Raiders running back Darren McFadden’s five yard TD run with 1:07 left to play gave Oakland a 13-10 win at Arrowhead Stadium despite being dominated in just about every statistical category. Quarterback Matt Cassel made his debut for the Chiefs and Bobby Wade on a short week of practice came up with some big catches.
After the Chiefs drove down the field for an early field goal, the offense was unable to get on the board again until the fourth quarter. There were times when Cassel looked good and times when he looked not so good. Cassel was 24 of 39, but he got picked off twice. On the other hand he made some good throws and got some great from Wade, Bobby Engram and Dwayne Bowe.
Wade had six catches for 72 yards and Engram came up big on a third down catch that kept the Chiefs scoring drive alive late in the fourth quarter. A couple of plays later, Cassel made a great throw to Bowe for a 29 yard touchdown and the lead with 2:38 to play.
Oakland’s JaMarcus Russel put together a nice nine play drive at the end that left the Chiefs heartbroken despite dominating the game. They outgained the Raiders 409 to 166 and held the ball for 17:18 longer than Oakland. They had 25 first downs and 173 yards rushing.
Despite dominating in the stats, head coach Todd Haley could pinpoint the problems. "I think when you have nine penalties, two turnovers – really three at the end of the half considering that’s a turnover – a couple of other little lapses, you’re not going to win most of the time."
Once again another late loss and the inability to close out games continues to haunt the Chiefs.