The Las Vegas Raiders are ready to kick off rivalry week against the Kansas City Chiefs, and this AFC West matchup could be the game of the week. Both teams are 3-0, and this may be the first time the two franchises have ever met with matching 3-0 records. Kansas City is a great football team. The Raiders look like one, too.

A lot is at stake beyond bragging rights. The Denver Broncos don’t look like a great football team, and the Los Angeles Chargers might be the worst team in football. Both sit at the bottom of the AFC West. That’s ironic, because Denver and Los Angeles led the division last year while the Chiefs and Raiders sat at the bottom. The script has flipped.

Patrick Mahomes isn’t overlooking the Raiders’ 3-0 start

Mahomes knows what’s coming. He also isn’t buying the idea that the Raiders’ start is a fluke.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a very hostile environment. Take it back to those Oakland Raiders days. They’re playing great football; you can see it on tape. That 3-0 record is real,” Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday.

He’s right. It is real. To be fair, have the Raiders played some bad teams? Yes. But as Tom Brady said this week, “You play who’s on your schedule; you don’t play anybody who’s not on your schedule.”

This is the schedule the Raiders were given. They were one of the worst teams in the league last year, so they got a softer slate. The schedule will get a lot harder after this week. Still, Vegas is 3-0, and it looks like a legitimately good football team.

Mahomes knows that. On the other side, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby knows how good the Chiefs are. Respect runs deep, but it’s rivalry respect. The Raiders are a much better team now, and the Chiefs acknowledge that.

“Yeah, they’ve brought in a lot of guys that are really good football players, and they’ve added young, talented guys in there as well,” Mahomes said. “And so, obviously, it starts with (Raiders DE) Maxx (Crosby) and their defensive line and being able to protect and be able to run the ball and do stuff like that.

“But they have great players everywhere, and they fly to the football. And I think what you said is that they turned the football over, which is huge in this league, and so, we’ll have to match their intensity. We’ll have to execute at a high level, but it’ll be a great challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”

The Raiders won the most recent matchup 14-12. Before that, the Chiefs won three straight, including a 31-0 blowout last year, a 19-17 win, and a 27-20 win. So Kansas City has won three of the last four meetings.

However, those results don’t tell you much about this game. Neither team did well the last time they met. Both rosters have gone through a ton of overhaul since then, and the Chiefs look completely different on offense.

Kansas City is now a dominant running team with Kenneth Walker. That’s the big one here. When you look at the Raiders’ history against Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, they have never had to deal with a dynamic running back like Walker in Kansas City’s backfield. The Chiefs have never had a guy they can hand the ball to 30 times a game. Not once in this stretch.

That changes how this matchup works. The Raiders’ defense is used to preparing for Mahomes and the passing game. Now, it also has to stop a bell-cow back who can wear a defense down over four quarters.

What a 4-0 start would mean for Klint Kubiak’s Raiders

If the Raiders win this week, they’ll be 4-0. They could be one of two undefeated teams left in the AFC, and possibly the only one. That’s huge for this franchise and the program Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is building.

Doing it against Kansas City would make it even bigger. The Chiefs are still considered a dynasty by many people, and for good reason. They’ve only had one year without a playoff appearance in this run, let alone one year without reaching the AFC Championship Game.

So the implications are massive for the Raiders. A win would be a statement about Kubiak’s early tenure as head coach, about where this roster stands, and about who now runs the AFC West. A loss wouldn’t erase a 3-0 start, but it would hand the Chiefs control of the division race early. Either way, this is the game to watch this week, and it should be fun.