The Oakland Raiders will face the Kansas City Chiefs today in a throwback game, in which the Chiefs will be sporting their Dallas Texans uniforms and the Raiders will be in black jersey with their throwback helmets.
Since nobody will be seeing the game on television, we’ll be posting live game updates here on TFDS. Also, check back later for our postgame recap.
So let’s get started.
The following is the INACTIVES/ROSTER CHANGES for the game:
Oakland Raiders
INACTIVES
- Charlie Frye (3rd QB)
- Todd Watkins (WR)
- Ricky Brown (LB)
- Khalif Barnes (OT)
- Erik Pears (OG/OT)
- Javon Walker (WR)
- Nick Miller (WR)
- Greg Ellis (DE)
LINEUP CHANGES
- Matt Shaughnessy starting for Greg Ellis (knee) at DE.
Kansas City Chiefs
INACTIVES
- Matt Gutierrez (3rd QB)
- Donald Washington (CB)
- DaJuan Morgan (S)
- David Herron (LB)
- Justin Rogers (LB)
- Bobby Wade (WR)
- Jake O’Connell (TE)
- Sean Ryan (TE)
LINEUP CHANGES
- Jon McGraw starting for DaJuan Morgan at FS
- Leonard Pope starting for Sean Ryan at TE
- Chris Chambers starting for Bobby Wade at WR
1:00 pm PST
The National Anthem was just played as a huge American flag was unveiled across the field and afterwards, the Blue Angels performed an unexpected fly-by. Unfortunately, the performance was done in front of a very sparse crowd here at Oakland Coliseum. Even the Black Hole is pretty empty.
1:08 pm PST
After Jonathan Holland returned the opening kickoff to the Raiders’ 30, Russell passed to Chaz Schillens to open the game. Schillens, getting his first reception of the season for six yards. On the very next play, Michael Bush ran 60 yards to put the Raiders on the four of Kansas City. Two plays later, Justin Fargas punched it in for the touchdown. Raiders up 7-0.
1:19 pm PST
Chris Johnson, appeared to be beaten on a 40-yard bomb, made up ground and virtually ripped the ball out of Dwayne Bowe’s hands for an interception at the Raiders’ 33. The officials called him down by contact, but that may have been a bad call. The Raiders begin their second possession.
1:24 pm PST
The Raiders have now used all three of their half backs on the day–and we got to see the Wildcat formation as well. Darren McFadden came out and ran the Wildcat for two plays and five yards. The first play he ran over the right tackle and on the second, he handed the ball off to Johnnie Lee Higgins on an end around to the right side. Russell’s pass fell incomplete on third down, so Shane Lechler came in to pin the Chiefs on their own nine-yard line.
1:30 pm PST
The Chiefs tried to run towards Richard Seymour. Bad idea. He stuffed the run on first down, then the Chiefs had an incomplete pass in which the receiver was lucky he dropped the ball before Sam Williams crushed him. On third down, after trading five-yard penalties, Matt Cassel stepped into a pass, but Richard Seymour was there to bat it away. The Raiders will begin their possession at their own 37.
1:36 pm PST
The Chiefs’ defense has tightened up and the Raiders are finding it difficult to move the ball on the ground. They are also having a difficult time catching it. On first down, McFadden dropped an easy pass that would’ve gone for 10+ yards, on second down, Michael Bush was stuffed for no gain and on third down Justin Fargas dropped an easy screen pass.
JaMarcus Russell hasn’t been off-target today. After dropping the pass, Fargas picked up the ball and spiked it for a five-yard delay of game penalty. Lechler came on to punt and had it not been for a shoe-string tackle by Luke Lawton, there might have been trouble for the Raiders on the return. Chiefs ball at their own 31.
1:41 pm PST
The Chiefs were able to get on the board finally. It was really nothing that the Raiders did wrong, but instead it was what the Chiefs did right. Cassel threw a beautiful sideline pass to Chris Chambers for a 30-yard gain. The Chiefs’ drive stalled at the Oakland 32 and Ryan Succop kicked a 50-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.
1:46 pm PST
I may have spoke too soon. Russell missed on two passes on this possession, throwing behind both Zach Miller and Louis Murphy on second and third downs for incompletions. The Raiders punted the ball, but the Chiefs return man fumbled and the Raiders recovered at the Kansas City 37.
1:49 pm PST
The inept Raiders’ offense was only able to pick up five yards on the drive, but that was enough for a Sebastian Janikowski 50-yard field goal. Raiders lead 10-3.
2:02 pm PST — End of the first quarter
The Chiefs weren’t able to convert a first down on their next drive. On first down, Tommy Kelly broke through the line for a sack. On second down Thomas Howard came through to stuff the run, leaving the Chiefs with a third and 17 play. On that play, the Chiefs gained 16.8 yards and asked for a review on the spot. The officials ruled that they were inches from a first down, so the Chiefs punted to the Raiders.
Johnnie Lee Higgins, didn’t come up to field the punt, waiting for the ball to bounce and lose about 10 yards, before he grabbed the ball and left the Raiders to start their drive at their own 15. After one rush, the end of the first quarter came. Russell has been plagued by dropped passes today. On third and three, Russell threw to Louis Murphy who simply dropped what would have been a first down play. The Chiefs, after the punt, will start at their own 34.
2:04 pm PST
Quick note about the crowd — the stadium has filled up a lot more from the start of the game, but there are still plenty of seats available. A rough estimate would be somewhere near 49,000 fans.
2:08 pm PST
Chris Johnson came fingertips away from a pick-six, but he wasn’t able to hold onto the ball. The Raiders held the Chiefs to a fourth and one play from the Raiders’ 44. The Chiefs went for it, and ran off the left tackle. Raiders’ defenders were in the backfield but couldn’t get to Jamaal Charles, who was able to escape and find a few holes for the 44-yard touchdown run. As he scored, he put his finger to his mouth as to silence the crowd, which the play itself did. After the PAT, the score is tied at 10 with 12:25 to go in the half.
2:16 pm PST
Crazy turn of events for the Raiders’ offense. After Russell completed a pass to Chaz Schilens for 11 yards, the Raiders rushed on first and ten for four yards. Then Russell went to work, throwing a bomb to Darrius Heyward-Bey, who let the ball slip through his arms at the five. On third and six, Russell threw to a wide-open Louis Murphy who took the ball to the six, before being knocked out of bounds. Unfortunately, Robert Gallery was called for tripping, but on review I couldn’t see the infraction. So, on third and 16, Russell was pressured and sacked for a 13-yard loss, but the Chaz Schilens was also called for illegal formation. The Raiders punted to the Chiefs who will start at their 26.
2:24 pm PST
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to implode. The Chiefs had no trouble moving the ball on the Raiders’ defense. Cassel hit Dwayne Bowe, who was uncovered by Nnamdi Asomugha because for some reason he released him, for a 41-yard gain. Two plays later they were at the Raiders’ seven after a 24-yard pass to Chris Chambers. The defense held at that point, but the damage was already done. The Chiefs got the 25-yard field goal from Succop to take the lead 13-10.
2:28 pm PST
It took nearly 25 minutes of the game before the crowd began booing Russell. He’s obviously rattled and threw two passes over receivers. On first down, it was over the head of Schilens and on third and six, he overthrew an open Johnnie Lee Higgins that almost turned into an interception. After the series, the crowd began booing loudly. The Chiefs will start their drive at their own 19.
2:32 pm PST
The Raiders’ defense allowed one first down on a 13-yard pass interference call on Chris Johnson. The official didn’t need to call the penalty because Bowe made a nice one-handed grab anyway. Cassel had one pass batted away from Tommy Kelly, which was fortuitous for Oakland because it might have gone for a long gain. On third and eight, the Chiefs tried a wide receiver screen to Chris Chambers, but the Raiders were able to sniff it out and stop him for only six yards. The Raiders will start their drive from their own 19 after the punt was called for a fair catch.
2:36 pm PST
Two-minute warning and the Raiders are about to punt. Mario Henderson was called for holding on a third and two run that would’ve resulted in a first down. On third and 12, Russell threw to Higgins for nine yards, but Henderson was called for holding again. It looked like a ticky-tack call, but it didn’t matter. The penalty was declined.
2:39 pm PST
57-yard punt for Lechler and a return of only two yards. The Chiefs will begin at their own 17.
2:42 pm PST
1:34 to go, and the Chiefs had a third and eight play from their own 19. They ran around the left edge for seven yards. On first down, Nnamdi Asomugha crushed Jamaal Charles on a screen pass, for a five-yard loss. It was definitely the tackle of the game so far. Dustin Colquitt punted to Higgins who caught the ball at the Raiders’ 20 and ran backwards four yards before being tackled at the 16.
2:47 pm PST
Higgins made up for his punt return with a 15-yard reception to begin Oakland’s series without any timeouts. The drive stalled after a Zach Miller nine-yard catch. Higgins dropped an easy pass over the middle and left the game apparently in pain. Fargas dropped a pass over the middle for a first down. Then on fourth and inches, the Raiders went for it with a QB sneak, but the exchange was fumbled. Fortunately for Oakland, Kansas City had called a timeout before the play and the Raiders got the opportunity to change their minds and send Lechler on the field. Lechler’s punt was fair caught at the Chiefs’ 10.
2:52 pm PST
The half ends with Kansas City up on the Raiders 13-10. The half almost lasted two hours. That’s a long, long half. When the second half begins, the Chiefs will get the ball.
3:13 pm PST
The Chiefs were able to take the opening kickoff of the second half and move the ball to the Raiders’ 34. That’s where their drive ended and they brought in Succop for the field goal. It looked like the kick may have been hit, but I couldn’t tell. The result was the same–the field goal went wide left and the Raiders begin their drive from their own 41.
A little from the first half stats. Russell was 8-19 for 64 yards in the first half, but by my count, he should be 15-19. Had his receivers been able to hold on to his passes, the Raiders could be winning this game by two scores. Michael Bush leads all rushers with five carries for 69 yards–60 of that came on his first carry to set up the Raiders’ lone touchdown. Higgins leads all Raiders with receptions (3) and has been targeted the most as well (5). Those three catches are for 27 yards. Now if he could only return a few punts for positive yards.
Whatever the outcome of this game, don’t blame Russell for this loss. Special teams has been horrible, the Raiders’ secondary (including Asomugha) has been suspect, and the rest of the offense hasn’t played well either.
3:25 pm PST
The Raiders were able to drive down the field, only to get to Kansas City’s 22 and revert back to their first-half mediocrity. On third and 10, Russell passed to Zach Miller for a first down, only for the play to be called back due to Samson Satele blocking down field before the pass was caught. Then, Russell attempted to pass, but under pressure and a defender around his legs, he overthrew his running back. The play nearly resulted in a pick, but the Chiefs defender dropped the ball. To make matter worse, Janikowski came out and sliced his 45-yard field goal attempt wide left. Kansas City takes over at their own 35.
3:31 pm PST
This is just a game of really bad football. One team makes good plays and looks like they are gaining momentum, then they blow it and whatever they’ve done ends up being for nothing. The Chiefs drove down to the Raiders’ 13, were stopped on third down a yard short of the first down–so they went for it. Richard Seymour was yelling at Nnamdi Asomugha about something prior to the fourth-down play and pounding his chest with his right arm. It didn’t look like Asomugha was participating in the discussion. The Chiefs had Cassel roll right on fourth down. He had a wide open receiver over the middle, but didn’t see him. Instead, Cassel tried to throw to his receiver on the right sidelines, but Tyvon Branch got in front of it, and picked the pass out of bounds. Raiders will take over at their 13.
3:37 pm PST
Russell couldn’t move the ball and on third down he under-threw Brandon Myers. As he left the field, he was booed heartily by the crowd. When he got over to the sidelines, Tom Cable went over to the bench, talked to him, and called for Bruce Gradkowski to warm up. We have a new quarterback for the Raiders on their next possession. The Chiefs start from the Raiders’ 48 and fumble, where Thomas Howard recovers at the Chiefs’ 49. Gradkowski comes on the field to loud cheers by the crowd.
3:40 pm PST
Cornell Green is helped off the field after the first play of the drive. Langston Walker replaces him at right tackle.
3:42 pm PST
Walker didn’t last long. Green stepped back on the field after one play. On third and four, Gradkowski’s pass was batted down and Lechler was called on the field for the punt. The Chiefs will begin their next drive at their own 13.
3:46 pm PST — end of the third quarter
It will be third and one on their own 22 when the fourth quarter of this game begins.
3:49 pm PST
Cassel almost throws a pick to Chris Johnson on third and one. On the punt, Higgins misplays the punt and let’s it bounce about 15 yards to the Raiders’ 20. No return.
3:54 pm PST
It looks like Gradkowski can throw behind his receivers as good as Russell. On a second down play, he threw behind a wide open Gary Russell and instead of getting the first down, he was faced with a third and two. Good thing that Fargas can make good runs. The veteran running back was able to 15 yards on the next play, breaking at least three tackles in the process. Fargas then gained seven yards, four on second effort alone.
On third and three from the 47, Gradkowski threw behind Higgins who tipped the ball up, then the ball was tipped by Brandon Flowers and into the hands of Mike Brown. The Chiefs get the ball back at the 50 after the interception.
4:05 pm PST
The Chiefs turn the interception into three points and now lead the Raiders 16-10 with 6:17 left in the game. The big play came on third and 11 when Nnamdi Asomugha was caught mugging Dwayne Bowe. It doesn’t look good Raider Nation.
4:12 pm PST
The Raiders have had their last stand. On first down, Gradkowski threw a nice bomb to Louis Murphy, who was covered well, but Murphy couldn’t come down with the pass as he used one hand to attempt to catch it. On second down, Bush made a nice four-yard run, but that left the Raiders with a third and six play. On that final play, Gradkowski was forced out of the pocket and into the waiting arms of Alex Agee for the sack. The Raiders punted to the Chiefs and they will start their next drive at their own 29.
4:19 pm PST — Two-minute warning
The Chiefs’ drive may have been stopped at their 45. It’s fourth and eight with Dustin Colquitt on the field to punt. A Raiders touchdown will tie the game and a Janikowski PAT will win it. Janikowski’s miss looms large right now.
4:31 pm PST — Game over
Higgins fair-caught the punt at the Raiders’ 19. The Raiders had one timeout to start the drive. He completed his first pass to Chaz Schilens for nine yards, then his second to Higgins for 14 yards, before scrambling nine more of his own. After a run by Fargas for no gain, the Raiders called a timeout. Cable was complaining to the officials about something during their final timeout. Gradkowski then appeared to have completed a pass to DHB, but the officials reviewed the play. For once, the Raiders got a good review–the play stood and the Raiders had a first and 10 from the Chiefs’ 25 with 38 seconds to play.
On the very next play, Gradkowski threw to a wide open DHB who inexplicably bobbled the ball straight in the air. Mike Brown again intercepted the ball and the game is over. Chiefs 16 – Raiders 10.
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