Two teams still climbing out of miserable 2025 seasons meet in Las Vegas, and the last time these two shared a field, the Raiders were the ones who walked away with it.
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SUN OCT 4 · 1:25 PM PT
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Chiefs
Raiders
Best BetChiefs -238
The board has Kansas City as a heavy favorite here, which reflects Mahomes trending back to full health and a Chiefs skill corps that still reads like a top-tier group on paper. Las Vegas, by contrast, hasn't even settled its starting quarterback as of camp, and betting a team with that much uncertainty under center against a healthier, more talented roster is a tough ask. Take the Chiefs to win outright, with the caveat that the number already reflects most of that gap.
Chiefs
+Mahomes fully cleared, targeting Week 1 return
+Kenneth Walker III adds a proven backfield piece
+Kelce, Rice, Worthy give a deep skill corps
−Finished 2025 on a 6-game losing streak
−Mahomes still building back from ACL/MCL surgery
−First losing season since 2012 exposed real depth issues
Raiders
+Beat this Chiefs team in their last meeting
+Klint Kubiak arrives fresh off a Super Bowl win
+Jeanty and Bowers give the offense new pieces
−Finished 3-14 and fired Pete Carroll after 1 year
−Starting QB job still unresolved between Cousins, Mendoza
−Defense allowed 20-plus points in 4 of last 5
Kansas City's whole 2026 hinges on Patrick Mahomes' surgically repaired left knee, and Andy Reid has already signaled the 3-time Super Bowl MVP will sit out the preseason opener against the Rams while he keeps building back from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered last December. The plan is for Mahomes to be full-go by the September 14 opener against Denver, which puts this early-October trip to Las Vegas roughly 3 weeks into whatever version of him shows up by then. Across the field, Kirk Cousins has held off No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in training camp, but head coach Klint Kubiak has made clear it's Cousins' job to lose, not a settled hierarchy -- which means the Raiders could be breaking in a new starter by the time Kansas City comes to town.
Kansas City's skill group still looks the part on paper: Travis Kelce says he wants to prove he can play at a better level than he did a year ago, Rashee Rice appears to have dodged further NFL discipline, and Xavier Worthy is working through a shoulder issue that hasn't kept him off the practice field. Las Vegas countered by adding Kenneth Walker III to a backfield fronted by rookie Ashton Jeanty, while Brock Bowers -- limited to 1 snap in the preseason opener -- looks ticketed for a bigger route share once games count for real. None of that stopped Kansas City from opening as a sizable favorite here, a gap that says more about where each franchise's floor currently sits than anything either team has actually done since spring.
There's a subplot buried in that number, too: the last time these two shared a field, Las Vegas found a way to beat a healthy Chiefs team, and Kubiak inherits a defense that closed out the year allowing points in bunches -- 4 different 20-plus-point outings across its final 5 games. Fixing that unit while sorting out the quarterback room is the actual story of Kubiak's first season, and it's why this early trip from Kansas City carries more evaluation value than box-score hype.
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Kansas City's front office spent the offseason retooling the other side of the ball too, adding rookies Mansoor Delane and Peter Woods early in the draft and signing pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah to fortify a defense that cratered as injuries piled up in 2025. The bet in Kansas City is that a healthier roster top to bottom -- not just at quarterback -- is what actually separates a losing season from a real playoff push, and a game like this against a Raiders team still finding itself is exactly the kind of spot Kansas City needs to cash in if that turnaround is legitimate.
Kansas City Chiefs
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Las Vegas Raiders
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Neither team looked like a threat down the stretch of 2025, but the paths out of that mess point in different directions. Kansas City is banking on continuity and a superstar quarterback getting back to full speed; Las Vegas is starting over with a coach who just won a Super Bowl as somebody else's coordinator. Kickoff is set for 1:25 PM PT, and by then both storylines should have several more chapters written before this one even starts.
