The Kansas City Chiefs (3-2) beat the Oakland Raiders (4-2) by a score of 26-10 Sunday afternoon at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California.
It was the seventh straight victory for the Chiefs over an AFC West opponent.
Here are 10 observations from the game:
- Chiefs pick up another win vs. Raiders
For the sixth time in their last seven meetings, the Chiefs walked away from a game against the Raiders with a victory.
For all intents and purposes, this seemed like a statement win for the Chiefs, who picked up their first road win of the season.
After sweeping their division rival a year ago, the Chiefs handed the Raiders, who were leading the division coming into the game at 4-1, just their second loss of the season—thanks in large part to a fantastic performance from the defense.
The victory also gave head coach Andy Reid the 175th of his career, which placed him 14th on the NFL's all-time list by himself and moved him past a tie with his mentor, former Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks head coach, Mike Holmgren.
- Dee Ford and the Chiefs defense slow down high-powered Raiders offense
This was a phenomenal performance by the Chiefs defense, which held one of the NFL's top-ranked offenses to just 286 total yards and 10 points.
Going into the game, the Raiders averaged 392 yards of total offense and 28.4 points per game, both of which rank in the top five in the NFL, but they didn't get near those numbers on Sunday.
Led by linebacker Dee Ford's two sacks of quarterback Derek Carr, who had only been sacked a league-low five times going into Sunday's game, the Chiefs defense made a statement on the road against one of the NFL's most potent offenses.
One of Ford's sacks actually came in the form of a strip-sack fumble, which was recovered by veteran linebacker Tamba Hali late in the fourth quarter. It was one of the plays that ultimately sealed the win for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs also got a turnover in the form of a Marcus Peters interception on the Raiders second offensive drive, which really set the tone for the game, as the Raiders had gone down and scored easily on their first offensive possession.
The Chiefs were led in tackles by veteran linebacker Derrick Johnson, who finished with nine on the day, two of which resulted in a loss on the play. Johnson had a few huge hits as well, flying downhill on a screen pass late in the game for one that really stood out.
- Spencer Ware has a big day
With the weather being a huge factor in the game, as it rained for most of the last few days and through most of the first half, the running game was going to be a huge factor, which is a good thing for the Chiefs because they have Spencer Ware.
Ware finished the game with 24 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown, adding two catches for 32 yards in the passing game as well.
It was the physical way in which he ran—always falling forward and dragging defenders with him—that seemed to get the Chiefs just past the first down marker.
The Chiefs showed a commitment to the run against the Raiders—rushing the ball 40 times compared to just 22 passing attempts.
- Alex Smith shines against the Raiders, again
It was a storyline that was written about and discussed all week—Alex Smith's career success against the Raiders, and he once again thrived on Sunday against the Silver and Black.
Smith finished the game 19 of 22 for 224 yards, which is good for a quarterback rating of 109.1. Smith's 86.36 completion percentage is the best mark for a quarterback in a single game in franchise history.
He also had four passes that resulted in gains of 21 or more yards.
Smith did a great job spreading it around as well, having seven different Chiefs receivers catch multiple passes.
It was a big-time performance from Smith when he was needed the most.
After Sunday's win, Smith is now 8-1 in his career against the Raiders, including a 3-1 mark in Oakland, where he has completed 72 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
- Jamaal Charles makes an impact
After being active two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers, running back Jamaal Charles made an impact in Sunday's win over the Raiders.
Charles finished the game with nine carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, also adding two catches for 14 yards in the passing game.
Charles' touchdown gives him 39 total scores since the beginning of the 2013 season, which is the most for any player in the league during that span.
Outside of his 4-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, perhaps the most distinguishable play from Charles on Sunday came on a red zone carry late in the first quarter.
Just a play before Ware's touchdown run, Charles took the second-and-short handoff from the 8-yard line and showed some strength in his legs by carrying a couple of Raiders defenders with him down to the 2-yard line.
It wasn't a highlight, but it showed some strength and trust in his knee after working his way back from a knee injury that cost him almost all of last season.
- Dontari Poe scores on an amazing touchdown
On third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, defensive lineman Dontari Poe entered the game in one of the Chiefs goal line packages.
Poe initially lined up as a fullback, but split out to a tight bunch formation on the right side of the formation before the snap.
Smith quickly threw it to Poe, who had a couple of blockers in front of him and rumbled his way into the end zone for a touchdown. It was officially declared as a "run" because it was considered a lateral pass, but Poe basically took a tunnel screen pass on the goal line for a touchdown.
Poe also had a touchdown last year against the San Diego Chargers, as he was given the ball on a handoff from the 1-yard line and dove his way in for the score.
But a touchdown catch is on a whole new level for the 346-pound nose tackle.
- Marcus Peters interception sets up Chiefs first touchdown
On the Raiders second offensive possession, Carr attempted a deep pass up the right sideline and second-year standout cornerback Marcus Peters was waiting for it for his NFL-leading fifth interception of the season.
It was the 13th interception for Peters in the first 21 regular season games of his career.
Just 10 plays and 57 yards later, the Chiefs offense tied the game after Spencer Ware rumbled his way up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown.
Through five games this year, the Chiefs have 27 points off takeaways.
The biggest play of the drive was a 21-yard bootleg pass from Alex Smith to tight end Travis Kelce, who took the short pass and turned up the field for a nice display of yards after the catch. It was actually the first play of the drive right after the interception.
As they got closer to the goal line, running back Jamaal Charles, who was active for just the second time all season, took a handoff on second-and-3 from the 8-yard line, and he carried a couple of defenders for a 6-yard gain, setting up Ware's touchdown.
It was a nice display of strength in the legs from Charles.
- Rookie Chris Jones makes a huge play for the Chiefs defense
One of the key plays of the first half came from rookie defensive lineman Chris Jones, who stuffed a second-and-2 run up the middle for loss of 3 from the Chiefs 29-yard line.
The Chiefs were leading 13-7 at the time with just a few minutes left in the first half.
On third down, Carr's attempted pass to receiver Seth Roberts was dropped. At that point, Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio decided to go for it on fourth down rather than attempt a 49-yard field goal.
That fourth-down pass also fell incomplete and the Chiefs were able to hold on to their first-half lead, despite missing a late field goal attempt on the ensuing possession and the Raiders having grabbed a field goal of their own to close out the first half.
- Alex Smith throws a beautiful downfield pass to Jeremy Maclin
On that final drive of the first half for the Chiefs that ultimately resulted in a missed 38-yard field goal from Cairo Santos, Smith found Jeremy Maclin down the right sideline for a beautiful 38-yard connection to get them within scoring position.
The pass couldn't have been thrown any better and Maclin did a fantastic catch hauling in the pass over his outside shoulder.
Maclin finished the game with three catches for a team-leading 49 yards.
- Tyreek Hill's 50-yard return sets up Chiefs field goal
Early in the second half and with the Chiefs holding a 20-10 lead, rookie returner Tyreek Hill took the punt 50 yards the other way to set up the Chiefs 22-yard field goal from Cairo Santos.
It was the longest punt return of his career thus far.
The Chiefs seemed to already be grabbing some of the momentum and the crowd was silent after Hill's punt return got them right back within scoring distance. The Raiders offense had gone three-and-out after Poe's touchdown and Hill's return only seemed to energize the Chiefs even more.
Photos from the Chiefs week six matchup against the Oakland Raiders.
