Monday, October 14, 2013

RAIDERS FALL TO KANSAS CITY 24-7






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By     Scary Barry Rodriguez          October 13, 2013

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City , Mo - It is always tough for opposing teams to win at Arrowhead Stadium. Just how hard it is, was experienced by the Oakland Raiders this Sunday. The hometown crowd set a record for the loudest in the league surpassing the noise in Seattle with an ear shattering decibel level of 137.5 ! Add to this a stifling defense that sacked Terrelle Pryor 10 times.

For the Raiders the game started well. The defense forced the Chief's QB Alex Smith to throw the ball away numerous times and held Jamaal Charles running in check early in the game. On the offense Terrelle Pryor didn't force any throws but Darren McFadden couldn't produce much on the ground. Yet , when in doubt let Pryor run the ball ! In the second quarter Pryor hit Denarius Moore with a beautiful 39 yard pass for a touchdown and Oakland went ahead 7-0 . It was a 6 play , 78 yard drive .

Kansas City managed to score late in the second quarter when Jamaal Charles ran it in from 7 yards out to put the score at 7-7 . This was the score at the half. Up to this point the Oakland Raider's offense hadn't turned the ball over and their defense had held          Alex Smith and the Kansas City offense in check !

The second half was a disaster for the Oakland Raider's offense which suffered 3 interceptions , numerous penalties and more sacks ! Early in the third quarter Pryor was intercepted by Q. Demps who was brought down at the Oakland 23 yard line. This resulted in a short field for the Kansas City offense. Jamaal Charles ran the ball in from the 2 yard line to put the Chiefs ahead 14-7. This had been the third Oakland possession in the quarter. The Raider's Charles Woodson had recovered a fumble to choke off a long Kansas City drive yet the offense turned the ball over.

In this nightmare sequence of events the Raider offense starting at  their own 8 yard line , suffered a Marcel Reese offensive Pass interference penalty for half the distance to the goal , a False start by M. Brisiel , a delay of game penalty by Terrelle Pryor and then put the icing on the cake with an interception !

Could things get worse ? The answer was yes ! The Oakland defense continued to play tough but two more interceptions by Terrelle Pryor and a four and out offense kept them on the field too long. The Chiefs scored ten more points in the fourth quarter to salt the game away . R. Succop booted a 33 yard field goal after another Raider turnover . Then with only 1:35 left on the game clock H. Abdullah intercepted a Pryor pass at the Oakland 44 yard line and returned it for a pick six . To put the score at 24-7 .

Despite the loss the Oakland Raiders are still progressing in their rebuild mode. They are a team putting together many diverse elements on the fly. Terrelle Pryor is recognized all around the league as a major talent. With no running game to speak of he was forced to try and make things happen. He is the biggest threat for the Oakland offense. He ran for 60 yards and passed for 216 more. The Kansas City defense leads the NFL in takeaways and sacked him 10 times. The Raiders are down to using their third string center Brisiel and their best offensive lineman Stefan Wisnieski is out.

The one constant is the Oakland Raider defense. This collection of youngsters and seasoned veterans are maintaining their level game in and game out. When the entire teams puts together sixty minutes of good play they will become a wining team. Right now they are a dangerous team for one half only !The statistics for the Kansas City Chiefs for this game certainly didn't jump out of the page at anyone. Jamaal Charles had a good second half and Alex Smith didn't make didn't make many mistakes. Throw in a butt kicking, ball hawking defense and it adds up to a 6-0 team !



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