The start of week seven of the 2017-18 NFL season saw a key Thursday night clash take place between two AFC West rivals, as the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to take on the Oakland Raiders. This was an important game for both clubs, as a loss would give the Raiders their fifth in a row and likely end their hopes of taking the division. Meanwhile, the previously undefeated Chiefs did not want to drop a second straight game after last week's loss.

A wild first half

The Chiefs opened the game by going down and settling for a 53 yard Harrison Butker field goal to take the lead.

This was then followed by three consecutive touchdowns to end the first quarter. Oakland scored on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, then Travis Kelce caught a 10-yard pass for the Chiefs and Cooper struck again on a 45-yard touchdown to make it 14-10.

The second quarter opened with punts by both teams before Kansas City struck on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. Oakland then drove down the field, but Giorgio Tavecchio's 53-yard field goal was blocked and the Chiefs countered by making their own 39-yard field goal to go up 20-14.

The Raiders drove down before halftime but Tavecchio missed a 45-yard field goal.

Setting up the game's ending

The third quarter opened with Oakland driving down and retaking the lead on a four-yard touchdown run by DeAndre Washington, who was forced into more action following Marshawn Lynch's ejection. Kansas then counted, retaking the lead on their first drive with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson.

They then would add on a 37-yard field goal before the end of the quarter to make it 30-21.

The Raiders then drove down and settled for a 26-yard field goal at the start of the fourth to cut it to 30-24.

Kansas City then took just over six minutes off of the clock and Oakland then went three and out. However, the Chiefs could not manage a first down, as Oakland got the ball back with 2:11 remaining at their own 15-yard line.

One of the craziest endings to an NFL game

The Raiders had third-and-ten at the Chiefs 29-yard line with 23 seconds remaining when Derek Carr hit Jared Cook for what seemed like a 29-yard touchdown to win the game. However, the play was reviewed and he was ruled down at the one-yard line with a ten-second runoff being enforced.

Carr then completed a one-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with three seconds left, but it was nullified by offensive pass interference. Cook then dropped a tough catch in the end zone but Ron Parker was called for defensive holding, giving Oakland a untimed down.

The Raiders then had another incomplete pass into the end zone, but Eric Murray was called for defensive holding, giving them yet another untimed down. Oakland then finally scored on a two-yard touchdown to Crabtree and Tavecchio made the extra point to give them the win 31-30.

Some statistical notes from the game

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smtih managed 342 yards passing, giving him his third three hundred yard performance through seven games this season. According to Pro Football Reference, Smith had only thrown for 300 yards six times in his career prior to this year.

Meanwhile, rookie sensation Kareem Hunt managed 117 yards from scrimmage (87 rushing and 30 receiving). This extended Hunt's rookie record of consecutive 100-yard scrimmage games. It also tied him with Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (1,045) as the only players to have 1,000 total scrimmage yards through their first seven games.

Finally, Raiders receiver Amari Cooper had a monster game, hauling in 11 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Going into this game, Cooper had only managed 18 catches for 146 yards and one touchdown in the team's first six games.
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