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Chiefs Troll Raiders, Chargers After AFC West Rivals Join Viral Twitter Trend

Adam Wells@adamwells1985Featured ColumnistMarch 3, 2021

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warms up before the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers learned about the dangers of joining a viral Twitter trend when you haven't been the best team in your division for a long time.

After the Raiders and Chargers used the "You had to be there" caption above images of recent wins over the Kansas City Chiefs, the two-time reigning AFC champions shut down both teams with this post:

Kansas City Chiefs @Chiefs

31-5 in the division since 2015. Been there, done that. https://t.co/BlwhMg86yi

It's tempting to brag about a win over the Chiefs, especially one in the past three years when Kansas City has been arguably the best team in the NFL. The Raiders came within two minutes of sweeping their AFC West rivals during the 2020 regular season.

But if you're going to make such a proclamation, you have to be aware of the ways in which it could backfire. The Chargers own the most recent AFC West victory over the Chiefs, but it came in the final game of the 2020 regular season with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and other K.C. starters resting to get ready for the postseason.

Kansas City has won five straight AFC West titles. The last non-Chiefs team to win the division was the Denver Broncos—who were smart enough to stay out of this trend—in 2015.

The lesson to take away from this is to always think before you tweet.