Raiders Lose To Chiefs At Booming Arrowhead Stadium
By JL Herrera
The Oakland Raiders failed to get a second AFC West division win against the Kansas City Chiefs at the very loud Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 24-7 as the Raiders were shut down after the first quarter.
In the first quarter, the Oakland Raiders drew first blood in front of their rivals' raucous fans (who happened to break the Guinness World Record holders, the Seattle Seahawks, for being the loudest fans) with a 39-yard passing touchdown via Denarius Moore. After that, Terrelle Pryor and the Raiders did not show much and were pretty much shut down. In this game, the Raiders offense should be held responsible for the loss.
Bad Offense
Grade: D
The Raiders offense should be held responsible for the loss against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. The running game did not work out too well. Darren McFadden had 16 attempts and only ran for 52 yards. The same happened to Rashad Jennings, who also did not add a lot of yards (12 yards in four attempts.)
The passing game was not bad by Pryor (total of 216 yards) but the passes that mattered never came. The only one that amounted to anything was the scoring touchdown in the first quarter to Denarius Moore.
The offensive line had a bad day at the Arrowhead Stadium. There were too many fouls that killed a few drives. Also, the tackles did not provide good coverage to Pryor, who was sacked 10 times. The offense was also responsible for the last Chiefs score—under the two-minute warning Pryor was picked, and the interception was returned for a touchdown.
In the end, the offense did not look up to par. Maybe it was the noisy crowd. Another note: the offense never got in the red zone.
Defense
Grade: B
The Raiders defense did OK. Yes, they lost, but they held their own. The defense sacked quarterback Alex Smith three times and held him to 128 passing yards with no passing touchdowns. The defense also caused a fumble when the Chiefs were driving for a third touchdown in the third quarter. They kept the Raiders in the game; however, the offense could not capitalize on the only turnover that favored the Raiders.
The only weakness for the Raiders' defense was their inability to stop running back Jamaal Charles. Charles ran for a decent 78 yards; however, he scored two touchdowns in the red zone. He also had 50 yards from receptions. Basically, Charles was the offensive force that led the Chiefs to achieve 17 points. The last touchdown for the Chiefs was made by the defense from a pick.
The Quarterback
Grade: C-
Terrelle Pryor did not shine this Sunday against the Chiefs like he did against the Chargers last Sunday. Pryor's scrambling did not work out too well because he was sacked 10 times. The Chiefs came at him aggressively and gave the Raiders quarterback a hard time every time. Also, half of the sacks could have been avoided by getting rid of the ball. Many times, while being out of the pocket, Pryor held on to the ball too long.
Pryor's passing game was not bad. Again, he added yards in the air but the times that needed to be worthy of anything did not happen. In the end, he threw for 216 yards with a touchdown, but he was picked three times. One of the three picks was returned for a touchdown in the last quarter, killing the Raiders hopes to tie the game.
Special Teams
Grade: C
It was a conservative day for special teams with only one good play. D. J. Hayden had a 22 yard punt return in the third quarter that was the best that came from this unit.
Sebastian Janikowski missed a 51-yarder in the first quarter that would have given the Raiders a 10 point lead while the Chiefs were still scoreless. Yes, it was a 51 yards, but those attempts have to be made, especially when a team is looking to add more wins to its record. In a sense, the was the Raiders last chance to score.
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J.L. Herrera is a huge fan of football and has been following the Raiders since the 1980s during the LA era. J.L. is also a freelance writer and copywriter on the web. He taught English for a little more than a decade in Los Angeles at the secondary level. While writing for web based news outlets, J.L. enjoys reading, creative writing, and watching sports. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
