Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs secondary were cooking in the first quarter. Aidan O'Connell found it hard to dart a pass to any of his Las Vegas Raiders weapons and it looked like the night was over. Patrick Mahomes was doing everything from leading the air attacks all the way to rushing the ball. But, mistakes would eat up the team in red on Christmas Day. All of which would lead to an insane feat for the young quarterback.
Aidan O'Connell became the first rookie quarterback to have beaten Patrick Mahomes. It was a tough job riddled with inefficiency. But, the Raiders offensive engine put a dent in a perfect eight-win record for the Chiefs legend, per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.
When the game ended, the Chiefs became 11.5-point underdogs to the Raiders as well. It all combined for the biggest upset win over the men in red during the Mahomes era. It was not just about the rookie but the whole team coming together on Christmas.
The Raiders had Aidan O'Connell's back
The rookie had his work cut out for him by the special teams unit and the defense. He might not have been allowed to heat up by Andy Reid but everyone else started erupting around him. Only nine completions were darted out of his 21 passing attempts which did not look pretty. His 62 passing yards also did not do much for an offense that had an average of 3.9 yards per play. The distasteful statistic that rounded it out was four carries that led to -4 yards.
Thankfully, Bilal Nichols, Jack Jones, and Daniel Carson along with the rest of the Raiders defensive unit bullied their way into a seventh win for the season. They would squeeze their way and prevent a late-game surge from Justin Watson and Mahomes. It was not a grandiose victory for the offense but the gritty work of the secondary needed to be paid off.
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