Oakland vs. KC NFL Handicapping
The Raiders will try to win their sixth straight at Kansas City and six straight AFC West road game as they take on a Chiefs team that despite starting 0-3 and enduring a four-game losing streak later in the season, are still fighting for their playoff lives.
Oakland at Kansas City
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 24, 2011
Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV:CBS
LINE: -1 (Kansas City ) O/U 42
Kansas City must win their final two games, including Saturday against the visiting Oakland Raiders if they are to be one game closer in winning their second straight AFC West title, but Oakland will want no part in making that easy.
The Raiders have to be bitter about having a one-game lead in the division after Week 12, but now will ride out the season with virtually no hopes of a postseason after three straight losses, including a 28-27 heartbreaker to Detroit last week.
Leading 27-14 with five minutes remaining, the Oakland defense all but left the stadium, allowing two touchdowns, the last which capped a 98-yard drive in 1:35.
IN a turnaround from the previous week, quarterback Carson Palmer had a big game statistically against Detroit (32 of 40 for 367 yards and a touchdown), after being picked off 4 times in alas week’s games against the Green Bay Packers. Palmer is 3-4 since taking over as starter in Week 9, and could stand a little help from an Oakland defense that allows 27.3 points per game, fourth-worst in the NFL. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile , Kansas City kept its playoff hopes alive by ending Green Bay’s perfect season with a 19-14 victory last week.
Quarterback Kyle Orton made his first start for the Chiefs and was 23 of 31, and his 299 yards were the most by a Kansas City quarterback in a game this season.
If he can duplicate that effort this week, KC could to take advantage of Oakland’s No. 26 rush defense, by making them back off to contain Orton.
The Chiefs won the first meeting 28-0 in Week 7, when Raiders RB Darren McFadden injured his foot. He hasn’t played since. His replacement, Michael Bush is averaging 60.5 rushing yards in his last four games after averaging 115.3 in his previous four.
Matt’ s Prediction: Chiefs 24, Raiders 20– I like Orton’s chances of really exploiting a Raiders secondary that continues to adjust to life after Asomugha. Look for the Chiefs to edge out a win here.
