KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Oakland Raiders played the kind of game Sunday that they had lost countless times the past six-plus seasons.
It was the type of game there for the taking, and one in the past that left them incredulous that they had lost.
But this time, the Raiders found a way to win, in spite of an offense that struggled for 57-plus minutes. In the end, the Raiders persevered for a 13-10 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It was as poor as you can play offensively but still find a way to win a football game,” Raiders coach Tom Cable said.
The Raiders managed only 97 yards offense on their first nine possessions, yet they led 6-3. A Chiefs touchdown with 2:38 left placed the Raiders in a do-or-lose situation.
“It was a huge step the Oakland Raiders took today, having a chance to do something (different),” Cable said. “At the end of the game, we were behind and we haven’t been able to (overcome) that for a few years.” You weren’t going to find many takers that the Raiders were about to pull off a comeback.
Quarterback JaMarcus Russell had missed on his previous nine pass attempts. The Chiefs held the lead, the momentum and the one-sided approval of a sellout crowd in their home opener.
Three times, the Raiders appeared doomed, once on an incompletion followed by a false-start penalty, another time on a sack of Russell and a third time on back-to-back incompletions followed by a false-start penalty.
Somehow, the Raiders overcame all obstacles on their game-winning drive.
Russell completed a 19-yard pass on a second-and-15, his sack turned into a first down as a result of a late-hit penalty, and a 28-yard completion to wide receiver Todd Watkins — his first NFL reception — on a third-and-15 gave the Raiders a first down at the Chiefs 14.
Two plays later, Cable dialed up the same play the Raiders used to beat the Chiefs here last season, a pitch to running back Darren McFadden.
Russell pitched the ball to McFadden as McFadden circled left out of the backfield. McFadden jaunted into the end zone without much resistance for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:07 to play.
McFadden urged then-coach Lane Kiffin to call that play last year.
Kiffin listened. McFadden delivered.
“I didn’t get a chance to call it this year,” McFadden said. “I guess me and coach are on the same page. … That’s what I was hoping we’d run. Run the flip, run the flip. When he called it, I was telling myself, ‘I hope he pitches it well.’ I don’t care if someone’s on the outside or not. I felt I had the speed to beat them to the sideline.” Much-maligned safety Michael Huff made sure the lead held up by breaking up a pass to tight end Jake O’Connell on a fourth-and-four play with 36 seconds left.
Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha has witnessed too many late collapses to feel comfortable with a lead in the final minute. The latest one happened one week ago, when San Diego rallied for a 24-20 season-opening victory.
Perhaps, though, the Raiders are learning how to win when a game is within their grasp, he said.
“It means a lot. It means a lot for the team and it also means a lot for the offense for them to come out and put that drive together in the end,” Asomugha said. “That’s huge. And then for us to finish it on defense, these are things that didn’t happen last week for us.” Russell suffered through one of the worst games of his three-year NFL career. He misfired on his first five pass attempts and 10 straight from midway through the second quarter until the final drive.
He was 3-for-18 for 42 yards before he connected with wide receiver Louis Murphy for 19 yards and a first down to jump-start the game-winning drive.
Yet, Russell kept his composure throughout the travails. He completed four passes on the final drive, or one more than he had up to that point.
“When things weren’t working, he’s in the huddle being the leader out there,” wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey said. “So, for a young guy, you look at him and you’re like, ‘If he’s composed, I need to be composed.’ “We wanted to march that ball down the field.” The Raiders won despite being outgained by the Chiefs 409 yards to 166, running 28 fewer offensive plays and holding the ball for only 21:21 of the 60 minutes.
Russell said he kept the faith, even though he didn’t have much to cling to based upon his performance up until the final drive.
“I was always even-keeled,” he said. “I knew that we left plays out there on our previous drives before, so we had to come up with something.” The Raiders pulled off one for the ages, if you ask the Chiefs.
Numerous players were stunned that they lost a game they dominated statistically and had in their grasp until the end.
“That’s football for you, unfortunately,” Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel said. “We weren’t able to pull it off at the end of the day.” ——— (c) 2009, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).
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