Mauga back by the bay

When two of their defensive stars went down with injuries to begin the season, the Chiefs became an afterthought.

After losing their first two games of the season, Kansas City has won seven of its last eight after knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs on Sunday. Fallon’s Josh Mauga and the Chiefs rode on the defense once again and shut down the Seahawks, 24-20, at Arrowhead Stadium and have not allowed a rushing touchdown all season.

“We’re a great team and we’re going to come out, we’re going to fight every week no matter who it is, so if we can just continue to play our football we’ll be in good shape,” Mauga said after a four-tackle effort as the Chiefs improved to 7-3.

Mauga said the team looked forward to the challenge and was pleased to notch another win as the Chiefs travel to Oakland (0-10) on Thursday to face the only winless team in the NFL. The Chiefs have won five in a row with the last loss coming to San Francisco on Oct. 5.

“They’re still the defending champions so it was a great win for us, great challenge up front for our front seven, so we’re just happy we got the win and we’re ready to move on,” Mauga added. “We’re happy that we got this win, but we’ve got Oakland on Thursday so the quicker we can focus on Oakland and get back to preparing for them, we’ll be in good shape.”

Now tied with Denver for the best record in the AFC West, the Chiefs encounter a spiraling Raider team that’s still in search of its first win of the season. Ex-Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr runs the team, which lost 13-6 in San Diego on Sunday.

But even with the team’s 16 consecutive loss, Chiefs coach Andy Reid isn’t taking the Raiders lightly. Oakland’s losing streak is the fourth longest in NFL history as the Raiders were eliminated from the playoffs with the loss to the Chargers, becoming the earliest team out of the postseason since 2004.

“The first thing that jumps out at you is the speed of their offense and defense,” he told the team website on Monday. “They have been in every game, like right there in every game. You saw that last (Sunday) night, but that’s how they roll. I know they haven’t won a lot of games, but they are very close in every game. So that grabs your attention and their athletic ability and scheme are good, too. In this league, we understand that there is a fine line between winning and losing so you don’t take anybody lightly.”

After Thursday’s divisional battle, the Chiefs will host the Broncos on Nov. 30 to close out the month before facing Arizona and Pittsburgh on the road and hosting Oakland and San Diego next month.

On Sunday, Kansas City continued to prove that it compete with the league’s best. With the improved defense facing Seattle’s tough-minded running game, the Cheifs held off Seattle in a tight game.

Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch couldn’t find the end zone despite rushing for 124 yards on 24 carries. Russell Wilson threw for two touchdowns and 178 yards on 20 of 32 passes. The Seahawks took their first lead with 23 seconds left in the third quarter when Wilson connected with Tony Moeaki for a 1-yard score and 20-17 advantage.

Knile Davis ran for a 4-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to regain the lead for the Chiefs as their defense stopped Seattle on two late fourth downs to seal the win.