Raiders want to forget pregame huddle on Chiefs’ logo

Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby dropped his head as he sat in front of his locker after practice Wednesday, flashing an uncomfortable smile while politely declining comment before the question was complete.

Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow jokingly thanked a group of reporters for not asking the question. A player who wasn’t on the roster last season hadn’t heard the story and didn’t believe it until it was confirmed by several onlookers.

The infamous pregame huddle on the Chiefs’ midfield logo before last season’s game at Arrowhead Stadium immediately backfired, as Kansas City scored the first 35 points en route to a 48-9 drubbing.

It still lingers as a source of fuel for the rivalry among the Chiefs and their fans and a moment of regret for the Raiders who were part of the ill-conceived stunt.

Don’t expect a reunion on the logo before the “Monday Night Football” game at Kansas City.

“Definitely not,” Renfrow eventually conceded.

Part of that is how terribly it went for them, but part also has to do with the ringleaders of the stunt no longer on the team.

The Raiders were huddling around the 25-yard line after warmups when Yannick Ngakoue led the group upfield to instead meet on the Chiefs’ logo. If Ngakoue was the pilot on the journey, cornerback Trayvon Mullen was the co-pilot. Ngakoue now plays for the Colts, and Mullen is with the Cardinals.

But the rest of the team willingly followed, and many of them are still around to renew a rivalry that has turned one-sided.

“Since I’ve been here, they’ve had really good football teams,” quarterback Derek Carr said.

The Chiefs are 15-3 against the Raiders under coach Andy Reid and have outscored them by 260 points, the biggest differential between any teams since 2013. Their 66-point margin in two wins last season was the fourth-most lopsided matchup in one season over the past 25 years.

Carr’s struggles at Arrowhead Stadium — 1-7 with a 72.8 passer rating — have been well-documented. The victory in 2020 also is notable for the Raiders’ adding another chapter to the storied rivalry.

After the win, then-coach Jon Gruden supposedly ordered the bus driver to do a victory lap around the stadium before transporting the team to the airport. Gruden insinuated that the driver had been talking up the Chiefs before the game, while others have said the incident was overblown and they just thought the bus was taking a different route than usual.

Either way, it’s still a topic of conversation. Renfrow would rather focus on what happened before that moment — a strong performance by the offense and Carr’s only win at Kansas City.

“I remember we had a good game plan,” Renfrow said. “That’s what we’re going to have to do here. There’s no magic pill. There’s nothing we can take. We just have to go out and execute.”

And forget about what happened the past two years.

“Win, lose or draw, we’re going to get on the bus and get to the plane and come back home,” McDaniels said. “ … We’ll prepare as hard as we can … and see what happens.”

It’s usually not that simple when the Raiders visit Kansas City.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.