Silver and Black Report

Following a last-minute touchdown by the Detroit Lions that handed the Oakland Raiders their third straight loss, the Raiders now need some help from other teams in order to find themselves in the postseason for the first time since 2002.

In order to make the playoffs by winning the AFC West, the Raiders must win their final two games and get some help from the team they play this week, the Kansas City Chiefs. In order for the Raiders to catch up to the first place Denver Broncos, the Chiefs must defeat the Broncos in the final week of the season. This would give the Raiders a 4-2 divisional record, and the Broncos a 3-3 divisional record, giving the AFC West crown to the Raiders.

Winning the AFC West is definitely the desired outcome, as it would give the Raiders a first-round playoff game at home. But the Raiders have another possible route to the postseason but also requires help from the rest of the NFL.

In order to win the last AFC wildcard spot, the Raiders still need to go 2-0 but also have the Cincinnati Bengals go 0-2, or 1-1 with losing to the Ravens in week 17, and the Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets lose at least one of their remaining games to get the Raiders into the playoffs because of the conference record tie-breaker.

Bottom line is that the Oakland Raiders must first start by defeating division rival Kansas City Chiefs at noisy Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs are coming off of a week in which they saw former head coach Todd Haley get fired and then witnessed interim head coach Romeo Crennel lead them to a win against the then-undefeated Green Bay Packers.

The Raiders last took on the Chiefs in week 7, the same week that they acquired quarterback Carson Palmer from the Bengals. Following an emergency entrance of Palmer in the second half, the Chiefs ended the game with six interceptions total on Palmer and starting quarterback Kyle Boller. Palmer finished the game 8-21 for 116 yards and three interceptions after being on the Raiders roster for just a few days.

Palmer will hope to have a much different day against the Chiefs this week as he takes on their ninth best pass defense. The Chiefs are only allowing 209.6 opposing passing yards per week thus far.

Unfortunately for Palmer, it looks like he will not be seeing the return of wide receiver Jacoby Ford this week either, as he has still not returned to practice from his foot injury. After returning last week from his own foot injury, it looks as if rookie Denarius Moore will get the start again along side Darrius Heyward-Bey who is having a breakout season and becoming a favorite target of Palmer.

Head coach Hue Jackson also hinted that Moore is likely to be used as the Raiders primary punt returner on Sunday in hopes of providing a spark.

With the return of star running back Darren McFadden nowhere in sight yet, it will be Michael Bush who once again gets the nod. Bush has a career-high 841 yards this season thus far, and hopes to break the 1,000-yard mark for the first time of his career.

Rookie speedster Taiwan Jones returned to practice this week and will provide a solid option should Jackson look to spell Bush with a quicker, shiftier back.

Jones and Bush will be going up against a Chiefs defense that is ranked 24th in the NFL, allowing 130.4 yards per game on the ground.

Oakland’s defense will be facing a different Chiefs quarterback than the one they faced earlier this season, yet it is a familiar face indeed. Incumbent starter Matt Cassel was placed on the IR with an injury to his throwing hand, causing the Chiefs to claim former Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton off of waivers.

In their only meeting with Orton this season thus far, Orton finished 24-46 for 304 yards, one interception and one touchdown as the Raiders came away with the 23-20 win in Denver for the season opener.

The Raiders defense has proven to give up the big play and is allowing 243.8 passing yards per game, including 391 yards to the Lions last week. The Raiders will need to keep an eye on star wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who leads the team with 69 receptions for 986 yards and four touchdowns.

Oakland will also need to contain the Chief’s rushing attack, which is composed of veteran Thomas Jones, utility back Dexter McCluster and their bruising back Jackie Battle, who were all forced to take on a larger role after star running back Jamaal Charles went down with a torn ACL in week 2.

The Raiders gave up 139 yards to the Chiefs in their week-seven meeting, and will look to slow the Chiefs down this week. In order to do this, middle linebacker Rolando McClain and the rest of the defense will have to maintain gap control and not over pursue.

The Raiders must also find a way to cut down on their penalties, not only if they hope to win the remaining two games, but also if they hope to not break the record that is currently held by the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs.

With two weeks remaining in the season, the Raiders are 109 penalty yards short of the Chiefs 1,340 penalty yards, and 19 penalties short of their 158 penalties in 1998.

Should the Raiders defeat the Chiefs on Sunday, they must finish the season strong by defeating the San Diego Chargers in their final game of the season at O.Co Coliseum on New Year’s Day.

On Sunday, the Oakland Raiders (0-1) hit the road for the first time in the season to face the rival Kansas City Chiefs (0-1). Kansas City has won 10-of-12 against their old AFL adversary and leads the series 51-44-2 in regular season meetings. Last week, the Chiefs played an admirable game on the road against the Baltimore Ravens before losing 38-24. Oakland pushed around the San Diego Chargers for most of their contest to start the season, but ultimately lost 24-20 on an 89-yard drive late in the contest.

OAKLAND RAIDERS

On Offense:

Oakland’s receiving corps needs a major boost. On Monday night, Louis Murphy, the rookie from Florida, provided that spark. Now, with Nick Miller sidelined with a fractured right shin (expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks), Johnnie Lee Higgins hurting with a A-C joint sprain sustained versus the Chargers and Chaz Schilens not expected back until possibly in week-four, the Raiders must either continue to ride the wave with Murphy, be surprised by Darrius Heyward-Bey, who has not looked ready to take the majority of the reps, or hope that Javon Walker can give them anything.

“I’m trying to get out of the old Javon (mode),” Walker said, who was ready to go in wee-one, but was held out by Tom Cable. “The old Javon would be ranting and raving right now. I just take what I can get.”

“I feel like I am a receiver still in my prime. I am still young just 30 years old. A lot of the top receivers are my age or a year older. Its kind of difficult because I am in a situation where all the receivers here are a year or two years. That is just the politics of football and you got some young guys, and I mean young. If you look at it statistically everybody here is young. That might be the direction they are going in.I am just playing my role for what it is right now.”

What to Expect:

The Chiefs allowed 198 yards last week versus the Ravens. Oakland will keep it on the ground and try to punish Kansas City the way they manhandled San Diego in week-one. This time, Oakland will try to sustain it throughout the game and incorporate more of Darren McFadden into the aerial attack with short dump offs and screens. McFadden had his career game last year at Arrowhead with 164 yards in a Raider win. With JaMarcus Russell having some accuracy issues and the receivers looking suspect, it will be in the Raiders best interest to get the ball to McFadden and Michael Bush with screens.

On Defense:

After looking aggressive, physical and rejuvenated with the acquisition of Richard Seymour, the Oakland defense reverted to a safe mode as the Chargers marched on them late for the victory.

Scheme wise, it appeared that John Marshall hit the brakes peddle, which took away their dominance in the trenches and tough play. “(It was) players playing too far back. That’s all of it. That’s coaching, that’s being confident in how we’re going to do this to close it out. It’s almost like we got into a prevent mode rather than just continuing to play defense,” said Cable.

What to Expect:

At first glance, Kansas City may not seem like a foe that will give Oakland problems. But Larry Johnson has had big games versus the Silver & Black and Jamaal Charles has ability. The Raiders need to cement their week-one performance with another hard-nose effort against the Chiefs. If the run-defense keeps Kansas City under-wraps, it will go along way in building confidence that they are legitimately a solid defense. That is why Oakland will probably slow down the Chiefs on the ground and force them to beat them via the pass. Matt Cassel is a game time decision.

On Special Teams:

With Miller out and Higgins nicked up, Hiram Eugene took some reps returning punts this week in practice. Louis Rankin also fielded punts, but he will likely continue his role as the primary kick returner. If Oakland decides that the punt team looks shaky, Higgins may see isolated action as a punt returner just to have a set of sure hands fielding them.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

On Offense:

Todd Haley may wait till game time before he decides whom to play at quarterback against the Raiders.

Matt Cassel is nursing an injured left knee and was again listed on the league’s injury report as not being a full participant in Thursday’s practice. But he has felt better and the workload in practice has been increased, leading many to think he may see action on Sunday. “It was a little bit more, definitely,” Cassel said. “Last week I was limited to certain things. I couldn’t do certain movements, and this week my workload has definitely gone up. We’re still in the healing progress. That’s part of the injury, but at the same time we’re making progress.”

What to Expect:

The Chiefs scored 10 points early in the 4^th quarter last week versus the Ravens and tallied 131 of their 188 yards in that span. Against the Raiders, Haley will like to see more consistency, so moving the chains via the ground and keeping the Raiders safeties busy with play-action, mis directions and deeper routes will be in order. Dwayne Bowe, Bobby Engram and newly signed Bobby Wade will have to cause the Raiders fits. Mark Bradley can be a threat if he focuses and is able to bounce back from his rough week-one not being able to convert some third downs, despite his 50-yard catch and run.

On Defense:

Getting off the field is the theme of the week for the defense. The Ravens converted 10-of-17 third downs last week, which took a toll on Clancy Pendergast’s unit. “Those are the money downs,” strong safety Mike Brown commented. “That has been harped into us this week.

“We get off the field on third down, and there’s no problems.”

What to Expect:

The Chiefs 3-4 defense could present some issues to Russell. Linebackers Mike Vrabel, Demoorrio Williams, Corey Mays and Tamba Hali are versatile enough to hide in coverage, and this week they’ll bring more heat after Joe Flacco passed 43 times and was only sacked once.  Pendergast has to hope that the front three of Tyson Jackson, Tank Tyler and Glenn Dorsey can disrupt the flow of the Raider offensive line enough to force Russell into long down and distances and obvious passing situations. If they can’t slow the Raider rush, it will be a long day. If they can force the Raiders to drop back and toss the football 25-30 times, they may be able to get off the field more consistently and maybe facilitate some mistakes.

GAME NOTES

- Kansas City has won 14 of their last 20 home openers. The Chiefs are 12-1 and when Johnson gets 30+ carries.

- “I’m not even thinking about the first catch,” rookie Darrius Heyward-Bey said this week. “People want to see the stats. Everyone wants to see the big numbers. But reality is, if you come in, put in the work and help the team win …

“If you look at it that way, it’s great. If you look at it the other way, you’re like ‘When is it going to happen?’ ”

- Khalif Barnes practiced this week and commented on possibly playing guard: “That’s interesting,” Barnes said. “That shocks me too. To be honest with you, the guy, when you’re like pass-rushing, is right on top of you. That’d be a difference, and you’d be enclosed by two different people pretty much all the time. At tackle you’re pretty much at the job by yourself.”

- Various reports have CB Chris McAlister interested in signing with the Silver & Black. The 32-year old was cut by the Ravens in February.

- Greg Ellis was limited in practice on Thursday (sore shoulder), but will start on Sunday.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Oakland’s Offensive Line vs. Kansas City’s Front-Seven

The Raiders must maul the Chiefs in the trenches. They have to set the tone early as they did on Monday night versus the Chargers and get McFadden and Bush running down hill. If they do that, Oakland will be able to ride a strong ground game to victory. If not, the game could get interesting, especially if Russell has to pass a lot and face a 3-4 scheme with disguised coverage.

Asomugha and Co. vs. Bowe, Bradley and Engram

I have a feeling that Haley will try to open up the offense in hopes of surprising the Raider defense. After Asomugha, the Raider secondary can be exposed.

Getting Heat on Croyle/Cassel

Richard Seymour, Trevor Scott, Greg Ellis and the rest of the Raider rushers have to put the heat on whoever is at quarterback for the Chiefs.

PREDICTION

Raiders 23 – Chiefs 19

TV & RADIO

The game will be televised on CBS with Kevin Harlan providing play-by-play and Solomon Wilcots handling color analysis. The game will air locally on KPIX Channel 5. The game will also air in Sacramento on KOVR Channel 13 as well as on KHSL in Chico, KION in Monterey and KJEO in Fresno. The game will air on Raiders Radio originating on KSFO 560 AM, the Silver and Black Flagship for the multi-state Radio Network. Greg Papa and former Raiders player, assistant and head coach Tom Flores will man the booth for the 12th straight year. The radio pregame show and postgame show will feature Raider Legends George Atkinson and David Humm along with KSFO’s Rich Walcoff. (Broadcast information cited from the official Raiders web site)

GAME INFO

Sunday, September 20, 2009, 10 a.m. PT  |  Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Home Team: Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) Home: 0-0 Road: 0-1

Road Team: Oakland Raiders (0-1) Home: 0-1 Road: 0-0

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist

Coach Haley speaks about being the new coach in Kansas City and where he feels his is at this early point in the season. He also offers comparisons of his team needing dicipline to how children need discipline in their development, but in the same breath said that there was no comparison. I think he back away from himself from accidentally calling his players children.

I also asked him about the identity of his football team and if he thought the team has gotten away from it’s run first roots.

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