Tuesday, December 26, 2006 | Posted by Clayton Wendler

You almost have to feel sorry for fans of the Oakland Raiders. Eight times they've faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the last four years. And eight times, they've lost.

But it's not just the losing. It's how they've lost. Four years in a row, the Chiefs have ripped Oakland's hearts out and stomped on it at the last second.

It's become almost comical the way the Chiefs have been beating the Raiders, as if they were caught in some alternate Groundhog-Day universe where Marcy was perpetually yanking the football away from Charlie Brown at the last minute.

Except it didn't happen that way this time. There was no last-second victory for the Chiefs on Saturday night in a 20-9 win over the Raiders. But there was still plenty of reasons to shake your head and laugh at the "Silver and Lack."

Let's start with the unfortunate twist of fate that forced Oakland to start Andrew Walter at quarterback instead of Aaron Brooks. Back in November, Brooks strolled into Arrowhead Stadium and almost singlehandedly beat the Chiefs. He slipped out of seven or eight sacks like a greased pig and came within eight yards of beating Kansas City.

On the bench with a neck injury Saturday night, the Raiders turned to Walter. Not surprisingly, he was sacked four times, fumbled twice and threw two interceptions.

Other than that, there wasn't an enormous difference between this game and the first meeting in Kansas City. The Raiders had a similar offensive output (326 yards in October, 307 Saturday night) and managed to hold down the KC passing attack while surrendering yardage to Larry Johnson.

For a while, just like in the first game, it looked like these Raiders might actually have a chance. Chiefs' fans had to be disgusted after Justin Fargas looked like Marcus Allen on Oakland's first drive, staking the Raiders to a 3-0 lead.

And then Shell and the Raiders just sort of forgot Fargas existed. Maybe Al Davis put in a call from his owner's suite, commanding shell to stop that "running the football" nonsense. "We're the Oakland Raiders! We throw the football! Even if we have no one to catch it!"

And so it was that Fargas, after touching the ball 10 times on Oakland's first three drives, only saw it nine more times for the better part of the last three quarters.

And then the turnovers started to flow like wine. Oakland gift-wrapped five presents for the Chiefs Saturday night. Four of them dramatically shifted momentum in KC's favor at the most inopportune of times for Oakland.

The first came with Oakland driving, threatening to cut into the Chiefs' four-point lead early in the game. Unable to escape from a sack, Walter put the ball on the ground and presented the Chiefs with their first gift - a short field for an easy 27-yard field goal drive.

The second came, once again, with the Raiders driving. Oakland had a great chance to go into the halftime with the lead or trailing by a single point after moving the ball 47 yards to midfield.

And then Lucy yanked the ball away, again. Walter was sacked by Jared Allen and, as you might have guessed, he also fumbled. The Chiefs took the turnover and cashed it in for a 17-6 lead.

The third was perhaps the cruelest of them all. Down 20-9, the Raiders actually appeared to be making a game of it, threatening for a touchdown.

Walter dropped back and saw his tight end, Courtney Anderson, wide open over the middle of the field.

This was it! The Raiders were going to get back in the ballgame! "This looks like a sure touchdown," Walter undoubtedly thought to himself, as he fired the ball with authority toward the end zone.

And then Lucy yanked the ball away again, almost literally this time. Kansas City safety Jarrad Page came out of nowhere and plucked an interception out of the air.

The fourth was a simple parting gift. The Raiders were already dead with only five minutes remaining, but they had one last present for the Chiefs. Johnnie Morant fumbled the ball away after a 15-yard completion, effectively ending the game.

And that fifth turnover? It was meaningless, but you have to marvel at the sheer ineptness of the Raiders on the play.

Oakland attempted a Hail Mary pass just before the first half ended. But rather than a Hail Mary, it was more like, well, just hail.

Walter threw the ball into a crowd of Chiefs defensive backs in the end zone, with not a Raider in sight. Instead of battling a wideout for the ball, Page was competing with his own teammates.

So while there were some post-play scuffles that threatened to break out into fistfights in this game, as there always is in this rivalry, the Chiefs will undoubtedly thank the Raiders. After all, Christmas is a time for giving.
"We'll be OK."

The offense may not have pulled alongside the defense quite yet, but Art Shell's offseason shams have already caught up to him.

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