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

A New Attitude for the Raiders

It is no secret that the Raiders have gone through, yet another, tumultuous season. 

While this one is obviously not the same as the 2021 season that included the Henry Ruggs arrest and Jon Gruden’s resignation, the firing of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler marked a massive change in direction for the team. 

Leading this new change, at least for the moment, is former linebackers coach turned head coach Antonio Pierce. A former player and lifelong Raiders fan, Pierce is the antithesis of McDaniels in every way. 

Gone is the “Patriot Way” that, while successful in New England, seemed to put a damper on a Las Vegas locker room full of personalities. Instead, team leaders such as Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby can be found playing basketball and smoking cigars in the locker room after wins. 

“Wins” is the most important part of that sentence of course and the Raiders have won two of three since the removal of the former regime. A small sample size for sure but this is a team that has embraced the attitude of their new coach and clearly feels as if they have a chance against any team in the league. 

They won’t beat the Chiefs just because of their attitude, but they will be much more difficult to handle than they were in their previous iteration, something the Dolphins learned last week despite being two-touchdown underdogs, the Raiders were in it until the very last play.