The Kansas City Chiefs got off to a rough start this season losing their first two games but they have rebounded winning three of the last four contests.  The Raiders have played much better than many thought they would as they are 2-3 right now.

The Chiefs will no doubt come off the bus running the football with Larry Johnson (394 yards rushing, 3.4 ypc) against a Raiders defense that is allowing 144.8 yards rushing and 5.6 yards per carry this season.  After the Chiefs establish the running game look for them to throw the ball deep to Dwayne Bowe and Jeff Webb.  Damon Huard must be careful when throwing the ball towards Tony Gonzalez as linebackers Thomas Howard (4 INTs) and Kirk Morrison (3 INTs) have been making big plays over the middle of the football field.

The Raiders will also look to run the ball with LaMont Jordan (466 yards rushing) and Justin Fargas (6.0 ypc) against a Chiefs defense that is allowing 117.7 yards rushing per game and 4.3 ypc.  The Raiders need to have a good running game against the Chiefs or they will have a hard time passing the ball.  That’s because the offensive line has allowed 16 sacks already this season and DE Jared Allen of the Chiefs is on fire as he already has 6 sacks this season despite missing a big chunk of the season to a league suspension.

PREDICTION:  The Chiefs will have a big game on offense and the Raiders won’t be able to keep up.  CHIEFS 27, RAIDERS 17.

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GEEZ, I GOTTA SAY

I THINK MY SISTER WITH ONE HAND TIED BEHIND HER BACK COULD AT LEAST THROWN THE BALL, COMPARED TO CULPEPPER. I MEAN THE RAIDERS LOOKED LIKE

A POP WARNER TEAM OUT THERE.

GET RID OF CULPEPPER AND NEXT YEAR WITH OUR DEFENSE AND OUR SUFFICIENT OFFENSE WE MAY HAVE A CHANCE.

The Oakland Raiders were just outmanned in this game, plain and simple.  Daunte Culpepper was a turnover machine as he completed 24 of 37 passes for 230 yards with 1 TD pass, 2 interceptions and a lost fumble.  LaMont Jordan played…..just not well as he carried the ball 18 times for 42 yards (2.3 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 46 yards (7.7 avg).  WR Ronald Curry led the way for the receivers on the Raiders with 6 catches for 73 yards (12.2 avg) and TE Zach Miller (3 rec, 17 yards, TD) also had a decent game.  The Raiders finished with 53 yards rushing on 23 carries (2.3 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 37 passes for 193 yards.

The “defense” was led by linebacker Thomas Howard who had three tackles and a interception that he returned 66 yards for a TD.  The Chargers rushed for 206 yards on 32 carries (6.4 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 21 passes for 156 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014024

The Oakland Raiders have a 2-game winning streak and they have played much better under rookie coach Lane Kiffin than anyone had a right to believe that they would.  The Chargers are coming off of their best performance of the season as they trashed the Broncos 41-3 last week in Denver.

The Raiders will come off of the bus trying to run the football against the Chargers.  The Raiders are averaging an amazing 194.3 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry so far this season.  The Raiders hope to have LaMont Jordan back (424 yards rushing, 128 yards receiving) from his back injury but they are in good shape even if he’s not ready.  That’s because Justin Fargas (261 yards rushing, 6.1 ypc) and Dominic Rhodes are more than capable of putting up big yardage behind the Raiders offensive line.  The Chargers do have a solid run defense as they are only allowing 92.8 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry.  The Raiders would like to throw the ball deep as long as Daunte Culpepper has time to throw the ball but the line could have problems blocking outside linebackers Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman.

The Chargers will likely come out running the football against the Raiders who have had no luck stopping the run.  The Raiders are allowing 129.5 yards rushing per game and 5.3 yards per carry this season.  Look for the Chargers to feed the rock to LaDainian Tomlinson (329 yards rushing, 194 yards receiving) and Michael Turner (201 yards rushing, 7.4 ypc, 2 TDs) early and often.  Look for the Chargers to run a lot of play action passes after the running game is established.  TE Antonio Gates (40 rec, 489 yards, 3 TDs) and WR Vincent Jackson (19 rec, 315 yards, 2 TDs) will challenge the tough secondary of the Raiders.

PREDICTION:  The Raiders will put up a better fight than most expect before the Chargers pull away late because they have better players, period.

With the Raiders running the football so much it would help if they started in better field position than they have so far this season.  Chris Carr is in a slump returning kickoffs as he has returned 18 of them for 379 yards (21.1 avg) but he has a solid track record so the Raiders will be expecting some big returns soon.  Rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins is in jeopardy of losing the starting punt return job because he has returned 7 punts for only 16 yards (2.3 avg) so far this season.  Chris Carr has returned 1 punt for 1 yard (1.0 avg) and he could take over if Higgins doesn’t pick up the pace.