The lone blemish on the Kansas City Chiefs' record in 2020 is a Week 5 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
In that 40-32 defeat, K.C. allowed a season-high in points, total yards (490) and passing yards (346), and Patrick Mahomes completed a career-low 51.2% of his passes.
Ahead of Sunday's AFC West re-match (the NFL Total Access Game of Week), Mahomes wants to avoid the first division sweep of his career.
"Any time you lose to anyone, the next time you play them you want to win the football game,'' Mahomes said Wednesday, via ESPN. "We'll be ready to go, I promise you that. ... We don't like losing to teams twice, so we'll have the right mindset.''
Since Mahomes has become the starter, the MVP QB has only lost to the same team twice once in his career: the 2018 New England Patriots.
In fact, Mahomes hasn't even lost two division games in a single season. The Chiefs haven't lost multiple division games in a season since 2014 -- the last time K.C. did not make the playoffs or win 10-plus games. The Chiefs' current streak of five consecutive seasons without losing multiple division games is the longest since the 1970 merger, per NFL Research.
After their victory in Kansas City, the Raiders took a "victory lap" in the team bus, circling Arrowhead Stadium after the game. Coach Andy Reid expressed annoyance earlier this week. Mahomes, however, doesn't believe the Chiefs need extra motivation.
"If you're not ready to go in this game, playing a divisional opponent, playing against a good football team and you know it's going to mean a lot going toward the AFC West standings, then you're not in the right sport,'' Mahomes said. "For me, it's just as important as any other game in the division, no matter if they took a victory lap or not.''
With the Week 5 loss as the backdrop, the Chiefs know they need to match the Raiders' intensity on Sunday.
"They came out and won the football game," he said. "We'll have to do a better job of that this time and know that we're playing against a good opponent and know that we're going to have to give it our best shot if we're going to come out with a win.''
Four of the Chiefs' next five opponents are currently in the playoff picture. A season-sweep by Vegas would drop K.C.'s margin of error in the division to just one game. A Chiefs win would create distance in the quest for a fifth-straight AFC West title.
