Raiders win ugly one over Chiefs to stay in playoff hunt

The Raiders’ playoff hopes got a boost on Saturday as they were able to stave off the Chiefs in Kansas City. The game was ugly with several turnovers and yellow flags all over the field for both teams. But the Raiders were able to pull out the win in overtime 16-13 and stay alive in the AFC West.

Things got started quickly for the Raiders as Bryan McCann took the opening kickoff 91 yards to the Chiefs’ 14 yard line to set up the Raiders’ first points on a field goal. The Raiders held on defense and were putting together a good drive until Carson Palmer was hit as he threw and it was intercepted.

The Chiefs took over near midfield and would answer with a field goal of their own later in the first quarter. From there it got really messy.

There were a total of 19 penalties in the first half alone by both teams, which amounted to 115 yards. The Raiders alone had 11 penalties for 62 yards. None were more costly than the delay of game penalty on a fake field goal that negated a touchdown run by Brandon Myers.

There was also three interceptions — two by Carson Palmer and one by Kyle Orton. Orton was intercepted by Matt Giordano in the end zone and was returned 61 yards to put the Raiders in great field position late in the second quarter. But Carson Palmer would give it right back to the Chiefs when he threw into double coverage.

The Chiefs would not give the ball back again and drove into field goal range to try and go ahead at halftime. But on the field goal attempt, Richard Seymour got up and blocked it to keep the score tied at three.

The Raiders would start the second half holding the Chiefs to a three and out. Then on the ensuing drive, Palmer hit Denarius Moore for a 61 yard touchdown connection to put the Raiders up 10-3.

Again the Chiefs would respond but they were kept out of the end zone and settled for a field goal to pull within four at 10-6.

Late in the fourth quarter, Sebastian Janikowski was able to add another field goal to put the Raiders up by seven. Then the Chiefs again responded and with 2:57 remaining, they moved the ball downfield to score the game tying touchdown. The drive took just 1:55 thanks in large part to a big Dexter McCluster screen play that went 49 yards to the Raiders’ 3 yard line. The Chiefs finished it off on the next play with a touchdown pass from Orton to Dwayne Bowe.

The Raiders could do nothing with it when they got it on offense and punted it back to the Chiefs.

The Chiefs got the ball with 18 seconds on the clock, and thanks to a 25 yard completion to Dwayne Bowe, they were in business. The finishing touch was an 11 yard sideline grab by Terrance Copper to stop the clock at :05 and set up Chiefs’ kicker Ryan Succop for the game winning field goal from 49 yards out.

But on the kick, Richard Seymour got up AGAIN to block it. Just as he did to end the first half, he blocked the field goal attempt to keep the score tied. This time it sent the game to overtime.

The Raiders got the ball first in the overtime period, and after a 57 yard catch by Darrius Heyward-Bey, they sent Janikowski onto the field on third down and he ended it with a 36 yard field goal.

The win, combined with a Broncos loss, puts the Raiders squarely in the race for the AFC West crown as well as the playoff hunt. It puts the Raiders tied with the Broncos for the division lead. The Raiders are also still in the hunt for the one remaining wildcard spot as well. They are currently tied with the Jets and Titans and a game behind the Bengals. They were tied with the Chargers to begin the day and will either take a game lead or remain tied depending on the result of the Charger game against the Lions.

The Raiders finished the day with 15 penalties for 92 yards. They now need just 4 penalties for 11 yards for the NFL single season record.

Box Score

Follow me on Twitter @LeviDamien or befriend me on facebook.