Derek Carr outplayed Patrick Mahomes to exorcise his Arrowhead Stadium demons, and the Las Vegas Raiders ended a seven-game losing streak in Kansas City to give the Super Bowl champion Chiefs their first loss since Nov. 10 with a 40-32 upset win Sunday.
The Raiders improved to 3-2 as they enter their bye week, while the Chiefs, who were 11-point favorites, fell to 4-1.
"I've taken a lot of sad walks up that ramp," Carr said. "But not today. I'm going to enjoy this one."
Carr, who entered the game having lost all six of his career games at Kansas City by an average of 17 points, engineered an efficient, ball-control offense that showed just enough explosiveness to keep the Chiefs honest ... and off the field. Carr completed 22 of 31 passes for 347 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 126.7. Carr, who also had two key fourth-down QB sneaks to convert first downs, became the first Raiders quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards at Arrowhead Stadium since Rich Gannon passed for 334 there in a 20-10 loss on Oct. 27, 2002.
"What we were able to do today, I'm so proud," said Carr, who also tied Hall of Famer Ken Stabler for the most three-TD passing games in franchise history with his 20th. "Lose two in a row, be able to play the world champs and be able to score some points and our defense getting the stops. I hope they give [Raiders defensive coordinator Paul] Guenther a lot of credit. He had a tough week; I've had tough weeks around here, too. It is what it is -- it's part of the business.
"Again, we have to be able to win football games against these guys to make it a rivalry. We haven't done that in a long time."
The Raiders' offense was buoyed by the return of speedy rookie receiver Henry Ruggs III, who sat out the previous two games because of hamstring and knee issues, and right tackle Trent Brown, who had played only in the first series of the season opener because of a right calf injury.
Carr had first-half touchdown passes of 59 and 72 yards to Nelson Agholor and Ruggs, respectively. He also hit Ruggs (two catches, 118 yards) for a 46-yard pickup.
Running back Josh Jacobs had two touchdown runs, and the Raiders led the time-of-possession battle by more than 10 minutes, 35:17 to 24:43.
A rested Las Vegas defense, criticized mightily of late, was able to keep Mahomes in check. With more than six minutes to play, the Chiefs' quarterback had taken 21 pressures, the second most of his career.
"It's a learning lesson," said Mahomes, who finished with 340 yards passing, completing 22 of 43 attempts for two touchdowns and his first interception of the season. "If you don't play your best football, you lose football games in this league, and we didn't play our best football today. We tried to battle at the end, but we don't play at a high-enough level against teams, then you're going to lose games."
Kansas City jumped out to a 14-3 lead and led 21-10 before the Raiders rallied to tie the score 24-24 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Las Vegas then scored 16 unanswered points.
"I mean, you give them total respect," said Mahomes, the eight-point loss the largest margin of defeat in his career as a starter.
"They have a lot of great players on their defense, so they're going to go out there and make plays. But as far as us offensively, we've kind of done it these last few weeks ... where we didn't execute at a high-enough level to go out there. We've been known to score, and it caught up with us today, so we've got to go back and really look at ourselves in the mirror. Me at quarterback and really not rely on these crazy plays where I'm scrambling around and throwing these shots, and just execute the offensive the way that it's called and the way [it's] supposed to be ran. And if we do that, we'll be a hard team to stop."
On this day, though, it was about Carr, who was playing at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time in a game not played in December or January.
"I'm just happy Derek got a big win when it didn't look good early," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.
"I give Derek a lot of credit; he's been through a lot here as a Raider. This was certainly a big win for him, and hopefully, we got a lot more big wins to come."
It was Carr's QB sneak on fourth-and-inches with two minutes to play at the Kansas City 44-yard line that sealed the win. And no, the normally conservative Gruden did not contemplate punting away.
"Not with [No.] 15 standing over there," Gruden said. "We just did not want to give Mahomes another crack at it. I marveled at a lot of the plays Derek made, and I certainly marvel at what Mahomes is able to do. A lot of his offense is unscripted and very creative and created by him. Thank God we don't have to see them for a few weeks."
The AFC West rematch in Las Vegas is scheduled for Nov. 22.