Khalil Mack gets his revenge against Raiders: ‘He made them regret everything’

Khalil Mack reminded everyone why the Raiders made a mistake in trading him.

While Bears edge rusher Khalil Mack might not admit it, Sunday’s game against the Raiders was surely circled on his calendar. In Mack’s second meeting against his former team, he reminded the Raiders why it was a mistake trading him back in 2018.

In Chicago’s 20-9 upset win, Mack recorded a sack, 8 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss, and 1 QB hit. He also added a sack of Derek Carr on a failed two-point conversion attempt, which technically doesn’t count toward the stat sheet. Through five games, Mack has 5 — technically, 6 — sacks, and he’s proving the critics wrong with a strong start to his 2021 NFL season.

Mack’s performance on Sunday was the revenge game he’s been waiting for, especially after his first meeting against his former team back in 2019, when the Raiders held Mack at bay in a win that seemed to derail Chicago’s promising start to the season.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy pointed back to the flight home following the 2019 loss to the Raiders in London as something that stuck with the team, especially Mack.

‘‘I don’t care what anybody says, you remember that,’’ Nagy said. ‘‘[Mack] was part of that, and he understands that. I think all of our guys . . . it’s the mindset of making sure our guys know that we weren’t coming in here to play; this was going to be a fight. He knew that.

‘‘And so Khalil’s in a leadership role to make sure other guys see how he plays in this moment.’’

While his first game against his former team didn’t go as planned, Mack reminded everyone why the Raiders made a mistake in trading him and why he remains one of the NFL’s most fearsome defenders.

‘‘He made them regret everything,’’ said safety Eddie Jackson. ‘‘Made them regret not wanting to keep him. You know, Mack’s our leader. He’s had games like this. We fuel off that.’’