Chiefs now king of the ‘Hill’ in AFC West
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs now control the AFC West.
Tyreek Hill had touchdowns receiving and on a punt return, Kansas City’s defense made life miserable for Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, and the Chiefs held off the Raiders 21-13 on a frigid Thursday night to move into a first-place tie with their longtime divisional rivals.
But with two wins over the Raiders this season, the Chiefs (10-3) hold the tiebreaker over Oakland (10-3), giving them a leg-up not only in the division race but for a first-round playoff bye.
“This was as big as it gets for a regular-season game,” said Alex Smith, who had 261 yards passing with a touchdown and interception. “We don’t get caught up in all the must-win stuff, that’s not how we operate, but we knew the stakes for sure.”
Charcandrick West had a touchdown run for the Chiefs, who returned home after back-to-back road wins to beat Oakland for the seventh time in their last eight meetings.
It came at a big cost, though: The Chiefs lost Derrick Johnson for the rest of the season after the star linebacker ruptured his left Achilles just before halftime.
Carr was 17 of 41 for 117 yards passing for Oakland, though the ugly stat line wasn’t entirely his fault. Seth Roberts dropped just about everything thrown at him, Amari Cooper couldn’t adjust to a long throw for a would-be touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and several more passes were dropped to the rock-hard turf of Arrowhead Stadium on a night when wind chills approached single digits.
Latavius Murray led the Raiders with 103 yards rushing and a touchdown.
“I liked our effort, just didn’t like the execution,” said Jack Del Rio, who re- mained winless in four tries against Kansas City as the Raiders’ coach.
Hill didn’t seem bothered by the cold, scorching the Raiders for a 36-yard TD reception before bringing a punt back 78 yards for another score. It made him the first rookie since Gale Sayers in 1965 with touchdowns on the ground, through the air and on punt and kickoff returns in a single season. —