Why the Las Vegas Raiders will beat the Chiefs in Week 12

Despite the recent struggles against their rivals in Kansas City, the Raiders can come away with a stunning victory in Week 12 on Sunday.
Kansas City Chiefs v Las Vegas Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs v Las Vegas Raiders / Jeff Bottari/GettyImages
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The Las Vegas Raiders Defense

After many years of horrible defensive units, the Raiders finally have an above-average defense. Currently surrendering 20.5 points per game to go along with 14 takeaways as a group, this is not the same pushover group that Kansas City had faced in years past. 

Of course, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are always going to cause issues for even the best defenses as they are arguably the two best in the world at what they do. 

Still, the Raiders match up pretty well with Kansas City across the board. The Chiefs' poor wide receiver core will be covered by a cornerback group that has become one of the teams' strengths with Marcus Peters, Nate Hobbs, and Amik Robertson. 

With Trevon Moehrig and Marcus Epps behind them, Patrick Graham has the talent at his disposal to make life hard for Mahomes and the Chiefs. 

Obviously, the Las Vegas defense cannot be discussed without mentioning Maxx Crosby. An unstoppable force who never leaves the field, he and Mahomes are already quite familiar with each other after last season's matchups. 

While there is certainly mutual respect between the two All-Pros, Crosby will be looking to get a win over Mahomes for just the second time in his career while also further adding to his defensive player of the year campaign.