Raiders Rally Late to Win At Kansas City

By Jon McClanahan aka Raider Jon  |   Monday, September 21, 2009  |  Comments( 17 )

Oakland Raiders
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Watching Jamarcus Russell throughout the day, nobody would have thought he would have been able to pull off the comeback. Four of his Seven completions came on the final Raiders drive.

It looked like the Raider Defense of recent years had came out to play on Sunday - allowing the Chiefs to run for over 170 yards on the day. Though the Chiefs ran for more yards than the entire Raider offense was able to produce, they were unable to finish drives and put points on the board. Give most of that credit for keeping the Chiefs from scoring to Safety Michael Huff - a player most thought would not even be starting this season.

Huffs first interception came on the opening drive of the second half. Just as Cassell and the Chiefs were about to cross the 50-yard line, Huff jumped the route and returned it for 10 yards. His second came two Chief drives later as the Chiefs looked to be moving through a tired defense with ease. Cassell took the ball and the pass was behind his reciever, but Huff was hawking and was able to get it easily.

Though the Chiefs were moving in spurts, the defense kept the Raiders in front 6-3 until late in the 4th Quarter. With Nmandi Asomugha on the sideline dehydrated, the Chiefs marched 72 yards and took advantage of the reserves with a 29 yard pass to Dwayne Bowe.

With 2:30 on the clock after the kickoff, Jamarcus Russell came onto the field and became the field general the Raiders wish he was 100% of the time. A first down incompletion and a false start penalty on Zach Miller had the Raiders facing a 2nd and 15 from their own 31, but Russell stood resilient and found rookie WR Louis Murphy for 19 yards - who wisely was able to get out of bounds. Another false start, followed by a sack, it seemed things were going to end badly. However, a personal flag for roughing the passer would give the Raiders life again.

Facing a long 3rd and 15, Russell was able to find Todd Watkins for a 29 yard gain and then hit McFadden for another 9 yards. With a little over a minute remaining, McFadden took the pitch left and ran in for the go ahead touchdown.

After a touchback by Janikowski, the Chiefs attempted to drive again but on 3rd and 1, Greg Ellis sacked Cassell. The Chiefs facing a 4th and 4 found their hope of a comeback thwarted by none other than Michael Huff as he knocked the ball away from TE Jake O'Connell.

Quick Hits

* Russell looked worse than a rookie throwing for 109 yards on the day. It seems as if alot of it is an adjustment he will need to make with his mechanics. Because Russell is so much taller than most, his balls come out at a higher level. It wasn't so much obvious on his long throws, but moreso when he attempted to check down to the running backs. His timing with the rookies is also not there as his passes were often behind the players on crossing routes.

* Again - the Raiders MUST run the ball. I know Al Davis loves the excitement of the long ball, but 12 McFadden rushes and 9 Bush ... what are you paying them for if you're not going to give them the ball?

* Not as good of a defensive showing as Monday night, but kudos to the Raider defense for not allowing the Chiefs to finish drives.

* Darrius Heyward-Bey had his cherry popped with an 18-yard pass.

* Lastly ... it was apparent that Matt Cassell was an inexperienced guy when he decided to throw the ball short with time running out in the 2nd half. Had he thrown the ball away, the Chiefs could have attempted a field goal to close the half out. Thank you Matt for not using your head.

The Raiders(1-1) will host the Denver Broncos (2-0) next Sunday. The Broncos easily beat what looks to be the worst NFL team in the league in the Browns 27-6.
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CommentsComments: 17  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
dmpraider		06:56 AM
09/21/2009
Well done the defence for keeping us in the game as offensively we were dreadful............. Russell didn't look like he could ...
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No.2
bigsnow81		08:53 AM
09/21/2009
I was totally surprised that Russell drove down field for the TD. If Russell's performance at his pro-day workout was anything ...
No.3
daddio1012000		09:29 AM
09/21/2009
After watching all of yesturday's game I have come to two conclusions: 1) The Raiders need an offensive co-ordinator. Cable is ...
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