The Las Vegas Raiders enjoyed one of the more notable upsets of 2020 to this point, beating the Kansas City Cheifs at Arrowhead Stadium, 40-32, back in Week 5. While that's as good of a win as you'll find by Jon Gruden's team, their actions after the game are still on the minds of the defending Super Bowl champions and it appears like it'll be used as bulletin board material when these AFC West rivals square up once against, this time in Las Vegas.
After that win, the first by the Raiders in this division rivalry since Gruden arrived, the team busses circled around Arrowhead Stadium before making their way to Kansas City International Airport to head back home.
"They won the game, so they can do anything they want to do," Reid told reporters Monday. "That's not our style, but we'll get ourselves back and ready to play."
Reid once again brought up the lap around the stadium when he was later asked about a team playing against an opponent for the second time and whether or not it's more difficult for the club that initially came out with a win, almost being forced to play a replica-style contest. The Chiefs coach dismissed that notion, but said, "I think they have or they wouldn't have driven the bus around the stadium."
Jon Gruden was also asked about the victory lap on Monday and didn't seem to worry as to whether or not it'd give the Chiefs any extra motivation heading into Week 11. He also suggested that it was as much of a dig towards a Kansas City bus driver as it was to celebrate the upset.
"I mean, you can find a smart-aleck bus driver in Kansas City who made some snide comments when we got on the bus," he said. "Maybe that's why we drove around the stadium, to tick him off. You know, this is ridiculous. Next question."
The bitterness of this rivalry does seem palpable between these two clubs with Reid even stating, "I don't think either team likes the other that much, as they've stated before."
That loss is the only blemish on the Chiefs' season as they head into Week 11 with an 8-1 record. Even with that most recent game falling in favor of the Raiders, Kansas City has been the club dominating this rivalry in recent years, owning a 12-3 record against the Raiders under Reid. That said, Las Vegas has proven to be a tough out in 2020, coming into this game at 6-3. If they were to pull out a win once again, that'd not only pull them closer to matching the Chiefs, but they'd own the head-to-head tiebreaker, which could loom large over the AFC West race.
However, it seems apparent that K.C. is using that victory lap as added fuel for this head-to-head on Sunday. When you add that to the overall talent on the Chiefs roster, and Andy Reid phenomenal history coming off of the bye week, Las Vegas could be setting themselves up for some serious comeuppance.
