PICK: Las Vegas Raiders
I’d love to see the Raiders visit the Chiefs for the season opener. It’s a historic rivalry and the last time these teams took the field together, the Silver and Black came out victorious, 20-14, on Christmas Day. Their bitterness has spilled over since the teams began playing each other in the AFL, when the Chiefs were known as the Dallas Texans. These contests are never short on surprises or intensity. Who can forget the 1969 AFL Championship or The Brawl from 1970 or the TWO brawls on Oct. 5, 1986?
My personal experience with this rivalry takes me back to 2011, when I was general manager for the Chiefs. We had the chance to capture back-to-back AFC West titles and needed to win the final three games of the regular season. We won two games but fell to the Raiders on Christmas Eve, when Hall of Famer Richard Seymour blocked two field goals, the second of which came on the final play of regulation, as the Raiders went on to earn a 16-13 overtime victory. That stung!
The current Raiders are being built to reflect their new head coach Antonio Pierce, a tough and smart leader. As interim HC last season, Pierce stated prior to Christmas game against the Chiefs: “They’re creative, they have fun doing it. … We saw the ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ deal they did last year. All fun and games, that’s cool.
“But at some point, the best way to stop a trick play is to do what? Hit it in the mouth.”
2024-04-30 18:12:00
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