Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders Recap

In the 105 th edition of this storied NFL rivalry, it was Chiefs Hall-of-Famer Emmett Thomas who had the first & last laugh as he watched his defensive secondary pick off six Raider passes, including two they returned for touchdowns, to lead KC to a rout at Oakland by a final score of 28-0. It was the largest margin of victory ever for the Chiefs on the Raiders home field & the first time they shut them out since a 30-0 win at Arrowhead in 1997.

Thomas had his charges primed for aggressive play vs the Raiders unsettled quarterback situation & it paid off quickly when Kendrick Lewis intercepted Kyle Boller’s first pass of the game & returned it 59 yards for an early 7-0 Chiefs lead. Later in the first quarter KC marched 61 yards on 9 plays with Le’Ron McClain fumbling the ball into the end zone ala Dave Casper to O-line teammate Jon Asamoah so he could score his first NFL touchdown.

On their first possession of the 3 rd quarter the Chiefs drove to the Raiders 7 then executed a direct snap to defensive back Javier Arenas who blasted in untouched to give KC a 21-0 lead that sucked all the noise out of the black hole. In desperation the Raiders turned the quarterback reigns over to recently acquired Carson Palmer. On his third possession Palmer threw a 58 yard touchdown pass to the Chiefs Brandon Flowers to provide the final points of the contest.

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The only action of note following that was in garbage time as the Raiders were flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct so the Chiefs attempted a long pass downfield rather than run out the clock. Obviously the animosity between these two squads runs deep. Be sure to tune in when Oakland visits Arrowhead on Christmas Eve this season!

Looking ahead the suddenly resurgent Chiefs astoundingly have a chance to take over first place in the AFC West if they can scare up a victory over the Chargers at Arrowhead on Halloween Monday Night Football. Meantime Oakland limps into their bye week with a decidedly bitter taste leftover from getting stomped by their longtime rivals. Even the beat up & woefully defensive Broncos led by flutter armed but strong running quarterback Tim Tebow can be considered in the mix in the wacky AFC West. The looming question is though, are any of these teams truly contenders for this years AFC Title?

By Allan Gardner
ProFootball-fans.com Kansas City Chiefs Correspondent