At halftime, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak told CBS’ Tracy Wolfson that his team would win Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.
He ended up being wrong, but not for a lack of fight.
Kansas City defeated Las Vegas 30-27 on Sunday with a surge in the fourth quarter.
Kenneth Walker scored a pair of touchdowns within 20 seconds of game time to put the matchup out of reach.
The Raiders had taken a 19-17 lead with 4:53 left in the contest on Matt Gay’s 48-yard field goal. But after that, the Chiefs got in the end zone in large part due to a 55-yard catch from Tyquan Thornton. While Thornton suffered a lower-leg injury on the play and had to be carted off, he set up Walker for a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Chiefs the lead back.
Then Las Vegas fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving Kansas City the ball back deep in opponent territory. Walker needed just one play to go into the end zone, putting the Chiefs up 30-19 with his 22-yard score.
But that left plenty of time for the Raiders to get a couple more possessions. Kirk Cousins connected with Brock Bowers on a 20-yard touchdown to cut Kansas City’s lead to three. While the onside kick attempt failed, the Raiders got the ball back with no timeouts at their 1-yard line with 1:16 on the clock.
Las Vegas got lucky that a replay review was not instituted after a pass over the middle to Tre Tucker gained 23 yards. The ball hit the ground, but it was ruled a completed pass. Cousins spiked the ball to stop the clock before a review was called for, leaving the Raiders with 10 seconds left at the Kansas City 49.
But on the next play, Cousins’ pass was intercepted by safety Xavier Nwankpa, which effectively ended the game.
Walker has continued to make a significant difference for Kansas City’s offense, finishing with a career-high 177 yards rushing. He also rushed for a career-long 76-yard run, which helped set up a touchdown to Tyquan Thornton earlier in the fourth quarter.
Thornton had an excellent game before he had to exit in an air cast, catching five passes for 111 yards with two TDs.
Mahomes finished the game 15-of-30 for 225 yards with two touchdowns and no picks.
On the other side, Cousins continued his excellent start to the season, finishing 31-of-52 for 365 yards with two touchdowns and no picks. Brock Bowers had six catches for 86 yards with a touchdown and Michael Mayer had eight receptions for 82 yards.
Ashton Jeanty was held to 58 yards on 15 carries while he had six receptions for 68 yards.
With the win, the Chiefs are now 4-0. They will have their bye next week before hosting the Chargers in Week 6.
The Raiders are now 3-1 with a strong start to the 2026 season. They will be on the road in Week 5 to face the Patriots. Las Vegas beat New England on the road last year to start the season — one of just three wins for the club in 2025.