December 23, 2023
By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@gmail.com
On Christmas Day every year the first thing on everyone’s mind is opening presents to see what gifts they received. For Kansas City Chiefs fans Christmas day 2023 may be remembered as the time they saw their favorite football team unwrap an eighth straight AFC West Division Championship. With a victory over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders the Chiefs would secure the team’s eighth straight division title and 16th overall.
The Chiefs enter at 9-5 and enjoying a two-game lead in the AFC West. The Raiders come in at 6-8 and still alive for an AFC playoff bid despite sitting in third place in the division. The Chiefs are perfect at 2-0 on Christmas day games played during the regular season. Fans don’t have to go back very far to see what happened in the first matchup between these two division rivals. Just a month ago on November 26 the Chiefs won 31-17 in Las Vegas. In fact the Chiefs have won a lot lately in this heated division rivalry winning nine out of the last 10 meetings.
Injuries late in the season always play a part in a game’s outcome and both teams have injuries worth keeping an eye on. The Chiefs are expecting RB Isiah Pacheco back from a shoulder injury while the Raiders state their leading rusher Josh Jacobs is good to go this week. The team statistics show the teams are fairly even in a number of categories. Pacheco has 779 yards while Jacobs has 805. In receiving Travis Kelce leads the Chiefs with 924 yards and Davante Adams leads the Raiders with 968.
This rivalry game is set for a noon kick off on a Monday and on Christmas Day. While that is rare the Chiefs/Raiders game will get the CBS first team crew with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo providing game day coverage.
With a win the Chiefs will not only claim the AFC West Division title but also give the franchise their ninth straight season with 10 wins or more. The Chiefs have plenty to play for and the Raiders under interim head coach Antonio Pearce are trying to win jobs in 2024. This fact is why in the end of four quarters of holiday football it’s the Chiefs who will leave the field with a victory. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.
