The Kansas City Chiefs had to concede a 20-14 defeat at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day. The Raiders became the first NFL team to win without completing a pass after the first quarter since 2000 and the fifth team to defeat the Chiefs without scoring an offensive touchdown at Arrowhead Stadium.
Notably, the game was attended by star singer Taylor Swift, who was present at her fourth consecutive Chiefs game to support boyfriend and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce. Like the rest of the crowd, Swift showed up in a bright red shirt, sitting beside a Santa Claus.
"I'm just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I'm being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads," Swift said.
Despite his girlfriend being among the spectators, Kelce struggled with the rest of the Chiefs throughout the game. The team was held back to minus-18 yards, the second-lowest total since at least 1991. The star player threw his helmet on the sideline out of frustration during the end of the first half.
After the incident, head coach Andy Reid spoke to the player and gave him a slight shove. A staff member from the sidelines picked up the helmet and tried to return it to Kelce. However, Reid pushed the helmet away before the staff member could reach Kelce.
Kelce usually performs well with Swift present. So far, he has recorded 49 catches for 627 yards and two touchdowns or an average of seven catches and 89.6 yards per game in front of her.
Game highlight
The Chiefs' offense struggled from the start of the game, going scoreless through the first quarter. Raiders defensive lineman Bilal Nichols recovered a fumbled trick play involving Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Isiah Pacheco. Nichols then scored from eight yards out to give Las Vegas a 7-3 lead.
In the following play, Raiders cornerback Jack Jones intercepted Mahomes and returned it 33 yards, which provided the team a lead of 17-7. Just before halftime, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed a field goal.
Kansas City missed two opportunities to convert on fourth down during the second half. Later in the third quarter, the Raiders added a field goal towards the end to take a lead of 20-7.
With 2:42 minutes remaining in the game, the Chiefs still had a chance to keep their No. 1 seed hopes alive when Mahomes hit wide receiver Justin Watson for a touchdown.
However, Zamir White gave the Raiders a 43-yard gain on the next possession, allowing them to stall the game until the time ran out.
"We've got to be better as a team. Special teams, defense, we had an opportunity to give the offense a chance to get the ball back and score, and we weren't successful," Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said.
Mahomes led the Chiefs with rush attempts. He completed the game with 10 carries for 53 yards.
The Raiders claimed the win despite playing without injured running back Josh Jacobs. Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell also completed only nine of 21 for 62 yards.
"Obviously, this was a huge game. It's a rivalry game. We play them twice a year, every year, so to come into Arrowhead Stadium and win a game like this, it's pretty awesome. It's pretty special for our guys," O'Connell said.