Chiefs Seeking a Sixth Straight Win at Oakland

Kansas City owns a 9-4 (.692) regular season record at Oakland since ‘95, including a string of fi ve straight wins. The Chiefs are seeking to become the fi rst team to ever register six consecutive road wins against the Raiders. Kansas City and San Diego both have active fi ve-game winning streaks in Oakland. The Chargers extended their road victory streak against the Raiders earlier this year with a 28-18 win (9/28). KC’s last loss at Oakland was a 24-0 setback in the 2002 regular season fi nale (12/28/02). Courtesy of our friends at STATS, LLC, here is a look at the fi ve franchises with the longest road victory streaks against the Raiders.

More on Kansas City’s Winning Streak at Oakland
The Chiefs have won on their last fi ve trips to Oakland. Four of those fi ve games have been decided by seven points or less and have featured thrilling fi nishes. The Chiefs have outscored the Raiders by a 106-to-73 margin over that fi ve-game span, an average margin of victory of just 6.6 points per game.

Chiefs S Jarrad Page (D7-06) has made the game-clinching interception for Kansas City in the fi nal minute of two of the Chiefs last three victories over the Raiders. Last year, he picked off QB Daunte Culpepper with 0:46 left in a 12-10 KC win (10/21/07) after registering a pair of INTs in the end zone in a 20-9 win at Oakland (12/23/06) as a rookie. The Oakland native also produced an INT in the end zone in a 17-13 win at Arrowhead (11/19/06). Page currently has nine career INTs with four of them coming against the Silver and Black.

Chiefs Have Fared Well in Debuts vs. Raiders Head Coaches
Since the Raiders returned to Oakland in ‘95, eight different head coaches have patrolled the sidelines for the Silver and Black. Prior to Tom Cable’s assignment to that post, the Chiefs won their inaugural game against his seven predecessors in Oakland. Art Shell was actually in his second stint as the Raiders head coach in 2006 when the Chiefs defeated him. Shell was the last Raiders fi eld general to win his debut game against Kansas City, recording a 20-14 win at the L.A. Coliseum (10/15/89).

KC Seeks to Go 17-0 when Holding Oakland to 17 Points or Less
Dating back to ‘90, the Chiefs are a perfect 16-0 against the Raiders in regular and postseason play when holding the Silver and Black to 17 points or less. During Kansas City’s fi ve-game winning streak in Oakland, the Chiefs have held the Raiders to 17 points or less in four of those fi ve contests. Since Herm Edwards joined the Chiefs in 2006, KC has allowed just 10.7 ppg in its three victories against the Raiders. KC has scored an average of 24.2 ppg in its last fi ve games with QB Tyler Thigpen starting.

The Raiders have been held to 17 points or less in six of their eight losses in 2008. Prior to producing a season-high 31 points in a 31-10 victory at Denver (11/23), Oakland had scored a total of 31 points its previous four games. Oakland has scored a league-low 54 points (10.8 ppg) at home and has scored an NFL-low four TDs at home in 2008. The Raiders have scored 17 points or less in six of their last seven games. Dating back to 2003, Oakland is 3-49 (.058) when being held to 17 points or less, including losses in 31 of the club’s last 32 games in those circumstances.

Chiefs-Raiders Statistical Tidbits
The Chiefs last three road wins have all occurred in the state of California, including a pair of wins vs. the Raiders: 17-13 at OAK (12/23/06), 30-16 at SD (9/30/07) and 12-10 at OAK (10/21/07) ... Three of the Chiefs last four wins have come against AFC West opponents … Oakland is 6-28 (.176) vs. the AFC West dating back to the start of the 2003 campaign.

Tony G. Often Goes Gonzo vs. the Raiders
Nine-time Pro Bowl TE Tony Gonzalez has 102 catches for 1,363 yards with eight TDs in 22 career contests vs. Oakland, his highest totals in all three of those categories against any franchise. Gonzalez is the only TE in NFL history to have over 1,000 career receiving yards vs. three different franchies (Oakland, San Diego and Denver). Gonzalez has registered 10 consecutive seasons with 60 or more catches, tying former Raiders WR Tim Brown (’93-02) for the second-longest streak in NFL history behind only WR Jerry Rice (’86-96), who did it 11 straight years.

Gonzalez currently ranks ninth in NFL history with 885 career receptions after bypassing WR Keenan McCardell (883) for ninth spot in league annals vs. Buffalo (11/23). Gonzalez (25) also overtook Hall of Fame TE Kellen Winslow (24) for the most career 100-yard receiving games by a tight end in NFL history against the Bills. Gonzalez owns three career 100-yard performances vs. the Raiders. His most recent was an 11-catch, 124-yard, two-TD outing in a 31-30 win vs. Oakland (12/25/04).

Winning the Ground Game is Always Pivotal vs. Oakland
KC has won the rushing battle by 63.2 ypg during its fi ve-game winning streak in Oakland, attempting 73 more carries and scoring fi ve more rushing TDs than the Raiders. KC has averaged 34.6 carries for 137.2 yards in its last fi ve visits to Oakland, while the Raiders have managed 20.0 carries for 74.0 yards. Oakland has allowed 187.6 rushing ypg at home in 2008.

RB Larry Johnson has topped the 100-yard barrier in three of his four career trips to Oakland and has at least one rushing TD in all four of those contests. The Chiefs own a 7-1 record in Johnson’s eight career contests vs. the Raiders. The Chiefs RB has accumulated 174 carries for 768 yards (96.0 ypg) with 10 TDs in those eight games, the most TDs and most carries he’s accumulated against any team. KC is 5-0 vs. the Raiders when Johnson has a 100-yard game. The Raiders are 4-30 (.118) when permitting a 100-yard rusher and are 4-46 (.080) when allowing an opposing team to register 30 or more carries dating back to 2004. Oakland is the only NFL team without a rushing TD at home in 2008.

After limiting the Raiders to 19 carries for 67 yards and no TDs in the fi rst half at Arrowhead (9/14), Oakland rattled off 28 carries for 233 yards and two TDs in the second half at Arrowhead (9/14) as rookie RB Darren McFadden (21-164 yards, 1 TD) did most of the damage. KC has permitted just 116.4 ypg on the ground over the past fi ve games. Oakland ran 41 times for 158 yards with two TDs at Denver (11/23).

QB Tyler Thigpen Set to Make His First Start vs. Raiders
QB Tyler Thigpen will make his seventh NFL start on Sunday and his fi rst against Oakland. The most recent fi eld general to lead the Chiefs to a win in his fi rst start against the Raiders was QB Elvis Grbac, who orchestrated a thrilling 28-27 win at Oakland (9/8/97), hitting WR Andre Rison for a 32-yard TD pass with 0:03 remaining.

Oakland has lost 11 consecutive games when allowing an opposing passer to register a rating of 100.0 or better (min. 20 atts.). Thigpen has topped the 100.0-rating barrier in two of his last fi ve starts. Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell will be seeking to become the fi rst Oakland signal caller to register back-to-back wins against the Chiefs since QB Rich Gannon did it in 2001. Russell completed six of 17 passes (35.3%) for 55 yards to register a 45.0 rating in his initial start vs. Kansas City (9/14). Russell completed 10 of 11 passes for 152 yards with one TD at Denver (11/23).

Chiefs-Raiders Takeaway Stats
The Chiefs are tied for fi fth in the NFL with 21 takeaways (11 FRs/10 INTs). Chicago leads the league with 25 (17 INTs/11 FRs). Kansas City is +4 (21 takes/17 gives) in turnover differential in 2008 to tie for 10th in the NFL, while Oakland is tied for eighth at +5 (19 takes/14 gives). KC and OAK were even in their fi rst meeting as both clubs committed two turnovers.

Kansas City is +7 (12 takes/5 gives) during its fi ve-game winning streak in Oakland and has a 20-point advantage in points off turnovers in those games. The Chiefs have committed just one turnover in each of those games. Oakland is 2-29 (.065) with a negative turnover ratio dating back to 2004, including a streak of 14 consecutive losses. Oakland is 1-13 at home with a negative turnover ratio dating back to 2004 with that lone win coming by a 22-9 count when the club was -3 vs. Arizona (10/22/06).