs hammer Raiders in regular-season finale, claim No. 1 AFC seed, bye for playoffs

The Chiefs officially secured the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed in the postseason with Saturday’s 31-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

And it certainly looked like the Chiefs had fun doing it.

From a “Ring around the Rosie” formation to four different players scoring touchdowns and the defense tallying six sacks, the Chiefs made it look easy in taking down their AFC West divisional rival to earn the first-round bye.

“Listen, I think it’s a good thing,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I mean, you still got to take care of business; our guys understand that. We’ll give them a couple of, few days off there next week, and then back in towards the end of the week and get some practice in there.”

The Chiefs earned the time off with a stellar performance against the Raiders.

Kansas City jumped to a 24-3 halftime lead behind the strength of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ scoring pass to running back Jerick McKinnon and rushing touchdowns from running back Ronald Jones and wide receiver Kadarius Toney.

McKinnon closes out the regular season with a touchdown catch in six straight games, while Jones scored his first touchdown in a Chiefs uniform.

But of the Chiefs’ three first-half touchdowns, the one that didn’t count caused the most buzz.

After spinning out of the unorthodox huddle, McKinnon took the direct snap and pitched it to Mahomes, who then threw across the field behind the line of scrimmage to Toney, who juked his way to an apparent touchdown. A holding penalty on center Creed Humphrey, however, erased the score.

The Chiefs didn’t waste time getting Toney back in the end zone on the next play, which came on a run around the left side that gave the Chiefs a 21-3 lead. Kicker Harrison Butker added a 44-yard field goal to give Kansas City a 24-3 halftime lead.

Defensively, the Chiefs held the Raiders to 10 points below their 23.9 season average and 279 total yards.

Raiders quarterback Jarrett Stidham found the going tough against the Chiefs’ defense, which saw defensive tackle Chris Jones (2 1/2 sacks Saturday), defensive end Mike Danna, rookie defensive end George Karlaftis and safety Justin Reid all record sacks. In total, the Chiefs recorded six sacks, tying their season high in a single game this season.

“Mike Danna, he doesn’t get mentioned very often, with a couple of sacks in there along with Chris Jones and George, so our defensive front, it starts with them,” Reid said. “I thought they played well.”

Jones, who finished the regular season with 15.5 sacks to tie a career high, also had two quarterback hits, while safety Juan Thornhill recorded an interception. Linebacker Nick Bolton totaled a team-high 16 tackles.

The Chiefs also limited Raiders running back Josh Jacobs to 45 yards rushing on 17 carries, an average of 2.6 yards per carry.

“I thought our run defense and pass defense were tremendous,” Reid said.

The Chiefs set the tone of the game on their first possession when Mahomes found wide receiver Justin Watson for a 67-yard pass. Mahomes finished the drive with a 2-yard scoring pass to McKinnon.

Mahomes completed 18 of 26 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions for a 105.0 passer rating before giving way to Chad Henne late in the fourth quarter.

Las Vegas answered with a 10-play, 40-yard drive, which concluded when kicker Daniel Carlson drilled a 54-yard field goal. Jones’ third-down sack of Stidham had forced the Raiders to go for the three points.

The Chiefs punted on their next possession, and then the safeties came up big with back-to-back big plays. First, Reid sacked Stidham for an 8-yard loss, and then Thornhill picked off Stidham on the next play to give the Chiefs possession.

And the Chiefs capitalized on the Raiders’ miscue, and a short field, by going 44 yards in three plays for a touchdown. The drive featured a 28-yard catch from JuJu Smith-Schuster and ended with Ronald Jones’ 2-yard touchdown run.

The Chiefs’ final touchdown came on running back Isiah Pacheco’s 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Here’s what else stood out in Saturday’s win:

KARLAFTIS STAYS HOT

Karlaftis closed out his rookie campaign on a scorching hot streak.

One of the Chiefs’ two first-round picks in the most recent NFL Draft, Karlaftis split a sack with Jones in the first half. And late in the second quarter, Karlaftis recovered a loose ball on Danna’s sack of Stidham.

Karlaftis finished the game with three tackles, a half-sack and the fumble recovery. He has recorded a sack in six of the Chiefs’ last seven regular-season games and has recovered a fumble in two straight.

TONEY IS A WEAPON

For one reason or another, Toney didn’t work out in New York.

The Chiefs don’t mind, though.

Toney’s touchdown against the Raiders gives him three (two receiving, one rushing) for the Chiefs since being acquired in a midseason trade with the Giants — a span of seven games. The Chiefs take full advantage of Toney’s skill-set and use him in both their passing and rushing games, as well as a returner on special teams.

“We knew he was talented,” Mahomes said. “But for him to get accustomed to the offense this fast and to be able to be out there for multiple plays now, I mean, even if he’s not getting the football, he’s in the right spot, doing the right things getting himself open.”

Toney, who didn’t score in his 12 games with the Giants, finished with 26 yards rushing and a touchdown on three carries Saturday, adding two catches for 18 yards.

THOUGHTS WITH HAMLIN

The Chiefs and Raiders were the first teams to play an NFL game since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 17.

Hamlin is on the road to recovery, posting on Instagram and having a video call-in with his teammates. And his well-being remained on the minds of the players as the first teams back in action after Hamlin’s scary situation.

“It helped out that he was able to make that video,” Mahomes said. “Everything is looking great because that gives you that little bit of fine thing, like this is what we’re supposed to be doing. Lets go out there and give joy not only to us, but the rest of the world watching us.”

Jones agreed.

“Thoughts and prayers go out to Damar,” he said.

INJURIES

Defensive end Frank Clark suffered a groin injury in the second quarter and did not finish the game.

“He has a groin strain, so we’ll see how he does here,” Reid said. “He has a little bit of time here, which is a good thing to recover.”

NOT SUITED UP

Wide receiver Mecole Hardman, wide receiver Skyy Moore, quarterback Shane Buechele, rookie offensive lineman Darian Kinnard, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, defensive lineman Malik Herring and kicker Matthew Wright were not dressed for Saturday’s game.

UP NEXT

The Chiefs have a first-round playoff bye and then will play host to an AFC Divisional Round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in two weeks — opponent and date to be determined.