Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby on Christmas Day.
The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Las Vegas Raiders after a dreadful performance for the offense on Christmas Day — and rival pass rusher Maxx Crosby milked the upset win on social media after the game.
First, Crosby livestreamed the Raiders locker room on Instagram, where he and his teammates celebrated by smoking cigars and dancing along to rapper Chief Keef. A Las Vegas fan shared a clip from the stream on X, and it quickly went viral with over 8,000 likes and counting.
THEY PLAYING CHIEF KEEF IN THE RAIDERS LOCKERROOM
“THEY PLAYING CHIEF KEEF IN THE RAIDERS LOCKERROOM,” the fan captioned the post, emphasis on “Chief Keef.”
Crosby also sent a message of his own on X after the win, using a UFC fighter Nate Diaz to speak for him. “RAIDERRRRRSSSSSS🦅🏴☠️💎,” Crosby preluded the viral post, as the Diaz clip featured Joe Rogan asking the fighter how he feels after he “just shook up the world.”
RAIDERRRRRSSSSSS🦅🏴☠️💎
Diaz responds: “I’m not surprised mother[expletive].” A pretty obvious metaphor for Las Vegas shocking Chiefs Kingdom and the NFL in Week 16.
The Raiders’ social media team followed Crosby’s lead, posting a screenshot of 10 KC predictions by the CBS crew ahead of the game captioning it “and to all a goodnight.”
and to all a goodnight. #RaiderNation
And as expected, the LVR locker room enjoyed every second of the win in Kansas City too. Las Vegas defensive back Tre’von Moehrig told Instagram followers that the “GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS [mother— expletive]” (shared by JPAFootball on X), and cornerback Jack Jones photoshopped the Grinch’s head over his own in a still photo from his pick six (shared by B/R Gridiron on X) — sticking with the holiday theme.
#Raiders DB Trevon Moehrig on Instagram live after beating the #Chiefs:
“GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS MFER”
(via; @ReignsDsn)
Arrowhead Pride media member Pete Sweeney even noted that “you could smell cigar smoke coming from the Raiders’ locker room after the win at Arrowhead.”
Maxx Crosby, Raiders Defense Won the Day in Week 16 vs. Chiefs
Crosby finished the 20-14 victory over KC with just two solo tackles (one for a loss) and two quarterback hits, but the disruptor was a constant problem for Patrick Mahomes. In the end, his defense was the story of the game.
Despite opposing quarterback Aidan O’Connell only passing for 62 yards, Crosby’s unit held Mahomes and the Kansas City offense to just 14 points. They also scored 14 points of their own, with not one but two defensive turnovers for touchdowns.
In the loss, Mahomes threw for 235 yards (one TD, one INT), but only completed 61% of his throws. ESPN credited him with a passer rating of 73.6 and a QBR of 31.6.
Chiefs running backs Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn’t have much luck in this outing either, rushing for just 32 yards on the ground (one TD) — plus 53 scramble yards from Mahomes.
Out of all these statistics, though, quite possibly the most remarkable one was that the Chiefs were given 11 possessions of the football and scored only twice.
It’s very difficult to stifle a Mahomes-led group nine times. In fact, The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia stated that out of the 109 games the Chiefs have played with Mahomes as their starter, “today’s performance ranked 109th in offensive EPA [expected points added] per drive.”
The Chiefs have played 109 games with Patrick Mahomes as their starter.
Among that sample, today’s performance ranked 109th in offensive EPA per drive.
Not just the 2 TDs they gave away either. 103rd out of 109 in success rate in Mahomes starts.
“Not just the 2 TDs they gave away either,” the NFL writer added. “103rd out of 109 in success rate in Mahomes starts.”
Needless to say, it was a historically bad day for the Chiefs offense under Mahomes and in turn, a fantastic afternoon for Maxx Crosby and the Raiders.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Says ‘Mistakes’ Stand Out Most vs. Raiders
During his postgame press conference, Mahomes told reporters that “the mistakes” stand out most offensively when breaking down the loss. A similar theme this season.
“I thought the defense played a good game,” he voiced. “Just two mistakes that gave them two touchdowns there when you’re backed up in their red zone. You just can’t do that, especially when [the] defense is playing like they’re playing.”
Mahomes acknowledged that he has to “be better” in those scenarios — referring to the pick six and the fumble for a touchdown.
“I think as competitors, you want to make a play happen,” the superstar QB admitted later. “But at the same time, you gotta know the flow of the game. It’s something that I’ve tried to learn over my career.”
Mahomes chalked up both the interception and the fumbled exchange with Pacheco as plays that the Chiefs “can’t let happen” in the NFL moving forward.