KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers Chiefs gamedays, sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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When I told Travis Kelce that Sunday’s win against the Raiders was Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s first regular-season shutout, my research was greeted with skepticism.
“Who told you that one?” Kelce said. “Are you sure about that?”
After I let him know that Reid’s only previous shutout in 472 career games as a head coach in the regular or postseason came a decade ago in the Wild Card playoffs, Kelce beamed.
“Man, I could have swore we had,” he said with a grin. “Oh, well — shoutout to Coach Reid; add it to the list he's accomplished.”
On a day when Patrick Mahomes and the offense sizzled, racking up 31 points and more than 400 yards in three quarters before taking the fourth period off, the defense stole the show with the Chiefs’ first shutout in nearly 14 years.
“It’s a testament to preparation throughout the week, the way we’ve been practicing,” said defensive end Chris Jones, who recorded the lone sack of Geno Smith. “We’ve been honing in on preparation, and I think we executed well as a whole, as a team, and it was able to show this game.”
During a 31-0 woodshedding, the Las Vegas Raiders ran 30 plays, gained 95 total yards on offense and managed three first downs.
The Raiders had 10 total drives, so the offense averaged a three-and-out for the game, while the Chiefs racked up 30 first downs on their own and 434 yards on offense.
The Raiders ran three plays in Chiefs territory on the opening drive and never again crossed midfield against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.
“He does a great job of mapping the game plan out, giving us rhyme and reasons why we're doing things, where they want to attack or how we can attack them,” linebacker Nick Bolton said.
It all worked to perfection on Sunday as Kansas City allowed the fewest first downs in a game in franchise history and the fourth-fewest yards.
“It’s super huge for us because I've been here, if I'm mistaken, I haven't played it in a game and had a shutout,” Bolton said. “It's pretty cool, man.”
Jones said he felt remarkably fresh for having just played an NFL game.
“I feel really, really good right now — knock on wood,” Jones said. “... I played 23 plays.”
Kansas City baited Las Vegas, which was without tight end Brock Bowers and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, into passing.
“The looks we were giving, we were loading the box to force them to ... pass the ball,” Jones said. “We were able to capitalize on that.”
Nothing worked for the Raiders, who managed only 70 yards passing and 25 yards rushing.
“It's hard in the NFL to put up with a goose egg, man,” Kelce said. “Obviously, hats off to Spags and what the defense has been doing, but we’ve got faith in those guys to get the job done no matter what. Sure enough, I know this would be a good one for them to hang their hats on.”
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