The Most Savage Raiders-Chiefs Rivalry Moments

The Oakland/Los Angeles (now Las Vegas) Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs have starred in one of the football’s most bitter rivalries since the 1960s—ignited by late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt brokering the AFL-NFL merger behind the back of late Raiders owner Al Davis. On the field, the teams have competed in the same division for 60 years.

The bad blood may not be as palpable today, but the feud has produced a long history of heated and hard-hitting moments since their inaugural matchup in 1960—a 20-19 Raiders win.

“When you’re out there, you understand the rivalry,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “It has been a long-standing rivalry, probably as close are you’re going to have to a college atmosphere that way, as far as rivalries go.”

Let’s revisit some of the rivalry’s best moments.

5. 1969: AFL Championship Game

Fresh off the controversial merger, the rival franchises faced off in the AFL title game for the 1968 season. Both teams were loaded with star power, yet only one side came to play. The Raiders blew out Kansas City, 41-6, sending them to their first Super Bowl appearance.

This may not have been amongst the competitive games of the rivalry, but it certainly added fuel to the fire for the Chiefs and evened out the hatred after Hunt’s shunning of Davis in negotiations. 

4. 1970: The Brawl

Two years later, the hatred was still raw and manifested on the field. With Kansas City up 17-14 late in the fourth quarter, Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson ran for a first down with 1:08 on the clock, only for Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson to spear him with the back of his helmet after the play while he was still down.

As you might expect, this sparked a melee that led to Davidson’s ejection—as well as off-setting penalties that forced a Chiefs punt. The Raiders responded with a George Bland game-tying field goal—and the tie gave Oakland the AFC West crown. Yes, the rules have since changed to count the first-down before off-setting penalties.