If the Raiders could play as well defensively as they did vs. the Chargers, they should have no problem shutting down the Chiefs. With the Raiders offense a work-in-progress, go Under.
The Kansas City Chiefs came up with just 181 total yards of offense against the tough Baltimore defense last weekend. Their offense seemed to show its only glimpse of life on their six-play drive in the fourth quarter that tied the game at 24 a piece.
This Raiders defense may not be of the caliber of the Baltimore defense, but they showed us a lot of enthusiasm and hard play last Monday night against the Chargers. They were impressive holding the Chargers rushing attack to just 3.3 yards per carry. They showed nice pressure on Phillip Rivers by recording 3 sacks and we remember last year in both meetings they had six sacks on the Chiefs QB's.
Another thing that caught our eye was how they limited the Chargers from making big plays. A 25 yard pass to Antonio Gates was the longest play from scrimmage this defense gave up. With the lack of play makers the Chiefs brings to the table the Raiders defense may even improve on last weeks stats.
The Kansas City running game looked anemic last week with just 29 total rushing yards against the stout Baltimore front seven. Last season when these two teams faced off here in Kansas City the Raiders clamped down on the Chiefs run game who gained just 55 yards. We don't see them having too much success moving the sticks on the ground this weekend either.
The Raiders offense looked much better than last year but they are still a work in progress. This week we can expect Tom Cable to try control the clock by grinding it out on the ground between Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, and Justin Fargas who is expected to suit up.
Last season they rushed for a season high 300 rushing yards against this Chiefs defense when visiting here. Look for Cable to minimize JaMarcus Russell making mistakes through the air on the road in this conference game; so we think he will call a rather vanilla game.
Neither team is an offensive juggernaut and both have some young promising looking players on the defensive side of the ball and we call for this game to fall under the posted total. The under has cashed a ticket in 7 of the last 8 meetings.
We'll play this one Under.
Free Pick: Raiders, Chiefs Under 39½ (-110)