Arrowhead Pride
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders are set to meet Sunday afternoon in the 2025 season finale. For both teams, it’s the closing chapter to a season they would rather forget. Kansas City has seen its nine-year reign as AFC West champions end, while Las Vegas has slid into a fourth consecutive losing season.
The game will feature plenty of unfamiliar faces. The Chiefs have 20 players on their Reserve/Injured list — including at least eight key contributors — and are expected to start third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun. Meanwhile, two of the Raiders’ biggest stars will miss the game with injuries: tight end Brock Bowers and defensive end Maxx Crosby.
While many fans have already turned their attention to April’s NFL Draft, both locker rooms are trying to finish the season the same way they approach any week: by preparing to compete.
“I’d like to have fun playing football, practice with a lot of energy, get ready for a game,” head coach Pete Carroll told reporters during his Monday media availability. “We’re playing Kansas City. They won the freaking division for 10 years straight — or whatever it is.”
In the teams’ last meeting in October, the Chiefs delivered their most decisive victory of the season, shutting out the Raiders 31-0. The win came during a three-game winning streak — a stretch that now feels like it was in a different season.
Even without postseason stakes, the finale still offers something both teams care about: pride, the rivalry and the opportunity to finish the season with a win.
“It’ll be fun to play them,” said Carroll. “[It’ll be] fun to go against Andy [Reid], to me. And so there’s no reason for us to think about anything other than playing ball. From the locker room, that’s what I said to them afterward: that we’ve got one week to do something special.”
After Sunday, the Chiefs and Raiders will turn the page to the offseason, hoping the 2026 finale carries far more weight. But first, there’s one more chance to line up and play ball.
