Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel went on 810 WHB for weekly Monday morning appearance and confirmed what we all thought: the Chiefs thought the Oakland Raiders were taking some cheap shots at the end of Sunday's game.
KC was leading 28-0 on what ended up being the final drive of the game and the Raiders committed a pair of personal fouls. There were some minor scuffles throughout the game and it looked like things were stepped up a notch on that final drive.
Cassel said on 810 WHB today that, indeed, they felt the Raiders were taking some cheap shots.
"They were getting chippy and obviously you guys probably saw it on the film or the television broadcast that it was getting a little ugly out there in terms of we felt like they were taking some cheap shots at the end of the game," Cassel said to Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty.
"We were about to take a knee at the end of the game and one of their defensive linemen shoots out on Casey Wiegmann and tries to take another shot. I know it's part of the game but there are some things you just don't do. It's part of, I guess, the rivalry and intensity of this game. I know both sides want to win but there's a way to go about it."
Indeed, that's what it looked like on TV. Cassel was also asked about the Chiefs taking a shot at the end zone with two minutes remaining and leading by 28 points.
"What was going through my mind is I wanted a touchdown pass," Cassel said, "exactly what you said, make it 35 to nothing. What I always say is it's professional football and there's no such thing as running up the score. I mean, our job is to go out there and score as many points as we can and their job is to stop us. If we ended up scoring, then that's part of the deal. No one should be complaining about that because that's how it goes sometimes."
After losing the first two games by a combined 89-10, the Chiefs should know how to handle a blowout loss. Cassel was also asked about the chirping going on between Raiders TE Richard Gordon and Chiefs CB Brandon Carr before the game which, according to those in attendance, lead to a little scuffle before the game even started.
"I tried to go down there and tried to get Seymour. I think he turned me down, so I don't know," Cassel said laughing. "No, I'm just kidding! 'Cassel out for the game with a concussion.'
"No, I was at midfield warming up and I saw something going on down there and I don't really know the specifics of what went on. It looked like a fun little jabbing session where they were talking back and forth and doing their thing but I didn't see much more than that."
Cassel also says that environment at the Black Hole was exactly the way he thought it would be.
"I did not have anything thrown at me," he said, "but a lot of hurtful words were said to me during that game and I don't know why (laughing)."
Yep, the Chiefs and Raiders rivalry is as strong as ever.