A wet day in Oakland got off the a great start for the home team. But that great start wouldn’t last. Ultimately the Chiefs would pour it on and the Raiders were sunk.
Jalen Richard took the opening kickoff and returned it 50 yards to the Kansas City 47-yard-line. Three straight connections between Derek Carr and Amari Cooper put the Raiders at first and goal at the 4-yard-line. A few plays later, Carr threw it for Andre Holmes in the back of the end zone for a diving touchdown grab and a 7-0 lead.
A bit later, Carr would give the ball away on an ugly pass that fluttered high and well short of intended target Michael Crabtree and was picked off by Marcus Peters. The Chiefs would capitalize on the turnover through a series of runs and a couple of key completions to Travis Kelce for 21 yards and DeAnthony Thomas on a third down conversion. The tied the game on a run up the middle by Spencer Ware.
Attempting to answer, Derek Carr’s day got worse with a bobbled snap. DeAndre Washington recovered it, but along with a holding penalty on Kelechi Osemele, the Raiders were unable to pick the lost yardage and settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt. Sebastian Janikowski’s kick missed just wide left.
The Chiefs took the ball at the 34-yard-line and drove down the field for another touchdown. They got Jamaal Charles going on the drive, first picking up 17 yards on a run and then capping off the drive with a touchdown from 4 yards out. The point after was missed and the Chiefs led 13-7 midway through the second quarter.
Once again, a Raiders drive was stopped for no points. A couple more big AC/DC connections, including a brilliant pass and catch up the left sideline. But a drop by Seth Roberts had the Raiders failing on third and 5 from the KC 37-yard-line. Jack Del Rio opted to go for it on fourth and five and Carr went for Roberts again up the left sideline, with the pass sailing over his head out of bounds.
The Chiefs took over on downs and immediately drove back down the field, thanks to an absolutely gorgeous pass by Alex Smith to Jeremy Maclin for 38 yards up the right sideline. A huge run stop by Stacy McGee for a loss on third and one had the Chiefs settling for a field goal attempt. The kick missed and the Raiders took over at the 28 with :25 seconds left in the second quarter.
Carr went for Cooper for 9 yards, putting him over 100 yards (102) for the game. He wasn’t done though, catching the next pass for 15 yards. With :14 seconds left, Carr went for Clive Walford over the middle who got down quickly, the offense quickly ran to the line where Carr spiked the ball with one second remaining. Janikowski came out and hit the 46-yard field goal to put the score at 13-10 Chiefs at the half.
It was a lucky thing for the Raiders to be down just three points at the half with the way they were playing in this one. But that luck wouldn’t continue.
Just as the Raiders started the game with a touchdown drive, the Chiefs returned the favor to begin the second half. The big play was Spencer Ware finding room out left to shoot up the left sideline for 45 yards. It put the Chiefs in first and goal at the 3-yard-line. A few plays later, some trickery by the Chiefs with Alex Smith throwing a lateral to Dontari Poe (yes, the nose tackle) who bulled in for the touchdown from one yard out. The Chiefs took a 20-10 lead.
A couple of wild throws by Carr resulted in a three-and-out. Then it was the Chiefs turn to have a big return, with Tyreek Hill escaping several would-be tacklers to go 50 yards to the Oakland 37-yard-line. Then Alex Smith rolled right and threw to the opposite side to Spencer Ware who was wide open for a 30-yard catch and run to put the Chiefs in first and goal at the 6-yard-line. The Raiders defense stiffened up and kept the Chiefs out of the end zone this time. They settled for a field goal to take a 23-10 lead.
The two teams would exchange punts to end the third quarter.
With the start of the 4th quarter, the Chiefs started moving again. Running the ball well to move to the Oakland 26-yard-line where they would line up for a 44-yard field goal to take a 26-10 lead with about ten minutes remaining.
Down 16 points, the Raiders needed to get things going and they needed touchdowns. The next drive they looked to be doing just that, driving to the Chiefs 20-yard-line. Then Derek Carr attempted to scramble up the middle only to fumble the ball. The Chiefs recovered it and began running out the clock.
And 8-play drive took 3:42 off the clock, giving the Raiders just 3:32 left to try and score two touchdowns with two two-point conversions. That was just too tall of an order. The Raiders couldn’t even get past their own 25-yard-line. They went for it on 4th and 5 and Carr was sacked. The Chiefs took over on downs at the Oakland 20-yard-line and that was it.
Raiders fell to 4-2 on the season, back in a tie with the Denver Broncos for the division lead, while the Chiefs improve to 3-2.
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