The Kansas City Chiefs walk away from Week 9 after a 23-20 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs had plenty of opportunities to win the game so you know they did some things right but the Raiders ultimately won the game so there's plenty of wrong, too.
Overall I'm giving the Chiefs a C. The Chiefs get some points for having a chance to win but the game featured too many mistakes from the Chiefs including Matt Cassel's interception at the end of the second half, Jacoby Ford's return TD and somehow letting Ford blow up in the second half. This is a team that doesn't make many mistakes and they made a lot on Sunday.
Here's the breakdown of my grades. Give us yours in the comments and please vote!
Offense: C+
If I could pair Matt Cassel's 20-of-36, 216-yard performance with a 200-yard rushing attack then I'd bet the Chiefs win a lot of games. Instead, the Chiefs running attack couldn't get anything on their way to a season-low 104 rushing yards. The Chiefs have had more rushing yards than passing yards in each of the last three games before Sunday so the lack of production was disappointing.
Defense: B-
I like a lot of what the Chiefs defense did against the Raiders. They gave up one TD and three field goals (Raiders had one return TD) and held a shutout after halftime. That part of the defense deserves an A. The side that gave up 148 yards to Jacoby Ford in the second half including the 47-yard dagger in OT deserves an F.
Special teams: C-
The good: recovering a fumble on a punt return. The bad: giving up a return TD at the start of the second half and Eric Berry's block in the back that negated a Javier Arenas return TD. The fumble recovery was huge but the return TD and penalty were bigger.