Maxx Crosby has never hidden his intent when the Las Vegas Raiders face Patrick Mahomes, and Week 4 gives him another shot. The Raiders edge rusher has spent years chasing the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback who has dominated this AFC West rivalry. But before kickoff, Crosby made sure Mahomes heard exactly what was coming.
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“He [Mahomes] knows what it is,” Crosby said on his podcast. “It’s war. There are no other words needed. You know what I mean? That’s as simple as that. So, yeah, I can’t wait. There’s a lot of work to be done till we get there, but, yeah, it’s war.”
The AFC West is shaping up to be a real fight this season. The Raiders and Chiefs are both perfect through three games, Denver sits at 2-1, and the Chargers are still hunting for their first win after starting 0-3.
As AFC West rivals, Crosby and Mahomes have squared off plenty of times, and Crosby used the show to explain what makes those meetings so intense.
“I think it’s just the competitors,” Crosby stated. “There’s levels to competitors in this league, and there’s no higher league than the NFL, and you get the best of the best.”
He added that both players are “looking forward to it” and that the respect runs both ways.
The upcoming matchup is a special one for the Chiefs and Raiders. For the Chiefs, the latter are the most-played opponent, but this is the first time both sides will be playing as 3-0 teams. And there’s also the fact that Mahomes is ultra-successful at Allegiant Stadium: he’s never lost a game here.
But there’s also another interesting fact: Mahomes believes he has been sacked by Crosby the most (six times), making this a fiery matchup between the two.
“To me, he’s the best pass rusher that I’ve played against,” Mahomes said at a recent presser.
Crosby is a big reason Las Vegas has started so well. Through three games, he has five total tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a defended pass, all while opening his eighth year in the NFL.
Mahomes hasn’t been slowing down either. Fresh off an injury-shortened 2025 campaign, it looks like the league has gotten back one of its best. Through three games of the 2026 season, he has completed 67 of 98 passes and thrown for 812 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions.
However, the Chiefs’ offensive line better keep itself in check, because they have allowed four sacks on the QB so far.
So Sunday sets up as a true early-season showdown. Both teams are undefeated, both have a star on the rise or already at the top, and only one of them will leave with the win.
Raiders look real before the Chiefs game
Three games into the Klint Kubiak era, the Raiders already feel like a different team. That’s a big shift for a franchise that went 3-14 last season.
They were a directionless organization that hadn’t won a division title since 2002. Kubiak, fresh off helping Seattle win a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator, saw something others didn’t.
“There’s just a lot to love about this organization,” Kubiak said at his introductory media conference in February. “You look around this building and the resources that we have, our meal room, the weight room, the fields outside, the coaches’ offices, it’s as good as it gets in the NFL. Been in a lot of buildings for good reasons and bad reasons, been hired and fired, and the resources are here. We’ve just got to go put it all together.”
Doubt was fair when the Raiders started 2 and 0, but the 35-27 win over the Saints may change that. Las Vegas came back by forcing a turnover on every New Orleans drive in the fourth quarter.
The numbers back it up. The defense ranks second in the league in EPA allowed per play, a remarkable jump from a year ago, per PFF.
All of that sets the stage for Sunday. The Raiders have beaten the Chiefs thrice in the last five years, and the red and gold are currently leading with 76–56–2.
This one feels different. The hope around this team looks real, not like a brief spark that fades into another long losing streak, and Las Vegas will walk in believing it can win.