Chiefs Face So-Called Rivals After Acquiring All-Time Great

The 6-0 Kansas City Chiefs and the 2-5 Las Vegas Raiders do not share a rivalry. A rivalry indicates a continuous, competitive relationship with another person or party competing for the same thing. This relationship is non-competitive, and while the Chiefs are fighting for pole position in the playoffs to help them finish a three-peat, the Raiders are competing to avoid further embarrassment. The only national headlines involving the Raiders this season came when they traded away a future Hall of Fame receiver. The most recent of many national news stories covering the Chiefs involves acquiring a future Hall of fame receiver. KC may be flawed for a 6-0 team, but Raiders fans have many more unsolved issues this season.

The Las Vegas offense ranks 24th league-wide in points scored and 26th in total yards per game. The Raiders have thrown more interceptions and lost more fumbles than any team in football, resulting in a giveaway total four higher than any other team in the league. They also have just three takeaways through seven games, which is the league's second-lowest total. The Vegas defense ranks 29th in points allowed. They can't even return punts; their average for yards per punt return is the league's second-worst. There's nearly nothing positive to say about the Raiders right now.

KC, on the other hand, continues to win despite injuries altering the Chiefs' offense's gameplan practically every week of this season. Now, the proud citizens of Chiefs Kingdom can actually get excited about a recent change to Kansas City's roster. No other human signed to an NFL contract right now has more career receiving yards than KC's newest acquisition DeAndre Hopkins. D-Hop bringing his killer smile and even-more-killer resume to Kansas City should provide a major boost for an offense that ranks 13th in both passing yards and points per game. His inclusion may be gradual, but then again, Andy Reid may want to use this game as an opportunity to show the rest of the league how dangerous this new weapon can be in this new context. With all that in mind, I'm predicting that the Chiefs make a statement today with a 30-17 victory over their so-called rivals.