Silver Minings: Raiders fans get nightmare Super Bowl matchup

Chiefs-49ers for the second time in four years is pure misery for Raider Nation

As if Super Bowl LIV four years ago wasn’t enough suffering for Las Vegas Raiders fans, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will face off in another championship matchup, this time in Super Bowl LVIII. This is a nightmare matchup for Raider Nation for the second time in four years.

While the Raiders have vacated the Bay Area, there are still plenty of Northern California fans — and maybe even a few in SoCal, too — who still harbor a good amount of hatred for the organization’s former cross-Bay Bridge rivals. Speaking from experience not much is worse than seeing cocky 49ers fans walk around with smug looks on their faces, knowing that they have bragging rights for another year.

Then there’s the more functional rivalry with the Chiefs, who clearly own not only the AFC West but the conference as a whole with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Plus, they now have a chance to repeat as Super Bowl Champions and win three in the last five years while breaking away from the Raiders with four Lombardis in franchise history.

It also doesn’t help that Las Vegas is hosting the big game so no matter what team wins, the jokes about the 49ers or Chiefs winning a playoff game in Allegiant Stadium before the Raiders do will be flying. The Chiefs will also be using the Raiders’ facilities as the AFC representatives, so maybe Antonio Pierce can have a janitor take pictures of Kansas City’s whiteboards or eavesdrop on a few meetings to get some inside intel.

In what is supposed to be a day that’s essentially a holiday, celebrating the end of the football season, will be a day of sorrow for Raider Nation that not even buffalo wings, nachos and cold be can fix. Okay, maybe the Super Bowl spread can help ease the pain a bit.

In other Raiders’ Links:

• Raiders interested in San Francisco coach: “According to NFL Media, the Raiders want to interview 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak for their open offensive coordinator job. …He can’t interview until after the Super Bowl and the Raiders reportedly want to make a hire soon,” Silver and Black Pride’s Bill Williamson wrote.
• Marvin Lewis provides a sounding board for Pierce: “Lewis and Pierce are no strangers to one another,” said S&BP’s Ray Aspuria. “They’ve had the player-coach relationship with the then-Washington Redskins as Lewis served as defensive coordinator and Pierce was a linebacker back in 2002. The two then served as peers under head coach Herm Edwards at Arizona State for three seasons before Pierce landed with the Raiders as linebackers coach in 2022.”
• 3 moves Tom Telesco should make: “This past offseason, the Raiders did not make many big splashes in free agency, although they did strike gold with some of their signings,” via Just Blog Baby’s Brad Weiss. “Robert Spillane, Marcus Epps, and Jakobi Meyers proved to be key signings for the Silver and Black, and in 2024, the hope is that Telesco can make the right moves in free agency”
• Raiders land J.J. McCarthy in mock draft: “Las Vegas is moving in another direction after starting Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O’Connell last season. J.J. McCarthy is a prospect who should benefit from the pre-draft process, as he is able to effectively display his potential,” per CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards.