Monday Morning Quarterback: Chiefs 34, Raiders 27
December 6th, 2004 @ 1:57 pm; by Raider Hater
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Just like the past few weeks the Chiefs once again carried a lead into the fourth quarter, but this time they managed to hang on for the win. The Chiefs snapped their four-game losing streak in a big way, downing the hated rivals in Oakland, 34-27. It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it was impressive nonetheless. A win over a division rival on the road is always big. Here are some of my thoughts on the game:
The defense once again gave up a ton of yardage and let yet another average quarterback look like an all-pro, but they were able to stop the Raiders when the game was on the line.
The defense gave up 364 yards of total offense, but only 153 yards and one score in the second half.
It’s hard to find a defensive star in a game like this, but I thought William Bartee made some nice plays. Early on he did a nice job covering Doug Gabriel on several long pass attempts and he led the team with seven tackles.
The Raiders never really tried to establish much of a running game but when they did try to run the ball the Chiefs did a great job of stuffing it. For the game the Raiders only ran the ball ten times for 30 yards.
The Chiefs last drive of the first half was a thing of beauty – 17 plays, 70 yards – but I didn’t like the play calling when they got down to the Oakland five-yard line. With one timeout left, the Chiefs threw three straight incompletions and had to settle for a field goal.
I really thought the Chiefs were in trouble trailing 20-10 at the half, but the coaching staff did an excellent job of making some adjustments and firing up the team for the second half.
The Chiefs put together three of their best drives of the season to open the second half:
1. 8 plays, 86 yds. TD
2. 7 plays, 80 yds. TD
3. 13 plays, 74 yds. FG
One big reason that the Chiefs won this game was because they dominated the time of possession and kept their defense off the field. Overall, the Chiefs held the ball for over 36 minutes and ran 71 plays compared to Oakland’s 53. The Chiefs held the ball for over ten minutes in the second quarter and for ten minutes in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs amassed 500 yards of total offense, allowed no sacks, and converted on 67% of their third down opportunities.
Derrick Blaylock showed great toughness coming back from the big hit he took to contribute in the second half.
Larry Johnson looked really good running the ball for a career high 118 yards and adding three receptions for 56 yards. He scored two touchdowns and seemed to be getting better as the game went on. It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs handle the running back situation this offseason.
Trent Green is simply the man, and no doubt the team’s MVP. After missing much of the week’s practice due to injury, Green got off to a shaky start, but he really heated up in the second half. He completed fourteen of fifteen passes in the second half and finished 23-of-35 for 340 yards and three touchdowns.
Eddie Kennison may have had a few drops in the first half, but he more than made up for them in the second half. Kennison finished with eight receptions for a season-high 149 yards and broke free from Ray Buchanan for the game-winning 70 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
It’s a good thing the Chiefs did not have to put in the second half, because Steve Cheek really struggled. He punted twice in the first half for an average of 32 yards.
The Chiefs did not force a turnover for the second straight game and have only forced two in the last five games. Through twelve games this season the Chiefs have only forced eleven turnovers. The franchise record low is 22 turnovers forced in the strike shortened 1982 season (9 games).
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