Countdown to Paydirt: Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Oct. 11, 2013


The Oakland Raiders are coming off of a big 27-17 victory late Sunday night against the San Diego Chargers but now head to Kansas City to take on another division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Things don't get any easier against the Chiefs as their new regime has them unbeaten on the season at 5-0.

New Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and new quarterback Alex Smith have the offense doing enough to win games while the team relies heavily on its strong defense.

Smith and the passing game is only averaging 227.8 yards per game, but Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles and the Chiefs rushing attack are averaging 120.6 rushing yards per game, 12th in the NFL.

The Raiders defense will need to continue their strong play with strong gap discipline as Charles is a dangerous threat that can take it the distance at any moment. Averaging 79.4 yards per game, Charles is coming off of his best game of the year where he torched the the Titans defense for 108 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. He also added five receptions for 37 yards. The Raiders defense will also need to keep an eye on Charles out of the backfield due to his strong receiving capability.

Raiders quarterback and Terrelle Pryor will have their hands full as they take on a stout Chiefs defense. The Chiefs currently rank first in the NFL with a +10 turnover margin while allowing just 11.6 points per game, also the best in the NFL.

Pryor has not thrown an interception since the two he threw in week one and he will need to continue that trend against a ball-hawking Chiefs defense. Pryor needs to make sure he makes the correct reads and avoid throwing the ball to the men in red.

Though it is not yet known who will be available to play running back for the Raiders, it appears that they would be capable of having a big day. The Chiefs weakest point on defense is no doubt their rush defense, as they're allowing 115.0 rushing yards per game, 21st in the NFL. On the other hand, the Chiefs are allowing only 197.8 passing yards per game, the fourth best in the NFL.

Should Darren McFadden and/or Rashad Jennings be available on Sunday, expect offensive coordinator Greg Olson to look to get them going in an attempt to open up the passing attack a little.

Turnovers and special teams could prove to be crucial pieces of this game and the Raiders will look to take charge in those aspects of the game.

WR Jacoby Ford
• Needs 38 kickoff return yards to pass George Atkinson for seventh place on the
Raiders’ all-time KOR yards list.

DE Lamarr Houston
• Needs five sacks to enter the top 20 in Raiders team history

K Sebastian Janikowski
• Has now converted on 133-consecutive PAT attempts.
• Needs just 79 points to reach 1,500 for his career.

RB Darren McFadden
• Needs 91 rushing yards to move into eighth place on the Raiders’ all-time rushing
list.
• Needs 5 receiving yards to eclipse 1,500 yards for his career.

WR Denarius Moore
• Needs 324 receiving yards to reach 2,000 for his career.

QB Terrelle Pryor
• Is currently third amongst all quarterbacks with 229 rushing yards. Pryor could
eclipse the Raiders’ single-season mark of rushing yards by a quarterback with just
299 more yards. Rich Gannon set the mark in 2000 with 529.

WR Rod Streater
• Needs 188 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for his career.

S Charles Woodson
• Needs five interceptions to tie Ed Reed for first on the interceptions list among all
active players with 61.
• Needs one INT-TD to pass Rod Woodson for first on the all-time list with 12.
• Needs one defensive touchdown to pass Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for the
most defensive touchdowns in NFL history with 13.

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