MVN - Most Valuable Network

Chiefs & Raiders May Battle for Double Digit Score

The numbers aren’t pretty.  145-186 and 180-223.  Those are the Points For versus Points Allowed for the Chiefs and Raiders, respectively, going into today’s tilt.

Both teams averaging less than 20 points a game.  Both teams with severe offensive line issues.  Both teams potentially having extremely inexperienced QBs see significant action.

A lot will be made about JaMarcus Russell possibly seeing his first NFL action, and if he does, we could be seeing the future of the AFC West showdowns finally materializing.  San Diego is invested in Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler looks like the real deal in Denver, Brodie Croyle inserted himself into the mix, and now Russell.

However, once you start talking about the future now, that usually means the present is ugly.  That is exactly how today’s Chiefs-Raiders game looks to play out.  The Chiefs, having lost three in a row, look as bad on offense as advertised, while the Raiders, despite a spectacular year from Sebastian Janikowski, last week scored more than 17 points for the first time since Week 4.  Quarterback issues have not been the only problem for Oakland; their rushing attack has been relatively silent ever since Justin Fargas exploded for 179 yards in that week 4 game.

Each team, meanwhile, features defenses which are quietly respected around the league.  Both have had some issues in stopping the running game this year, but overall they have both been stingy on the points.  The Chiefs, in particular, feast on the turnover against Oakland.  In fact, their last several wins against Oakland have been preserved or created by crucial turnovers, so they may see a heavy dose of the Oakland RBs to prevent those game-changing turnovers.

All of this, of course, points to another ugly game between these two rivals.  With young players, especially young QBs, games become unpredictable, so there is always the chance of a shootout.  The chances of that happening are actually increased now that the Chiefs have so much uncertainty at RB.  I wouldn’t expect it, though.  Chiefs 16, Raiders 13.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 8:47 am and is filed under Preview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.