Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

But Kansas City won the first game between the teams 26-10 back in October in Oakland.

Here’s a look at the Chiefs’ progress with some of their key offensive players heading into the final three games of the regular season, beginning on December 18 against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium. But they also hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their two head-to-head wins and are positioned for a first-round playoff bye with three regular season games left.

The result left the teams with identical 10-3 records, however, Kansas City has the tiebreak edge with two victories over Oakland this season.

What will make winning the division more challenging for the Raiders is having to play all three of their division rivals on the road, beginning Thursday evening with the Chiefs.

It was still 21-3 when the Chiefs lost linebacker Derrick Johnson to an Achilles injury, and that seemed to briefly deflate them.

Raiders quarterback Carr completed just 17 of 41 pass attempts for 117 yards, though that was not entirely his fault. On 3rd & 1, a fade route was thrown to Andre Holmes, with Marcus Peters in coverage.

The rookie out of Southern Miss has 357 yards on just 62 runs, good for a 5.8 average to go with one touchdown. He’s a former National Football League quarterback whose units now rank seventh in rushing (114.6 yards per game) and fourth in passing (277.1 yards per game).

Now, if only he could throw cold weather passes.

For the Chiefs, Gaines has a bad knee and was torched several times against Denver. Denver goes into the weekend two games behind Oakland. And word on the Kansas City streets is that receiver Jeremy Maclin will be a fully participate in it.

The Raiders offense struggled to get going, and the Chiefs would add to the lead a short time later. Helping compensate for Houston’s absence, Ford has 10 sacks this season. But on the other hand, it’s at least fair that both sides will have to deal with this.

The Raiders have concerns at all three levels of the defense, and that’s probably why they brought in a defensive lineman, a linebacker and a safety this week. Just like in the 1960s, when the Raiders and Chiefs were often in contention.

“He’s a guy I respect so much, and just to see the look on his face when it happened, it looked serious”, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said. Oakland in last seven matchups.

GIMMICKY? SURE: Del Rio took some heat from Chiefs fans for calling Smith’s play “gimmicky” after their first meeting, but he intended it as a compliment.

Can the Raiders handle Travis Kelce? At that point, first-round draft pick Karl Joseph was the starter, but Joseph is sidelined with a toe injury.

The first game between these teams was a 16-point victory for the Chiefs. Oakland Raiders Fever is running rampant and there is no cure in sight.

4 Stay disciplined. The Chiefs racked up a season highs in penalties (13) and yards (128) against the Falcons on Sunday. Since then, Ware has not run for more than 77 yards. Smith hit a streaking Hill for a 36-yard touchdown, with the receiver running past Oakland cornerback David Amerson. The sack also gave him one in eight straight games, matching Lance Johnstone for the longest streak in franchise history since sacks became official in 1982. Carr has 24 TD passes with only five interceptions. The Raiders already have theirs: Khalil Mack. WR Tyreek Hill needs six catches to pass Abner Haynes (55) for second most by a Chiefs rookie.

There’s a good chance Thursday night’s game looks similar. The offense failed to capitalize, though, sending Janikowski out for another field goal.