In the midst of the Kansas City Chiefs winning back to back Super Bowl titles and QB Patrick Mahomes cementing his status as one of the greats, a team that is also taking the chance to relish in their success is the Las Vegas Raiders. Being the only team to beat Kansas City after Thanksgiving gives the Raiders something to be motivated about this offseason, and they’re taking that fact and running with it.
The Raiders believe they have found the key to beating Patrick Mahomes
Reminder: Mahomes is 10-2 vs the Raiders in his career
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
On Maxx Crosby’s podcast The Rush, he had new Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce on. Pierce was the interim when the Raiders took down the Chiefs in Arrowhead, and he gave them a message leading up to the game that he’s going to continue in his tenure as head coach against Mahomes.
Pierce didn’t hold back on his desire to see his team play extra physical against Mahomes. Via ESPN:
“So, you remember when Jordan was going through it with the Pistons, all those guys in the ‘80s; before he became Michael Jordan, Air Jordan, the Pistons used to whup his ass. Any time he came to the hole? Elbows, feeling him, love taps. We touched him. We’re in the head, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, I’m touching you. So, I showed those guys Jordan getting his ass whupped.”
I’m sure the NFL, which goes to great lengths to protect QBs, will love that!
Good on the Raiders for maximizing their window of “We beat Mahomes, we gave out the recipe!” However, if that recipe calls for two defensive touchdowns that make up 14 of the 20 points they scored on Christmas Day, then I’m not really sure how replicable that recipe is for Vegas. Plus, the Chiefs and Mahomes are only going to get better, so I’m not really sure how much that recipe is going to work.
With the Mahomes rules, I mean...sure. Saying you’re going to be physical against a QB isn’t against the rules. However, the “knock the head off the snake” comment? Yeah that’s probably not going to fly with the NFL offices. They’ve seen comments like this one before, and it’s not an unusual thing that gets said in locker rooms, but Pierce probably shouldn’t say it out loud.
Regardless, I’ll be tuning in to the first Raiders-Chiefs game in 2024 to see how the Mahomes rules work.
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