Oakland Raiders Down Chiefs to Win 3rd Game in 2012

Jerry Rump – Oct 30, 2012

The Oakland Raiders went into Arrowhead Stadium this past Sunday and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 26-16 to improve to an overall 3-4 mark on the 2012 NFL season.  The win officially makes KC the home away from home for Oakland as the Raiders have won all 6 of their last 6  games at K. C. and this win pulls the Raiders to within a game of the AFC West division leading Denver Broncos.

The Raiders started the game with the ball, but Carson Palmer threw an interception on the first play of the game to ex-Raider CB, Stanford Routt, and quickly it looked as if the Raiders might struggle against the worst team in all of pro-football. However, the defense held the Chiefs to a following three and out and Oakland got the ball back, no damage done by the turnover.

As it did happen, turnovers turned out to be the big story of the game, however, it was not the Raiders, but the Chiefs that suffered with them in giving up four total for the game that resulted in 13 points for the Silver and Black and helped secure their win.

The first turnover came off a Matt Giordano interception of Chiefs QB, Brady Quinn, that led to a 36 yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski and the Raiders led 6-0 at this point. Quinn was then replaced by Matt Cassel who came in the game and immediately went 4/5 passing for 80 yards, that resulted in a stalled drive when the Raiders defense stiffened and K, Ryan Succop, cut the lead in half with a 30 yard kick.

The Chiefs would answer with another field goal by Succop from 42 yards out to tie the game at 6-6. The Raiders were held to a three and out after the ensuing kick when the Chiefs PR, Javier Arenas, would muff a Shane Lechler punt that was recovered by a hustling Pro Bowler, Jon Condo, at the Chiefs 11 yard line.

Three plays later, Palmer connected to Denarius Moore for his 175^th  career passing touchdown and Moore’s third score in the last three games to make the score 13-6 and the Raiders wouldn’t look back from there. Moore is now the first Raider since Johnny Lee Higgins back in 2008 to score a touchdown in three consecutive games.

The Chiefs third turnover came on the first snap of the second half when DT, Tommy Kelly, came away with the Cassel fumble. Unfortunately, the offense stumbled again and had to settle for a 29 yard field goal for Janikowski and the Raiders now lead 16-6.

The Chiefs tacked on another Succop field goal that made the score 16-9 Raiders with 8:40 to go in the third quarter. Palmer drove the Raiders 80 yards down the field capping the drive with a nice 32 yard catch and run by Darrius Heyward-Bey. This was DHB’s second touchdown on the season and it was good to see him regain some of the momentum he had prior to being hurt in the game against Pittsburgh in week three. The score was now 23-9.

 Seabass would add another 32 yarder shortly thereafter to make the score 26-9 with 8:14 to go in the game.

The fourth Chiefs turnover came on a really sweet diving interception by Raiders CB, Pat Lee, at the Raiders 2 yard line that snuffed out any chance of a comeback in this game, even though, the Chiefs eventually added a Dexter McCluster  touchdown that cut the lead to 26-16 with 2:27 to go in the game. As it turned out the Raiders would run out the clock after Rod Streater recovered the ensuing onsides kick.

At this point, I just want to mention a Raider that deserves recognition for putting together a career season thus far, and that is TE, Brandon Myers. The young Raider tight end has become exactly what Oakland has needed from that position and that is a connsistent set of hands for Palmer to rely upon when other options break down or a critical first down is needed. Myers provides just that and if he can put together some touchdowns to go with his current resume, there is no reason this guy couldn't end up a perennial  Pro Bowler. That is kind of a very biased statement, but he really looks like one of the big up and comers to me and I think we got a real steal with this guy. Keep up the good work Brandon and how about we get him the ball in the redzone there Mr. Offensive Coordinator?

The other factor in the game that contributed greatly to the Raider win was a combination of the defense of the Raiders and the inept play of the Chiefs.

The run defense for Oakland was superb as the Chiefs only managed 81 yards on the ground for the game and Oakland completely obliterated the league’s leading rusher in the form of RB, Jamaal Charles, who only managed 4 yards on 5 carries and was a complete non-factor

Philip Wheeler recorded a sack on a critical third down deep in Raiders’ territory and the defense got consistent pressure all day with their front four while the linebackers and secondary helped keep the worst offense in the league from having any kind of breakout day at the Raiders’ expense.

 The Chiefs continued their dismal offensive performance by once again failing to lead at any point in the game which keeps their season long streak alive. Just goes to show you that it could always be worse and no matter how bad the Raiders started the season, at least, we aren’t struggling anywhere near the depths of Kansas City.

Darren McFadden did manage to accumulate 114 yards on 29 carries, but it was another ugly run blocking performance by the Raiders offensive line. OT, Willie Smith continues to struggle in relief for Kalif Barnes and the whole line really seems frustrated and confused on running plays. If they ever manage to pull it together, the Raiders could indeed be a tough team to face down the stretch.

However, for that to happen Oakland’s redzone offense,  which sputtered again in the game Sunday, must start scoring touchdowns because all the Raiders basically manage to do right now is to help Janikowski add to his 43 consecutive field goals made from 40 yards and in. Good for Seabass, but the Raiders have to start getting in the endzone in order to win games.

Credit has to be given to McFadden though as he continues to bang out tough yards without complaining about the lack of blocking support from his line. It must be extremely frustrating to be him right now, but he just keeps plowing away until he breaks a run here and there which provides Raider nation a glimpse of the weapon that could be such a game-changer if only the offensive line could just block. Is that asking too much Mr. Knapp?

Apparently, it takes a really long time to go to zone-blocking scheme school and at this pace, the Raiders might understand Greg Knapp’s scheme sometime in January of 2014.

If ever the Raiders needed to put together back to back 100 yard rushing games, this week would be perfect as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to Oakland this Sunday. Josh Freeman and the Bucs are beginning to gel on offense coming off an extended break after having pummeled Minnesota last Thursday night.

A sustained running game from McFadden and the Raiders would limit the amount of possessions for the Buccaneers and keep Freeman and his back to back 300 plus yards passing in the last two games off the field.

The defense will need to build off their performances in the last two games as they have played shut out type defense in the second halves of the games against Jacksonville and Kansa City and will look for three in a row against Tampa.

Look for the Raiders to continue to employ the nickel defense with Wheeler and Miles Burris playing the linebackers in this scheme to limit Bucs WR’s, Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, while still supplying good run defense to stuff RB, Doug Martin, as the rookie was downright explosive last week against the Vikings where he scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown while accumulating 135 yards on the ground and another 79 yards through the air respectively.

A win this Sunday against the Bucs will pull the Raiders back to .500 for the season and could very well signal a turn-around of epic proportions for Oakland.

Perhaps it is somehow pre-ordained that this game against Tampa mark the return of the Raiders as it was this same Bucs team that Oakland lost to in Super Bowl XXVII that ultimately began the dismal decade long demise that all of Raider nation has suffered through ever since.

A win this Sunday could indeed mark the point that the New Era arrives and that in itself makes this the biggest game Oakland will play since the Texans game last October after the passing of Al Davis.

While the critics may balk at this statement, true Raider fans understand the trials and tribulations that this team has suffered through and have been waiting since the end of the 2011 season for this type of game where the Raiders can finally prove it is a new day in Oakland.

To the rest of the league, a win by Oakland may mean nothing more than just a .500 record, but to the diehard fans that pack the Black Hole and surround their televisions every Sunday, this is the game that the Raiders can use to banish the horrors of the past decade and even though there is still a ton of work left to do to truly prove the Raiders are finally back, beating Tampa Bay Sunday will go a long way in restoring some of the faith that has been lost to the greatest fan base in all of sports.

So go out there and win this one for Raider nation, the best fans in all of sports.

Just Win Baby!

Oh, and just how awesome was that Cleveland Browns' win over the San Diego Chargers? 7-6 how funny is that?