Raiders- Chiefs Game 15

 Why are we talking playoffs, if I wrote the Silver and Black off last week?  Because, The Raiders play in AFC West, and right now it's up for grabs.... again. Oakland was once in command and then came that bothersome three game losing streak. Denver took the reins behind the man who could do no wrong (Tim Tebow) but now they've suffered back to back blow outs. Both the Chargers and Chiefs are mathematically eliminated.

Here's the scenario for Sunday's action, The Raiders win, Denver loses and Oakland is in. The Raiders win and Denver wins, then the Broncos are in. If both lose, Denver still holds the tie breaker and they make the playoffs.  Even if Denver wins the divisional title, The Raiders could get a wild card if they win and The Bengals lose. If the Raiders, Broncos and Bengals lose, then the universe will implode and it won't fucking matter anyway. Just two weeks ago John Elway was a high fiving motherfucker in the owner's box, I wonder how he feels now?

New Orleans ran up the score on Atlanta (thus allowing Drew Brees to break Dan Marino's all time record for most passing yards in a season. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the blow out, with some calling Sean Peyton & Brees classless for making every effort to break the mark. It's all bullshit, if Atlanta had played better defense then Brees wouldn't have gone all Marino on them.

It was a weird Sunday, The Colts beat The Texans, New England needed a big rally to edge out Miami, Minnesota ran past Washington and lost Adrian Petersen in the process (serious knee injury) Buffalo romped over Denver (fourth quarter melt down by Tim Tebow) Green Bay got back on track against Chicago and The Raiders inexplicably found a way to win, 16-13 in overtime against a Kansas City squad that had just beat down previously undefeated Green Bay the week before.

I had The Raiders dead and buried, so of course the defense picked that moment to step up and keep an opponent under twenty points for the first time since their 24-17 win over San Diego on Nov. 10th. After the game Hue Jackson reminisced “The man told me, `Hue, we’ll win it in the end.’ I believe that,” said Jackson, referring to Al Davis,  “I don’t know how it’s going to happen. I don’t care how it’s going to happen.” 

This game had all tell tale signs of another lost opportunity for Oakland, leading 13-6 late in the fourth quarter, Kyle Orton took The Chiefs down the field for a score to tie the game with 1:02 left to play. The Raiders then failed, in typical Raider fashion to run out the clock or score, thus allowing Kansas City to attempt a field goal as the clock ran out. From 49 yards out, Ryan Succop had his try blocked by Richard Seymour (the second blocked field goal of the game for Oakland)

Fucking ironic! The Raiders who were crushed by a last second blocked field goal against Detroit now had life thanks to a blocked field goal. Oakland wasted little time in overtime, taking just over two minutes to score. Carson Palmer connected with Darrius Heyward-Bey down the left side for a 53 yard gain. Sebastian Janokowski then came out to attempt a 36 yard field goal, his kick was on the money. With Denver getting horse whipped at Buffalo, the Raiders found themselves back in the playoff picture. 

Raider Notes: 

Oakland committed 15 penalties for 92 yds., one wiped out a touchdown off a fake field goal that saw Shane Lechler feed a shovel pass to Brandon Myers, who ran untouched into the end zone. The Raider offense was only 3-11 on third down, which led Carson Palmer to say, “An ugly win is better than a pretty loss” You bet it is!, hell a K.C. forfeit would have been just fine considering how poorly Oakland had played coming into this game.

The first half featured a comedy of errors as they both clubs struggled to a 3-3 draw at the half. The Chiefs who had racked up 438 yds. on offense vs. Green Bay, had nothing going for them in front of a raucous home crowd. Kyle Orton threw  two interceptions, one into the end zone in the first half and the other as Kansas City was moving the ball down the field in the fourth quarter.

Carson Palmer was 16-26 passing for 237 yds. including a 61 yd. td. strike to Denarius Moore in the third quarter. Michael Bush ran for 70 yds. on 23 carries. The Raiders were outgained 435 yds. to 308 by Kansas City, Kyle Orton completed 21 passes for 300 yds. The Chiefs had twice as many first downs as Oakland  26 to 13.  

Highlights: Darrius Heyward-Bey's catch to set up the field goal and Richard Seymour blocking the field goal

Lowlights: Penalties and failure to convert third downs

The Otherside: Kyle Orton is a good fit for Kansas City

The Mouth That Roared:

"We had three penalties at halftime last week, then in crucial times at the end, we get penalties and lose the game," Jackson said. "This time, we went the other way. It's like Jekyll and Hyde."

"Sometimes it's not about the yards, it's about the attempts," Jackson said. "Sometimes you've just got to keep slamming it up there."

"Hell of a call from Hue," Heyward-Bey said. "He has a lot of guts. Carson threw a great ball, and I sold it perfectly. When we put it in last week, I knew we were going to call it, but I didn't think we were going to call it on the first play of overtime."

"Sometimes you keep a play in your pocket," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "We'd been running, running, running. We had a little motion, a little ghost fake, and Darrius kind of came up under control and then hit on a corner route. It was a great throw by Carson."