The Kansas City Chiefs may be a bit of a paper tiger despite their unblemished record, as they have seen Patrick Mahomes put together the worst season of his career. Luckily for the Chiefs, the moribund Las Vegas Raiders are next up on the schedule.

The Raiders are spiraling, as the poor play of Gardner Minshew and injuries to Aidan O’Connell already have the silver and black looking forward to selecting a new franchise quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. Despite the 2-5 record and offensive struggles, Antonio Pierce’s team is not slowing down their bluster or trash talk.

Cornerback Jack Jones, who was seemingly benched for parts of this season after being publically called out by Pierce for a lack of effort, seems not to fear the mighty Mahomes after intercepting him on Christmas Day last year. To this point, it is still the last time the Chiefs have lost a game despite Mahomes going through a major slump.

Jones gave the Chiefs perfect bulletin board material before Kansas City locked horns with their eternal rivals, saying that he doesn’t believe anyone on the Raiders is intimidated by Patrick Mahomes. Either that’s a complete lie (the likely scenario) or, perhaps even more concerningly, the whole locker room is so deluded that they aren’t afraid of him.

“I don’t think anybody in this locker room is intimidated by [Patrick Mahomes] him.”

– Raiders CB Jack Jones

🎥: @VegasSportsTD pic.twitter.com/AxZ2q1pzwE https://t.co/LH8MHvlezE

— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) October 24, 2024

While Mahomes has beaten up all of his opponents throughout his career, he’s taken special pleasure in dominating the Raiders. Mahomes is 10-2 as a starter against Las Vegas, scoring a ridiculous 32 total touchdowns and throwing just four interceptions. Kansas City averages 33.8 points per game against the Raiders with Mahomes starting.

The one strength the Raiders have on defense is a quality defensive line featuring studs like Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins. Against Kansas City’s high-end offensive line, expect both of those players to have games far below their usual standard.

After acquiring DeAndre Hopkins from the Titans earlier in the week and getting some encouraging quotes from Andy Reid regarding his availability, Kansas City’s passing game could be back in business. The Raiders’ secondary, Jones included, is one of the weakest units on this team.

While Pierce and the Raiders may eventually turn it around, it certainly won’t be this year or against this Chiefs team. The Raiders have rarely been able to slow down Mahomes, and giving him a new toy like Hopkins will likely make things even more difficult for them.