Chiefs win crucial contest over Raiders with best effort in 2016
The Kansas City Chiefs went into the Black Hole and took apart the Oakland Raiders, showing all of us who they can be.
This game wasn’t pretty at first. The Chiefs fell behind 7-0 and were getting torched with D.J. White pressed into action against Amari Cooper. Things looked even worse at the end of the first half, when Cairo Santos missed a field goal and then the defense allowed one, cutting their lead to 13-10 at the break.
And ya know what? None of it mattered. Kansas City absolutely dominated the second half, outscoring Oakland 13-0 in a 26-10 win. With the victory, the Chiefs moved to 3-2 on the season and are 2-0 in the AFC West. While Kansas City is a half-game back of the Raiders and Denver Broncos, they are tied in the loss column and have the best division record.
Somehow, the Chiefs are in the driver’s seat.
This win belongs to everyone. Alex Smith was incredible, completing 19-of-22 throws for 224 yards without an interception. Smith spread the ball out all over the place, finding nine different receivers. it was a beautiful sight, especially since we barely saw a screen pass all day.
The running game was also a sight for sore eyes. Jamaal Charles got nine carries for 33 yards and a touchdown, his first since coming back from a torn ACL. Meanwhile, Spencer Ware put on his big boy pants, rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.
Defensively, Marcus Peters added his league-leading fifth interception in the first quarter, leading to Kansas City’s first touchdown. The rest of the secondary struggled badly in the early going before tightening up in a big way. All told, Derek Carr threw for 225 yards on 22-of-34 passing.
The star of the game was Dee Ford, though. Ford was all over the field, recording two sacks and showing up in both coverage and setting the edge. Ford had two sacks, including a strip-sack of Carr while the Raiders were driving late in the fourth quarter. His second sack ended the game.