Other than the fact that this is the most significant game that the Oakland Raiders have played since 2003, what else do we know about the upcoming AFC West battle with our fierce rivals the Chiefs?
First, I want to point out some classy posts by Chief fans over the past two weeks:
Here's to a great game and hopefully an injury-free game on both sides. Football. Chiefs vs Raiders. Just the way both Lamar and Al would have wanted it. - upamtn
There are certain people in certain moments of history who do things that no one else could have or would have. Al Davis would fall into this category. His strength of will and desire to win had more of an impact on the AFL and NFL than perhaps any other individual. - MNChiefsfan
The AFC West has the best rivalries in the NFL, bar-none even though we dislike each others team there’s a time and place for the rivalry, and this isn’t the time.
See you guys in a couple of weeks and for today I’ll say something I’ve never said:
"Go Raiders". - THE_TRUTH
I know that each of us on S&BP have much more respect for our rivalry after these thoughts put to words made their ways to our site. Thank you for that. This truly is just a game and to play a respected opponent is to have a true football game.
Now let's take a look at some numbers that will make this game one of those where you throw out the records and then again maybe some that show an advantage:
The Raiders are riding an eight game winning streak against the AFC West with their last loss being at home against the Chiefs almost two years ago (Nov 15th, 2009).
Since that loss nearly two years ago the Raiders have outscored the Chiefs 54-20, including a demeaning 31-10 thrashing that some look at as a reason for their poor performance in the fist round of the 2010 Playoffs. I am sure that the Chiefs have had this date circled for awhile.
The Chiefs are coming off of a BYE week. With the Raiders in Quarterback flux, this may prove to be an advantage for the Chiefs because the offense will be more of a base offense which is what they have been preparing to defend for two weeks.
On the statistical side of things, the Chiefs look pretty bad:
The Chiefs are 26th in yards per game, while the Raiders are 11th averaging nearly 70 yards more per game, 372-313.
The Chiefs are only averaging 15.7 points per game while the Raiders are averaging 26.7
The Raiders are averaging .5 yards more per carry than the Chiefs, 5.1 - 4.6
On the defensive side of things, the Chiefs are last in the League in points allowed with 30 per game while the Raiders are giving up 25.
As far as INT/FF/PDef/Sacks the numbers look like this:
Oakland 5/4/47/16
KC 5/4/31/5
Looks like defensive front four of Oakland does a better job of getting after the quarterback and the defense overall does a better job of knocking the balls down.
As far as strength of schedule to this point, the Raiders have lost to the Bills and Patriots and the Chiefs have lost to the Bills, Lions and Chargers.
The Raiders have beaten the Jets, Texans, Browns and Broncos while the Chiefs have struggled to beat Minnesota at home and the Colts on the road.
Both teams are facing tremendous losses as the Chiefs have lost their dynamic running back, Jamaal Charles and their Pro-Bowl safety, Eric Berry, while the Oakland Raiders have lost their starting quarterback, Jason Campbell and most improved D-Lineman, Matt Shaughnessy.
As Hue Jackson says, this is a "Next Man Up" league and the Raiders will be relying on Desmond Bryant and either Carson Palmer or Kyle Boller (Hue has said that no starter has been named) and the Chiefs will be relying on Jackie Battle who ran for 119 yards last week.
We all know that we can can throw out the records and the stats when these two play, but, is there anything that you'd like to add?
Cheers,
Saint
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