The Kansas City Chiefs kept their fading playoff hopes alive on Sunday.
Alex Smith threw for 297 yards and two scores, Kansas City shut down Derek Carr and the Oakland offense and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 31-13 to end a three-game losing streak.
Knile Davis added touchdowns running and receiving, and De'Anthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards for another touchdown as the Chiefs (8-6) got even for a 24-20 loss to the Raiders just last month.
The Chiefs led 10-6 early in the third quarter before scoring three touchdowns in 4 minutes, 42 seconds. The last was a 70-yard throw from Smith to Davis, who had taken over the majority of running back duties after Jamaal Charles took a shot to the head.
Charles appeared to pass a series of concussion tests and returned briefly to the game.
Carr finished 27 of 56 for 222 yards, throwing a TD pass in the final minute. The Raiders' rookie also was sacked four times and fumbled a snap that led to a Kansas City touchdown.
The Chiefs, who had been poor against the run the past three weeks, even managed to bottle up Raidersrunning back Latavius Murray. The second-year pro had 112 yards and two scores on just four carries in their first meeting, but was held to 59 yards on 12 carries Sunday.
The Raiders (2-12) have lost 10 straight on the road, and still have not won back-to-back games since Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2012 season. That includes a pair of duds in the appropriately named Show-Me State — they were routed 52-0 at St. Louis two weeks ago.
Both teams got off to slow starts in a penalty-filled matchup Sunday, but Kansas City finally got a jolt of energy when Thomas fielded a punt at the 19-yard line and headed up the sideline.
The rookie speedster, who had been close to breaking a return before, picked up a nice block from Kelcie McCray before somersaulting over the goal line for the opening touchdown.
Chiefs kicker Cairo Santo atoned for missing his first field-goal attempt since Week 2 early in the second quarter by knocking through a 41-yarder. The Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski matched him with a 53-yarder as time expired to close within 10-3 at the break.
Photos from the Chiefs Week 15 matchup against the Raiders
Oakland had a chance to make the game interesting in the third quarter when Travis Kelce fumbled and the C.J. Wilson recovered. But in a fitting summation of the Raiders' season, Wilson ended up hurt on the play, and the Raiders went nowhere before Janikowski kicked another field goal.
The Chiefs took advantage of the opening — and a roughing the passer penalty on Justin Tuck — to go 70 yards on their next possession. Davis finished it off with a short touchdown run.
Carr fumbled the snap on the next play, Kansas City recovered and Smith hit Kelce from 20 yards for a touchdown. The Chiefs then forced three-and-out, and Smith's throw to Davis a few minutes later capped their three-TD spurt and gave Kansas City a 31-6 lead.
