The Kansas City Chiefs (10-1) have not been playing their best football in November. The Chiefs lost their first game of the season in Week 11 to the Buffalo Bills by a 30-21 score at Highmark Stadium.
Kansas rebounded from the loss with a win on Sunday. But the 30-27 victory over a 3-8 Carolina Panthers left a lot to be desired from the defending Super Bowl champions.
Kansas City rushed out to a 20-9 halftime lead, but a fourth-quarter rally brought the Panthers within a two-point conversion of tying the contest with under two minutes to play.
The Chiefs are set to play the Las Vegas Raiders (2-9) on Black Friday. On Sunday afternoon, news came out that Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew suffered an injury in the Raiders’ 29-19 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Gardner Minshew suffered a season-ending injury
Chiefs beat writer, Pete Sweeney, of Arrowhead Pride, posted on X that he had his eye on Minshew’s injury situation, as a quarterback change would be big news for Kansas City.
Per Vic Tafur with The Athletic, Minshew, a Pro Bowl quarterback in 2023, suffered a season-ending broken collarbone. It’s unclear if Desmond Ridder or Aidan O’Connell (on injured reserve) will start on Friday against Kansas City.
“Can confirm that Raiders QB Gardner Minshew has a broken collarbone and is done for the season,” Tafur posted on X. “Tashan Reed and I expect Aidan O’Connell to be back for Friday’s game against the Chiefs.”
The Kansas City Chiefs catch a break in Week 13
Minshew’s unfortunate injury will give the Chiefs a break in Week 13. The Raiders will have more instability at the quarterback position in a short week.
O’Connell is 0-2 as a starter this season. He’s gone 52-of-82 passing for 455 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ridder completed 50% of his passes for 64 yards in relief of Minshew against the Broncos on Sunday.
The last two games between the Chiefs and Raiders have been close. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs 20-14 on Christmas in 2023. Kansas City got the better of the Raiders in their first meeting of the 2024 season when they won 27-20 at Allegiant Stadium.
Minshew had a solid performance against the Chiefs, going 24-of-30 passing for 209 yards and two interceptions in the loss.
The Chiefs will have a chance to capitalize on Friday against a Raiders team dealing with dysfunction. Kansas City needs to take advantage of as many breaks as they can get with the Bills closing on catching the Chiefs for first place in the AFC.
Following Friday’s game, the Chiefs will host a hot 7-3 Los Angeles Chargers team on Dec. 8.
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