One of the primary things that avid football fans are focusing on in light of the upcoming Super Bowl is the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles odds. However, these are two separate teams that have their own unique histories. One of these aspects of their respective histories is their rivalry. They, themselves, are not rivals, but both teams have very active rivalries ongoing with other teams in the NFL. The Chiefs have a rather infamous rivalry with the Las Vegas Raiders.
It is considered to be one of the most bitter rivalries that exists in the NFL. Since the birth of the NFL in 1960, the Raiders and Chiefs have been in the same division. They both started out in the AFL’s Western Conference, and since the merger, they have been in the AFC West.
So, what started this bitter rivalry, and what do we know about it? Read on to find out more!
Raiders vs. Chiefs: Rivalry History
Looking into the history of this rivalry, we can see how it began and what has kept it going all these years.
1960-1980
The Chiefs and Raiders both first met in 1960, back when the Chiefs were the Dallas Texans. They beat the Raiders 34-16 when they first played.
However, this is not what signified the rivalry; instead, it was actually the Kansas City Athletics baseball team’s move to California that made it apparent. The Kansas City Royals played in the same division as the Athletics were.
In ’66, the Chiefs team took part in the first AFL-NFL Championship game, which we now know as the Super Bowl. They had 12–2 records on both teams, and two years later they faced off against each other in a playoff match that would decide who would face the Jets in the conference championship game.
Later in ’69, the Chiefs were beaten by the Raiders on two occasions in the regular season before going on to win the division title. Yet, the Chiefs then played in that year’s Super Bowl and won against the Vikings.
However, the Raiders didn’t see a Super Bowl win until 1976.
In the new NFL, post-merger, both teams faced off, with the Chiefs leading by three points in the late 3rd quarter, but when Chiefs’ Otis Taylor and Raiders’ Ben Davidson got into a brawl, they were ejected, and the Chiefs were forced to punt, which the Raiders took advantage of.
A tie was made with eight seconds left, and as a result, the NFL changed the rules so that a personal foul is enforced at the end of play instead.
Later in 1975, the Chiefs defeated the Raiders again.
1980-2000
The Raiders won two Super Bowls in the 1980s, while the Chiefs were far from where they are now as one of the Super Bowl LVII picks.
Later, at the end of the 1999 season, the Raiders and Chiefs faced one another in Kansas City, which ended up with the Chiefs in the playoffs.
2000-2010
Much later on, in October 2007, the Chiefs played the Raiders again, taking them down for a record of nine straight victories. Then a month later, the Raiders defeated the Chiefs for the franchise’s first victory over the Chiefs since late 2002.
The Raiders defeated the Chiefs 23-8 the following season, but the Chiefs defeated the Raiders for the sixth time in a row at Oakland a few months later.
In the following season, the Raiders defeated the Chiefs 13-10 in Kansas City for the third time in a row. The Chiefs also became one of the few teams to lose to Jamarcus Russell.
In November 2009, the Chiefs got their own back, winning against the Raiders 16-10 in Oakland.
2010-Present
Since 2010, not much has changed; the two teams still go back and forth like they always have. However, there has been a bit more action overall.
In the 2010–2011 season, the Raiders defeated the Chiefs in a game that gave the rivalry a new spark. It was the 102nd time they had met in a game. Then, in the following January, the Raiders defeated the Chiefs in Kansas to take the AFC West.
The next season saw a Raiders fan file a lawsuit against the Chiefs and two Chiefs fans due to a claim that nothing was done when he was hurt in a brawl in Kansas City back in 2009.
Two years later, the Chiefs broke the Raiders’ six-game streak in Kansas City when they won against the Raiders in a savage 24-7 regular season game. The season that followed saw the Raiders snap a 16-game losing streak in Oakland in games against the Chiefs, but the Chiefs were able to pull out a win.
By 2015, the Chiefs had taken over the season, and 2016 saw both teams heading the AFC until Kansas City took the AFC West. 2017 saw the two teams meet in Oakland, where the Raiders won.
2020 then saw the renewal of the rivalry when the Raiders upset the Chiefs, who were undefeated. It was also their first win at Arrowhead in eight years. And now the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl after defeating the Raiders 31-13 on January 7th of this year.
*Top Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images