Visitor:  Oakland Raiders

Home:  Kansas City Chiefs

Date:  January 2, 2011

 

Scoring:

Team               1          2          3          4          Final

OAK               0          10        7          14          31

KC                  3          0          7          0            10

 

Visitor playmakers:

WR Kenny Britt, TE Jared Cook, LB Jason Babin, DT Jason Jones, LB Will Witherspoon

 

Home playmakers:

RB Jamaal Charles, WR Dwayne Bowe, S Eric Berry, DB Brandon Carr, DT Glenn Dorsey, DE Tamba Hali, LB Andy Studebaker

 

Network:  CBS (KCTV Kansas City)

Announcers:  Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon

 

Pregame:  Yes

Halftime:  Yes

Postgame:  No

Commercials:  No

 

Grade:  9.5/10

 

Notes:  Michael Bush rushed for 137 yards and Jason Campbell threw a TD pass for the Raiders, who beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium for the fourth year in a row and ruined their perfect home record.

 

Running back Darren McFadden and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Richard Seymour were inactive because of injuries, but the Raiders dominated from start to finish, intercepting two of Matt Cassel's passes and getting seven sacks. The interceptions both led directly to Oakland's last two scores. Jacoby Ford scored on a 10-yard reverse after Michael Huff's interception, and Stanford Routt returned a pick 22 yards for the Raiders' final TD when Cassel was hurried while throwing from his end zone.

 

The Chiefs were still digesting their lopsided loss several hours later when Indianapolis beat Tennessee 23-20 and determined their seed and first-round opponent.

 

The Chiefs' worst home game of the season came on the heels of news that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is returning to college coaching to become Florida's offensive coordinator. Weis, in one year with the Chiefs, has been given much credit for developing Cassel into a top-flight quarterback and turning Jamaal Charles into a Pro Bowl running back.

 

The Raiders had 344 total yards to Kansas City's 201 and held the top-rated rushing offense to 115 yards on the ground.

 

Jamaal Charles, who trailed Houston's Arian Foster by 56 yards for the NFL rushing lead, had 87 yards on 14 carries, including a 47-yard burst that was KC's offensive highlight. He finished the regular season with 1,467 yards and came within a whisker of catching Jim Brown's NFL record of 6.40 yards per carry. He finished at 6.38.

 

Running time:  3:27 (3 DVDs)