Oakland Raiders vs Kansas City Chiefs Match Preview
NFL, Hosted by - United States
The National Football league called NFL.
Watch Today NFL Hot Game between
Oakland Raiders
vs
Kansas City Chiefs
Match scheduled:
03-01-2011 from 18:00 until 21:30GMT
Stadium : Arrowhead Stadium
Time (ET) - Sun, Jan 02 - 1:00 PM
Week 17
SIRIUS : 91 (OAK) Vs 154 (KC)
NFL Regular Season : 2011
What are you waiting for? Register for our Free Sports Picks Newsletter and get free football picks and Week 17 NFL Predictions delivered to your email every game-day!
What are you waiting for? Register for our Free Sports Picks Newsletter and get free football picks and Week 17 NFL Predictions delivered to your email every game-day!
Team fact
| Raiders | |
|---|---|
| Total Yards | 5330 |
| Passing | 3045 |
| J. Campbell | 2232 |
| B. Gradkowski | 1059 |
| K. Boller | 20 |
| Rushing | 2285 |
| D. McFadden | 1157 |
| M. Bush | 518 |
| J. Campbell | 189 |
| Receiving | 3311 |
| Z. Miller | 654 |
| L. Murphy | 580 |
| D. McFadden | 507 |
| Penalties | 138-1199 |
| 3rd Down Con | 69-207 |
| 4th Down Con | 8-19 |
| Turnovers | 25 |
| Sacks | 40 |
| Chiefs | |
|---|---|
| Total Yards | 5394 |
| Passing | 2882 |
| M. Cassel | 3001 |
| B. Croyle | 38 |
| T. Palko | 8 |
| Rushing | 2512 |
| J. Charles | 1380 |
| T. Jones | 879 |
| M. Cassel | 125 |
| Receiving | 3047 |
| D. Bowe | 1094 |
| T. Moeaki | 539 |
| J. Charles | 455 |
| Penalties | 85-732 |
| 3rd Down Con | 76-208 |
| 4th Down Con | 10-21 |
| Turnovers | 12 |
| Sacks | 35 |
While the Kansas City Chiefs are deserving AFC West champions, it's hard not to argue that the Oakland Raiders have been the dominant force this season within the division.
The Chiefs have little to play for in Sunday's finale at Arrowhead Stadium against the Raiders, who are bidding to finish 6-0 in division games.
Kansas City (10-5) has earned its first AFC West crown since 2003 after beating Tennessee 34-14 last Sunday. Matt Cassel threw three touchdown passes and two of them went to Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles, who also rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries.
How much action Cassel, Charles and Pro Bowl receiver Dwayne Bowe receive Sunday is up in the air. The Chiefs cannot secure a first-round bye, will finish as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed and will face Pittsburgh, Baltimore or the Jets in a wild-card matchup next week.
Kansas City also is bidding to finish 8-0 at home for the first time since 2003.
"I don't know what we're going to do," coach Todd Haley said. "We're going to do what we think gives us the best chance to win. That's where I'll leave it for now."
While the Chiefs are just 2-3 against the AFC West, Oakland (7-8) could become the first team to win every division game and miss the playoffs since the NFL went to divisions in 1967. The Raiders have not had a perfect AFC West mark since going 7-0 in 1976 - the year the franchise won its first Super Bowl.
Oakland is enjoying its best season since reaching the Super Bowl after the 2002 campaign, and has won three straight at Arrowhead Stadium. The Raiders, though, dropped all six non-division AFC games.
"It would be nice go in there and try to give them their first home loss and all that, sweep the division," defensive lineman Tommy Kelly said. "It's kind of hollow but, we achieved a goal but we didn't get the ultimate goal. So that's still kind of hard to swallow right there."
These are the best rushing teams in the NFL, with Kansas City averaging 167.5 yards per game and Oakland 152.3. Charles is second in the league with 1,380 yards - 56 behind Houston's Arian Foster - and is close to setting an NFL record.
Charles is the fourth running back in league history with at least 200 rushes to have a per-carry average of at least 6.0. He's at 6.39, which is the second-best mark behind Hall of Famer Jim Brown's 6.40 mark with Cleveland in 1963.
"Jamaal, he has developed," Haley said. "It's really an unbelievable development you've seen in him and you've got to give everybody credit."
The Raiders limited Charles to 53 yards on 10 carries and held Thomas Jones to 32 yards on 19 rushes in their 23-20 overtime victory Nov. 7. Oakland's Darren McFadden, 11th in the NFL with 1,157 yards rushing, carried 17 times for 89 yards.
The Chiefs have received numerous contributions on defense, most notably Tamba Hali's career-high 12 sacks and rookie safety Eric Berry's four interceptions. Kansas City is ranked 11th in total defense at 329.3 yards per game after finishing near the bottom of the league in 2009 in Haley's first season.
"They're all a bunch of guys who are developing each and every day," Haley said. "You can see that. The coaches have done a terrific job last year and this year of helping in that process and the players themselves have done a terrific job. It feels good as the head coach to see some of these guys grow up before your eyes and become players before your eyes."
The Raiders believe they are on a similar path, and will have to decide whether to bring back Tom Cable. The coach is in the final year of his contract, and Oakland holds an option for him to return for one season.
"It's a process to get there," Cable said. "This week is just the last step for this year, and that is to go out and win a game and finish the season 8-8, stop the losing record thing that has kind of been chasing this organization for a number of years as well as complete the sweep in the division. I think that would be a heck of a deal for our football team and launch us into the future and the next year."
The Raiders and the Chiefs have both seen how fates played out. The Raiders, improved from five wins last year to seven this season, were alive for a playoff berth until Kansas City ripped the Titans a new one.
Meanwhile the Chiefs, who finished last year with an outburst, went out and reassembled a coaching staff in similar format to the New England Patriots.
Most pundits will claim Sunday's game between the Raiders and Chiefs is meaningless, as both clubs have their respective futures settled. The Raiders are looking at another offseason without the playoffs, while the Chiefs are in, but it's anyone's guess if that will be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
But by any stretch of the imagination, this game does give the Raiders something to play for.
First and foremost, it is the chance to finish at .500. The last few seasons, dating back to 2002, very little has gone right in Oakland. Draft pick mistakes, blackouts, even the economy has dulled the league's perspective of the Raiders, leading the team to start putting the pieces to a team into place in 2007.
Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Zach Miller and longer holdovers Asomugha, Robert Gallery and others started assembling a team to function with. Some coaches were brought in with the belief that they would hold the skills to fix this team. Dating back, some coaches were brought in, but quickly fell out of favor for one reason or another: Norv Turner after bringing in Kerry Collins and chasing Jerry Rice out, Art Shell imploded and Kiffin opened his mouth one too many times.
This is now Cable's team, with Hue Jackson getting vocal at times. This is a squad, being led by a veteran in Richard Seymour, rookies Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston and has brought the Raiders to a 7-8 record.
After seven seasons of 11 or more losses, seven wins take care of two streaks the Raiders are glad to be rid of, but more importantly with seven wins, they cannot end this season with double-digit losses.
Both are nice statistics...what's more, it puts the club in position to finish at 8-8, a good mark to go into the next season with.
Likewise, the Raiders could still finish at second place, should the Chargers lose to the Broncos...by both clubs finishing at 8-8, the Raiders would have the tiebreaker. Also with a win Oakland would become the third team to finish 6-0 in their division...considering in the last seven seasons Kansas City, Denver and San Diego loved to play the Raiders.
Kansas City has made it known they plan to play their starters. This should make for a good game, however the coach for the Chiefs should realize something important.
Back in the 1990s the Houston Oilers were moving along nicely in the season. Warren Moon was chasing Dan Marino's record when Moon was injured in a junk game late in the season. Houston went to the playoffs and promptly hit the wall.
Does this fact worry Haley—that if the Raiders beat him once, a second game could spell the Chiefs starting Brodie Croyle for the playoff run?
Good luck to the Raiders...send the team out on a high note, and let the league know, the Raiders are no longer to be taken lightly.
The Chiefs have little to play for in Sunday's finale at Arrowhead Stadium against the Raiders, who are bidding to finish 6-0 in division games.
Kansas City (10-5) has earned its first AFC West crown since 2003 after beating Tennessee 34-14 last Sunday. Matt Cassel threw three touchdown passes and two of them went to Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles, who also rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries.
How much action Cassel, Charles and Pro Bowl receiver Dwayne Bowe receive Sunday is up in the air. The Chiefs cannot secure a first-round bye, will finish as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed and will face Pittsburgh, Baltimore or the Jets in a wild-card matchup next week.
Kansas City also is bidding to finish 8-0 at home for the first time since 2003.
"I don't know what we're going to do," coach Todd Haley said. "We're going to do what we think gives us the best chance to win. That's where I'll leave it for now."
While the Chiefs are just 2-3 against the AFC West, Oakland (7-8) could become the first team to win every division game and miss the playoffs since the NFL went to divisions in 1967. The Raiders have not had a perfect AFC West mark since going 7-0 in 1976 - the year the franchise won its first Super Bowl.
Oakland is enjoying its best season since reaching the Super Bowl after the 2002 campaign, and has won three straight at Arrowhead Stadium. The Raiders, though, dropped all six non-division AFC games.
"It would be nice go in there and try to give them their first home loss and all that, sweep the division," defensive lineman Tommy Kelly said. "It's kind of hollow but, we achieved a goal but we didn't get the ultimate goal. So that's still kind of hard to swallow right there."
These are the best rushing teams in the NFL, with Kansas City averaging 167.5 yards per game and Oakland 152.3. Charles is second in the league with 1,380 yards - 56 behind Houston's Arian Foster - and is close to setting an NFL record.
Charles is the fourth running back in league history with at least 200 rushes to have a per-carry average of at least 6.0. He's at 6.39, which is the second-best mark behind Hall of Famer Jim Brown's 6.40 mark with Cleveland in 1963.
"Jamaal, he has developed," Haley said. "It's really an unbelievable development you've seen in him and you've got to give everybody credit."
The Raiders limited Charles to 53 yards on 10 carries and held Thomas Jones to 32 yards on 19 rushes in their 23-20 overtime victory Nov. 7. Oakland's Darren McFadden, 11th in the NFL with 1,157 yards rushing, carried 17 times for 89 yards.
The Chiefs have received numerous contributions on defense, most notably Tamba Hali's career-high 12 sacks and rookie safety Eric Berry's four interceptions. Kansas City is ranked 11th in total defense at 329.3 yards per game after finishing near the bottom of the league in 2009 in Haley's first season.
"They're all a bunch of guys who are developing each and every day," Haley said. "You can see that. The coaches have done a terrific job last year and this year of helping in that process and the players themselves have done a terrific job. It feels good as the head coach to see some of these guys grow up before your eyes and become players before your eyes."
The Raiders believe they are on a similar path, and will have to decide whether to bring back Tom Cable. The coach is in the final year of his contract, and Oakland holds an option for him to return for one season.
"It's a process to get there," Cable said. "This week is just the last step for this year, and that is to go out and win a game and finish the season 8-8, stop the losing record thing that has kind of been chasing this organization for a number of years as well as complete the sweep in the division. I think that would be a heck of a deal for our football team and launch us into the future and the next year."
The Raiders and the Chiefs have both seen how fates played out. The Raiders, improved from five wins last year to seven this season, were alive for a playoff berth until Kansas City ripped the Titans a new one.
Meanwhile the Chiefs, who finished last year with an outburst, went out and reassembled a coaching staff in similar format to the New England Patriots.
Most pundits will claim Sunday's game between the Raiders and Chiefs is meaningless, as both clubs have their respective futures settled. The Raiders are looking at another offseason without the playoffs, while the Chiefs are in, but it's anyone's guess if that will be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
But by any stretch of the imagination, this game does give the Raiders something to play for.
First and foremost, it is the chance to finish at .500. The last few seasons, dating back to 2002, very little has gone right in Oakland. Draft pick mistakes, blackouts, even the economy has dulled the league's perspective of the Raiders, leading the team to start putting the pieces to a team into place in 2007.
Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Zach Miller and longer holdovers Asomugha, Robert Gallery and others started assembling a team to function with. Some coaches were brought in with the belief that they would hold the skills to fix this team. Dating back, some coaches were brought in, but quickly fell out of favor for one reason or another: Norv Turner after bringing in Kerry Collins and chasing Jerry Rice out, Art Shell imploded and Kiffin opened his mouth one too many times.
After seven seasons of 11 or more losses, seven wins take care of two streaks the Raiders are glad to be rid of, but more importantly with seven wins, they cannot end this season with double-digit losses.
Both are nice statistics...what's more, it puts the club in position to finish at 8-8, a good mark to go into the next season with.
Likewise, the Raiders could still finish at second place, should the Chargers lose to the Broncos...by both clubs finishing at 8-8, the Raiders would have the tiebreaker. Also with a win Oakland would become the third team to finish 6-0 in their division...considering in the last seven seasons Kansas City, Denver and San Diego loved to play the Raiders.
Kansas City has made it known they plan to play their starters. This should make for a good game, however the coach for the Chiefs should realize something important.
Back in the 1990s the Houston Oilers were moving along nicely in the season. Warren Moon was chasing Dan Marino's record when Moon was injured in a junk game late in the season. Houston went to the playoffs and promptly hit the wall.
Does this fact worry Haley—that if the Raiders beat him once, a second game could spell the Chiefs starting Brodie Croyle for the playoff run?
Good luck to the Raiders...send the team out on a high note, and let the league know, the Raiders are no longer to be taken lightly.
0 comments:
Post a Comment