FLASH RECAP:
Michael Bush rushes for 137 yards and a touchdown and Kamerion Wimbley has three of Oakland's seven sacks to lead the Raiders to a blowout of host Kansas City in their regular-season finale before an announced crowd of 67,045 at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 2, 2011.
The Raiders (8-8) become the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to go 6-0 in division games and not make the playoffs. They also end a dubious streak of seven straight seasons with 11 or more losses.
"I hope (everyone) will write this: We’re not losers anymore,” Raiders coach Tom Cable tells reporters after Oakland's franchise-best fourth straight win against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. “We’re not. We’re 8-8. That’s not what we wanted. We wanted to be a playoff team but we came here to get the eighth win, which means we went 6-0 in the division. Most important, we’re done with that losing.”
Despite the absence of two of its top players — running back Darren McFadden (turf toe) and defensive tackle Richard Seymour (hamstring) — Oakland dismantles AFC West-champion Kansas City (10-6) with a punishing defense and efficient offense.
The Chiefs' top-ranked rushing offense has only 115 yards, 47 coming on a Jamaal Charles' third-quarter run. Matt Cassel has only 11 completions, is sacked five times and finishes with a woeful 19.1 passer rating.
Bush's 26-yard touchdown run late the third quarter gives the revved-up Raiders a 17-10 advantage. Stanford Routt's 22-yard interception return seals Kansas City's first home loss this season after seven wins.
PRIME-TIME PLAYERS:
Raiders defense — The unit has seven sacks, allows only 201 total yards and limits Kansas City's Matt Cassel to 11 completions in 33 for 115 yards and two interceptions.
RB Michael Bush — Has 137 of Oakland's 209 rushing yards. His 26-yard TD run with 2:26 left in the third quarter breaks a 10-all deadlock. Bush also contributes four catches for 34 yards
CB Stanford Routt — His 22-yard interception return for a TD with 9:11 remaining sends hundreds of Chiefs fans at Arrowhead Stadium scurrying in search of warmer surroundings.
WR Jacoby Ford — His 10-yard TD run on a reverse after a Michael Huff interception gives the Raiders a 24-10 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
RB Jamaal Charles — Has 87 rushing yards on 14 carries and a TD. His 47-yard rush sets up his game-tying 5-yard TD run midway through the third quarter
OLB Tamba Hali — Has a team-high 2.5 sacks and three tackles.
WR Dwayne Bowe — Contributes 68 receiving yards on five catches.
KEY STATS:
Safety Michael Huff and cornerback Stanford Routt have interceptions early in the fourth quarter against Kansas City's Matt Cassel, who threw only five interceptions during the season's first 16 weeks. The two Kansas City turnovers lead to 14 Oakland points.
Oakland's 29th ranked run defense holds Kansas City's top-ranked rush offense to 115 rushing yards on 29 carries. The Chiefs enter the game averaging 167.5 yards rushing per game.
With 77 penalty yards against the Chiefs, the Raiders set a single-season franchise record of 1,276 penalty yards. The previous record of 1,274 penalty yards was set in 1969. The NFL record of 1,304 penalty yards was set by the Chiefs in 1998.
With 87 rushing yards against Oakland, Kansas City's Jamaal Charles finishes the regular season with 1,467 yards and narrowly misses catching Jim Brown’s NFL record of 6.40 yards per carry. Charles finished at 6.38.
With a second-quarter field goal of 38 yards, the Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski extends his streak of 18 straight field goals against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. His last missed field goal attempt at Arrowhead was a blocked kick from 44 yards on Oct. 27, 2002.
THEY SAID IT:
S Michael Huff on
“We definitely need Cable back. He’s the man for this job. That’s who I want to play for. I want to come back and play for Cabes. So, we definitely need him back and to bring the core players back. We can build around what we have. We don’t need to bring in any big(-name) players or anything like that. We just bring back the people that we have here, and we’re going to be big next year.”
Raiders coach Tom Cable
“(Matt Cassel) was spooked. He was running away when no one was even in the pocket. I was telling (Chiefs guard) Brian Waters, ‘You need to take him out of the game, man.’ He was rattled, bad. It was ugly.”
Raiders DT Tommy Kelly
"I’m disappointed we lost, but we’ve got to bounce back. We’ve got another week going. The Raiders don’t.”
Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles
BY THE NUMBERS:
4: Consecutive Raiders victories against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Since 1990, the Raiders are 7-14 at Arrowhead.
6-0: Raiders record against AFC West opposition this season. Oakland was 8-34 against division opposition from 2003 to 2009.
8-8: Raiders’ win-loss record in the 2010 season, ending a dubious streak of seven straight seasons with at least 11 losses.
47: Raiders’ sacks for the 2010 season, including seven against the Chiefs. It's the most since 2000, when Oakland also had 47 sacks. The last time the Raiders had more than 47 sacks was 1990 when they had 49.
DID YOU KNOW?:
The Raiders sweep the season series from the Chiefs for the first time since 2001.
Oakland wide receiver Chaz Schilens' a 5-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter is his first touchdown since Dec. 20, 2009.
Raiders coach Tom Cable, right,
hugs Stanford Routt (26) after Routt's
interception return for a touchdown.
By Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press
