Raiders vs Chiefs 2nd half thread

The Oakland Raiders were hoping for a fast start to this game, but not in the way they ended up getting. The Chiefs returned the opening kickoff to midfield, and then their first play from scrimmage was a 49 yard TD reception for Jamaal Charles. Within half a minute into the game it was already 7-0 Kansas City.

The Raiders needed a response after such a sucker punch from the Chiefs and they got one by way of Marcel Reece. The first play from scrimmage went for 45 yards on a pass to Reece which put the Raiders into field goal range. Sadly, Reece and McGloin were not on the same page later in the drive and missed out on an easy TD and then Mychal Rivera dropped a 3rd down pass so the Raiders only added 3 on the drive making the score 7-3.

Once the Chiefs got the ball back it seemed like the Raiders defense was much better prepared. It turned out they were only better prepared as long as the Chiefs weren't passing the ball to Jamaal Charles because once they did it again went for a long TD. This one was a 39 yard screen play for a TD and it came on 3rd and 19, it made the score 14-3 Chiefs.

If you were hoping things would get better after that, well they didn't. They looked like they might when the Raiders started the drive with a 26 yard play to Rod Streater, but then reality struck when McGloin threw a terrible pass intercepted and returned for a TD by Eric Berry. In but a blink of the eye it was already 21-3 Chiefs, and there was still more than 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

Despite the awful start, Matt McGloin and the Raiders came out firing still on their next drive. A long pass interference penalty followed by a long catch and run by Rod Streater set the Raiders up for a 1st and goal inside the 10. They scored a TD on the drive with a Marcus Allen like dive over the pile by Rashad Jennings to make the score 21-10. So far somebody has scored on every single drive of the game.

Directly after writing that the Raiders came up with a stop and forced the first punt of the game which was kicked too long and went for a touchback. Too bad they fumbled the snap and turned the ball over deep in their own territory. A few plays later Jamaal Charles ran it in for an easy TD making it 28-10 Chiefs.

The Raiders got stopped early on their next drive and had to punt, but they faked it and got the first on a nicely executed pass by Marcel Reece. It was all for nothing as just two plays later Matt McGloin turned the ball over for the 3rd time of the game, this one being the second interception by Eric Berry. It was a long return with a late hit penalty to put the Chiefs inside the Raiders 20. One play later it was another TD reception for Jamaal Charles and the score was 35-10.

Finally some luck went the Raiders way. On a 3rd down play the Chiefs should have had another interception returned for an easy TD but it was dropped. In disgust to his drop the Chief removed his helmet which kept the drive alive. A long pass to Denarius Moore, a pass interference in the end-zone on a pass meant for Mychal Rivera, and then a 1 yard run by Rashad Jennings made the score 35-17.

The Chiefs got the ball back with 3 minutes left in the half. They drove it to midfield but could not go farther than that. They punted the ball back to the Raiders who did not do anything with it in the waning seconds. The Chiefs lead the Raiders at the half 35-17.