One week after stunning the Denver Broncos, the Oakland Raiders reverted back to their losing ways, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 20-13.  The loss assures the Raiders a sixth straight losing season, and puts them at 3-9 for the season.  When 2 of footballs worst teams meet, it figures that a botched play would be the biggest play of the game..  With the score tied 3-3 in the second half, Oakland lined up for what was to be a 43 yard field goal attempt.  Holder Shane Lechler took the snap and then flipped the ball to kicker Sebastian Janikowski.  The errant pitch hit the ground, and was scooped up by KC rookie Maurice Leggett who returned it 67 yards for a Chief touchdown.  Said Raider coach Tom Cable of the play, ” We haven’t had a problem handling it for 2 years now, It’s been something we’ve worked for really two years. We’ve handled it well. It’s something we’ve come up with. We just didn’t execute it.”  The play failed and gave KC a lead that they would not relinquish. 

With the Chiefs locked in a 10-all tie and backed up to their own 9 following a punt, Chief QB Tyler Thigpen got the offense moving to earn his first win in seven career NFL starts. He got Kansas City started with a 23-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez and hit the tight end twice more for 28 yards on the drive.  A 2-yard TD run by Larry Johnson gave KC the lead 17-10.  Said Chief coach Herm Edwards after the win, We had a lead in the second half and finally put one away.” It was tough. It got sticky again. You kind of looked at it and you’re wondering, ‘OK, are you guys going to find a way to win this?’ And they did. Hopefully we can gain some confidence from that.”

Oakland managed just 3 points on three first 1/2 trips inside the KC 30 yard line.  The Raiders only TD came on a Justin Fargus 1 yard run after Chris Johnson’s 44 yard interception return.  JaMarcus Russell went 10 for 28 for 132 yards.  The running game was not much better,  with Fargus getting 82 yards on 18 carries.  Said Raider CB Nnadmi Asomugha of the loss, “It hurts just a little bit because we were thinking about the playoffs, even though we were 3-8, we were still thinking there was a chance that we could get to the playoffs.  It hurts us because now it’s pretty much out of the way. So, we just got to keep playing and, hopefully, get some more wins before the season’s over.” 

Next up for Oakland is another divisional game Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers..