KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs can only hope that Sunday's visit to a very uncomfortable place is only temporary.
Their 40-32 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders suggested that the Chiefs will have to win a lot of shootouts in order to repeat as Super Bowl champions, earn the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed or even capture a fifth straight AFC West championship. Having to outscore opponents in high-scoring games was the story of the Chiefs 2018 season, when they lost regular-season games while scoring 51 and 40 points and the AFC title game while scoring 31.
On Sunday, the Chiefs allowed 490 yards of total offense against the Raiders, who had five plays of at least 40 yards. It was a regression for a defense that helped carry Kansas City through the latter part of the 2019 regular season.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense couldn't keep up with the Las Vegas scoring. The game was tied 24-24 at halftime but Mahomes threw his first interception of the season in the fourth quarter, leading to a Raiders touchdown.
The Chiefs didn't score in the second half until less than four minutes remained.
Rare division loss: Mahomes is now 13-2 against AFC West opponents since becoming a starter. That ties him for the best record after the first 15 divisional games of a career since 1970. Kurt Warner, Andrew Luck and former Chiefs quarterback Steve Bono also were 13-2.
The only other loss for Mahomes against an AFC West rival came in 2018 against the Chargers. The Chiefs lost 29-28 on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 4 seconds left.
Rare loss by more than a touchdown: Mahomes lost a game by at least eight points as the starting quarterback for the first time since 2016, when he played at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders that day lost to Iowa State 66-10.
