Patrick Mahomes eager to face Maxx Crosby after odd offseason: Chiefs-Raiders is 'pure football'

It's been a long time since the Raiders and Chiefs met with identically undefeated records.

That's what's on deck for Sunday, though, with 3-0 Las Vegas hosting 3-0 Kansas City at Allegiant Stadium. It's a matchup that is as surprising on paper as it is anticipated by both parties.

The contest includes two stars who will compete against each other plenty. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is back from his season-ending ACL injury and playing excellently, and edge rusher Maxx Crosby is out to ruin Mahomes' day -- and add a little trash talk on top.

“I'm here. That's all I'm going to have for now," Mahomes said Wednesday when asked if he and Crosby have had memorable exchanges in previous meetings. "I think it's just being competitors. It's almost like whenever you're young and you're competing with one of your friends, man, you want to win because you kind of have those bragging rights and you kind of go into the offseason, and if you see the guy, you can kind of give him a little something here and there. It's something about that.

"It's just what the pure football is, is having the best competitors compete against each other and that's what I think you really get whenever you go out there and it's Raiders versus Chiefs.”

Mahomes and Crosby are each coming off unusually eventful offseasons. For a few days in March, Crosby was destined to move to Baltimore and become a Raven. Baltimore's cold feet nixed that deal, sending Crosby back to the AFC West to continue harassing Mahomes.

The superstar quarterback, meanwhile, was in the midst of a long recovery from knee surgery necessitated by a December injury.

“He actually texted me right when I got cleared to play and just kind of said, ‘Hey, we're both back.’ And for me, I was just kind of like, ‘Let's show the world who we are,'" Mahomes said of his interaction with Crosby. "And so, I think that's just the competitors in this league. There is a rivalry, when we step on that field, we're going to go at it. That's just kind of what it is and we both know that.

"But at the end of the day, man, you want the great competitors, the great players in this league because it makes the league better. And it makes when you go out there and do get the win even better.”

Both have had points to prove early in the 2026 season, and both are riding high after three straight victories to begin the campaign.

"They're playing great football. You can see it on tape," Mahomes said of the Raiders. "That 3-0 record's real. They've been playing great the entire season. And so, for us, it's another step, another challenge that we have to go up there and match.”

By the time the clock strikes zero Sunday, one will no longer be perfect, while the other will have a new feather in their well-worn rivalry cap.

"I just know when I step on that football field, I'm going to need my best because he's going to bring his best," Mahomes said, "and I think that's when you get the best games out there.”