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By Patrick Herb

Seven of the last eight Chiefs–Raiders games had been absolute nail-biters, so why would Saturday’s Christmas Day affair be any different. The two bitter AFC West rivals duked it out for the first 58 minutes and little had been decided. Trailing by a narrow 30-28 margin with 1:03 remaining, the stage was set for Kansas City heroics. WR Dante Hall’s 49-yard kickoff return set up a 38-yard game-winning field goal from Lawrence Tynes to help the Chiefs pull out a dramatic 31-30 win over the Raiders. The Red and Gold’s fourth straight win gave the Arrowhead crowd a Christmas game they won’t soon forget.

“The old cliché is character and all of that stuff, but I think we played like a real good football team tonight and played against another football team that played like a good football team, regardless of their win/loss records,” an emotional head coach Dick Vermeil said after the game. “At this late in the year, to play that hard, and on two short weeks in a row, is a tremendous tribute to our guys.” On Kansas City’s first possession WR Eddie Kennison tipped a QB Trent Green pass that was intercepted by Raiders DE Tyler Brayton, giving Oakland field position at the KC 10-yard line. Raiders QB Kerry Collins cashed in the early turnover with a five-yard TD pass to WR Jerry Porter.

Trailing 7-0 midway through the first quarter, the Chiefs missed on their first scoring chance of the game. After passes to Kennison and TE Tony Gonzalez put them into field goal range, Lawrence Tynes 43-yard attempt was blocked by the Raiders 6-8 tackle Langston Walker.

Chiefs rookie sack specialist DE Jared Allen thwarted the Raiders second drive with his ninth sack of the season. That’s where the Kansas City offense shifted into high gear. Green zipped first down passes to Kennison, Gonzalez and rookie WR Samie Parker pushing the ball into the Red Zone. From there, surging RB Larry Johnson rumbled through three would-be tacklers into the end zone for a six-yard touchdown. Johnson, who has scored a rushing TD in five straight games, knotted the score at 7-7 with 2:14 remaining.

Oakland responded with a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive to put them back up 14-7. The Raiders, who had just nine rushes the last time these teams hooked up, ran the ball six times on the drive including the finishing three-yard burst by FB Zack Crockett.

The see-saw battle would tip back in the Chiefs direction when WR Dante Hall gave the Chiefs sparkling field position at the Oakland 44-yard line midway through the second period. KC would use nine plays to find the end zone, but did so with a two-yard TD pass from Green to Gonzalez, tying the score at 14-14.

After a Raiders three-and-out series, Gonzalez would again find the end zone for the Chiefs a few minutes later. This time he capped off an 88-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Green with just under 2:00 left in the first half. The recently named six-time Pro Bowler tied a career high with 11 catches on the day for 124 yards and a pair of TDs, while Green notched his seventh 300-yard game of the season when he threw for 358 yards and an even 100.0 rating.

“We came in thinking we were going to attack the corners and all of a sudden you get Tony doing what he does best,” Green said. “The thing is the defense was screaming, ‘we’re going to double him, we’re going to double him’ and he still beats you. The second touchdown they were doubling him, the linebackers and safety were calling it out. I just thought I’d give him a look and sure enough, he beats them. I think in the four years I’ve been here it’s his best season, by far.”

With the Chiefs looking to take their 21-14 lead into halftime, Oakland had other ideas. Working an efficient 2:00-drill, WR Alvis Whitted burned the Chiefs for a long score just before intermission when he split the KC secondary on a post pattern. Collins floated a perfect pass just past the Kansas City safety for a tying 32-yard score with just 0:24 remaining in the half.

Kansas City had one last chance to score, but Tynes’ 50-yard field goal hit the crossbar and fell just short, leaving the count tied at 21-21 at the break.

Early in the second half the Chiefs were faced with a critical decision when Vermeil decided to go for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 46-yard line. Johnson took the handoff and ran left behind Pro Bowlers T Willie Roaf and G Brian Waters, but the Oakland defense held and turned the ball over.

The pace of the game dramatically slowed down from there. After a sizzling first half filled with 42 points and 31 first downs, the third quarter saw just three points on a Janikowski field goal.

After struggling to move the football for much of the second half, Kansas City’s offense came alive midway through the fourth quarter. Thanks to two tip-toe catches along the sideline by rookie WR Samie Parker, Green and company moved to the Oakland four-yard line. From there Johnson notched his second TD of the game on a four-yard carry behind Waters and Roaf, giving KC a 28-24 lead with 6:11 left in the game.

The Raiders appeared poised to respond with a touchdown of their own, as a Chiefs pass interference penalty gave the Silver and Black a first down deep in KC territory. However, the defense held its ground and earned a small victory with two-straight stops to force a 45-yard Janikowski field goal. The score pulled Oakland within one point at 28-27 with 3:49 remaining.

Kansas City looked to run the clock all the way down to zeros with three first downs on the subsequent drive. But on third-and-four from the Oakland 38 a DT Ted Washington sack of Green on third-and-four jarred the ball loose. The fumble was quickly recovered by DT Warren Sapp, giving the Raiders a Christmas gift in the game’s final minutes.

With 1:42 remaining, Collins quickly moved his squad into field goal territory with eight and 25-yard completions on consecutive plays. Despite a pair of false start penalties, the Raiders remained well in Janikowski’s range and the Oakland kicker converted a 46-yard field goal to give Oakland the 30-28 edge.

However, the Christmas affair was far from over with 1:03 remaining in the game. On the ensuing kickoff, the “X(mas)-Factor” Dante Hall gave the Chiefs a glimmer of hope with a 49-yard return to the Oakland 36-yard line. Completions to WR Chris Horn and Gonzalez moved the ball into field goal territory and Tynes came through when it mattered most. Despite having field goal attempt blocked and one hit the crossbar earlier in the game, his 38-yard strike with 22 seconds remaining was pure and put the Chiefs ahead 31-30, closing out a frenetic two-minute drill in which the lead changed hands twice.

“Our quarterback was spectacular,” Vermeil said of Green. “The job that he did on that last touchdown drive, there were two or three of the plays that were just on Trent Green.”

The Raiders last breath was knocked out when Chiefs CB Benny Sapp intercepted Collins’ Hail Mary pass, putting the final touch on a Kansas City Christmas celebration.