Patrick Mahomes leads Chiefs to 31-0 rout of Raiders as Rashee Rice returns with 2 TDs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs so thoroughly dominated the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday that they probably didn't need Rashee Rice, who had come back from a torn ACL and a six-game suspension to give them yet another dynamic weapon.

The rest of the season? Well, the Chiefs think Rice may be the last piece they need to chase another championship.

“We have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys and they all love each other, and they want each other to succeed,” said quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns — two of them to Rice — in a 31-0 victory so lopsided that the two-time league MVP got to spend the entire fourth quarter watching it from the bench.

“We want to be better than what we are now,” Mahomes said, “but this was a good step in the right direction.”

Rice finished with seven catches for 42 yards in his first game since Week 4 last season, when he tore up his knee in a collision with Mahomes. Rice made it back from the injury in time to participate in the offseason and training camp, then was suspended before the start of the season for his role in a high-speed car crash on a Dallas highway in March 2024.

Rice's return sparked an offense that scored on its first five possessions against Las Vegas and finished with 434 yards in all.

“I think it's a glimpse of what's possible,” Rice said, “and what's to come.”

It didn't help ailing Las Vegas to play most of the game without star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who left late in the first half with a knee injury. The Raiders also lost defensive tackle Adam Butler to a back injury during the game.

The Chiefs (4-3) were nearly as good on defense, though, holding the Raiders to three first downs and 96 yards while beating them for the 10th time in the last 11 matchups. Geno Smith finished 10 of 16 for 67 yards, while Ashton Jeanty, one of the NFL's top rookies, carried just six times for 21 yards.

It was the fourth and most lopsided shutout by Kansas City in its 133-game history against the Raiders.

“This was a game I didn't see coming,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said. “We prepared really well. We were tuned in. I couldn't imagine the guys that weren't able to play in this game would have been that much of a factor.”

In truth, the Chiefs had started to hum the past couple of weeks, including in a 30-17 rout of the Lions last week. And with Rice, it looked like the high-flying attack that Mahomes made famous with Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill so many years ago.

Rice had a pair of catches on their opening drive, including a 2-yard touchdown reception to finish off the 92-yard march. He had two more on the next drive, an 84-yard trek that Marquise Brown finished with a TD catch. And Rice capped the Chiefs' big first half with a 3-yard touchdown reception with 10 seconds left to make it 21-0 at the break.

“I think you saw the trust that Pat has in him,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid. “The energy he brings is infectious.”

The lopsided nature of the first half was staggering.

The Chiefs had a 21-2 advantage in first downs. They had a 275-51 edge in yards, and that includes six meaningless yards that Jeanty gained on the final run of the half. And the Chiefs became the first team since at least 2000 to start a game with three TD drives of at least 80 yards, allowing them to consume nearly 21 minutes of the first half.

Oh, and the Chiefs got to receive the second-half kickoff.

They proceeded to march 65 yards for another touchdown, this time with Isiah Pacheco doing the honors on the ground to finish it off. And after another three-and-out by the Raiders, a 66-yard march produced a field goal that made it 31-0.

Mahomes and several starters took a seat by the end of the third quarter, allowing Gardner Minshew to finish the rout.

“Very seldom do you have a fourth quarter where you don't throw the ball. It doesn't happen very often,” Reid said.

The only question remaining was whether the Raiders would make it back across midfield again. They made it for two offensive plays on the first drive of the game, when a holding call on Jackson Powers-Johnson led to them eventually punting.

The answer: They did not come close.

“They're a terrific team,” Carroll said. “They did everything like they do. And the played really well in all phases, and they kept us totally at bay. We couldn't make a first down and couldn't get off the field. They just did like they do.”

Las Vegas: WR Jakobi Meyers (knee) and TE Brock Bowers (knee) were inactive. Crosby and Butler only added to the problems.

Kansas City: LT Josh Simmons was inactive due to personal reasons. LG Trey Smith left with a back injury, DT Omar-Norman Lott hurt his knee and RT Jawaan Taylor banged up his shoulder.

The Raiders are off next week before facing Jacksonville on Nov. 2.

The Chiefs play Washington next Monday night.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown (5) scores as Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darnay Holmes (30) defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) scrambles as Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis (56) and linebacker Nick Bolton, left, defend during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambles during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4) is pushed out of bounds by Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Devin White (45) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)