08 February 2024 , 03:00
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The Kansas City Chiefs used their disappointing loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16 as motivation to reach Super Bowl LVIII.
Interestingly, Sunday's championship final will take place at Allegiant Stadium, which is the home ground of the Raiders, adding an extra sprinkling of tension to the match-up. In a chat with reporters on Wednesday, Chief's defensive tackle, Chris Jones, shed a bit of light about how they coped with the unexpected defeat.
"Antonio Pierce did a heck of a job with the Raiders. They came out firing on all cylinders and it was more so a gut check to us," said Jones. "The Raiders have this thing where they come and beat us at Arrowhead every so often. Jon Gruden did it and drove the bus around the stadium."
He continued: "Pierce lit a fire under those guys and I think it gave us a rude awakening of where we were as a team. More accountability individually, and we accepted that we need to be around the building in order to achieve the ultimate goal."
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Joe Burrow backs Patrick Mahomes after Kansas City Chiefs reach Super Bowl
During their Christmas Day match, the Raiders nabbed a 20-14 victory over Chiefs, causing quite an upset. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a bit of a rough day, bagging the lowest single-game grade of his entire seven-year career.
Mahomes had a tough game with 27 completed passes out of 44, throwing for 235 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He made five plays that could have turned the ball over and didn't manage any big-time throws, earning a low 30.5 passing grade from Pro Football Focus.
After losing to the Raiders, the Chiefs bounced back with five straight wins, including playoff victories. They got better at catching the ball and protecting Mahomes, and their defence really stepped up to help them reach another Super Bowl.
The Chiefs lost 20-14 in Week 16Even in their loss to the Raiders, Jones was brilliant in defence, making two tackles and a sack. Raiders' Maxx Crosby said he'd love to have Jones on his team just before the Super Bowl.
“I mean, I would take Chris Jones in a heartbeat,” Crosby told Heavy. “I know Chris really well. So I mean, there are a lot of guys in free agency, a lot of great defensive tackles. It would be it would be awesome."
"I mean, Chris Jones is one of the best in the game, if not the best at what he does, he continued." I know he’s a Chiefs [player], but at the end of the day, if you want to come to the Raiders, come on down. I’m all for it.”
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.