Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 11/20

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Game Preview from The Mothership

Entering Week 3, the Kansas City Chiefs (7-3) and Oakland Raiders (0-10) were both teams with two losses in search of their first victory. The Chiefs traveled down to Miami to play the Dolphins while the Raiders visited Foxboro to play the Patriots.

In South Beach, the Chiefs secured their first of what would become seven wins in eight games, and 1,235 miles away in Foxboro, the Raiders lost their third game of the season.

Eight weeks later, the Raiders are still in search of their first win and this Thursday night, hope it comes against their AFC West division rival in the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since that Week 3 game against the Dolphins, the Chiefs have played like one of the best teams in football, a description most recently validated by their 24-20 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: How to Watch and Listen from The Mothership

Records to Watch

- In his career, RB Jamaal Charles has recorded 244 receptions, ranking fourth in franchise history for most receptions by a running back. He needs 7 more receptions to pass Priest Holmes (251).

- LB Justin Houston has 38.5 career sacks, ranking ninth in franchise history. He needs 1.5 more to pass Bill Maas (40.0) for most career sacks in team history.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Five Things to Watch from The Mothership

Last week against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, who possess a top 10 defense against the run, the Chiefs ran for 190 yards and didn't allow a single hit on quarterback Alex Smith.

The Raiders defense hasn't had much success getting after the quarterback this season. They rank last in the NFL with just 10 quarterback sacks and rank 27th in the NFL against the run, giving up 130 yards per game on the ground.

Jamaal Charles ranks second in the NFL among running backs with an average of 5.2 yards per carry, and his eight rushing touchdowns also ranks second.

Oakland Raiders: A Closer Look from The Mothership

"We have a lot of respect for Derek Carr," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. "I think he's going to be an up-and-coming player in this league.  He's got really good physical skills, he's tall, he's got good vision, he's got great escape ability. He's going to have as strong of an arm as we're going to see and he really can throw a football.

"Unfortunately for us, he doesn't play like a rookie."

Carr has completed 59.8 percent of his passes this season for 2,075 yards with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Between Carr and Matt Schaub, who began the season as the starter, the Raiders quarterbacks have only taken 12 sacks this season, which ranks second in the NFL.

Lamar Hunt: The Only Constant is Change from The Mothership

Marketing, ticket sales and promotions were still relatively small operations when Peterson took over, but this quickly changed. Warpaint did not return, but in its place was a new mascot, much in the mold of the Phillie Phanatic and the San Diego Chicken. To gain new fans you had to use new more contemporary images.

With a nod to the past and to older fans who had kept the faith for these many years, Tony DiPardo's Band was back, a few years older, but stationed in the far endzone to pump up the crowd. Retired players who had stuck around the city after their careers ended were recruited to form an organization called the Ambassadors, one of the first of its kind, and soon to become a model for other NFL teams.

Also back, although it had never truly existed to any extent, was a parking lot atmosphere that replicated what one would find on Saturday afternoons on large college campuses. Tailgating was promoted, a departure from other NFL stadiums where management looked to push their fans inside to partake of concessions and only their concessions. A 1993 team survey showed that 70 percent of the people who attended games tailgated. In time, the Chiefs would come to park in excess of 26,000 vehicles for some events.

Chiefs Visit Whiteman Air Force Base from The Mothership

The Chiefs Community Caring Team jumped on a bus bright and early on Tuesday morning to travel to Whiteman Air Force Base for the annual Salute to Service visit. The group included general manager John Dorsey, former Chiefs players, including Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, Will Shields and Deron Cherry, plus a few Chiefs staff members and Cheerleaders.

KCChiefs.com Podcast: Chiefs Download 11/20

KCChiefs.com Video: On the Road: Chiefs Depart for Oakland

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs Live!: New Faces for Oakland Defense

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs Live!: Carr a Talented Rookie QB

KCChiefs.com Video: Twitter Q&A: John Dorsey

KCChiefs.com Video: HyVee Chiefs Insider: Week 12 Full Episode

KCChiefs.com Video: NFL.com: Chiefs TNF Preview

KCChiefs.com Video: NFL.com: Chiefs TNF X-Factor

KCChiefs.com Video: NFL.com: A Seahawks or Chiefs Playoff Run?

KCChiefs.com Video: Community Visit: Whiteman Air Force Base

KSHB Video: Rivalry between Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders goes way back

KSHB Video: Ricky's Sports Theatre & Grill neutral territory for Chiefs v Raiders thanks to local Chiefs fan

Game Day Forecast from The National Weather Service

Today A 50 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph.

Tonight A 30 percent chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Light northeast wind.

Week 12: Wednesday injury report from Chiefs Digest

Chiefs wide receiver Donnie Avery (groin) will miss a seventh straight game after being ruled out for Thursday night's game against the Oakland Raiders.

Wide receiver A.J. Jenkins (shoulder) and cornerback Chris Owens (knee) are also out for Week 12.

Avery hasn't played since undergoing a sports hernia procedure in early October. Jenkins, who started in Avery's place, will miss a second straight game since suffering his injury in Week 10. Frankie Hammond Jr. will likely draw a second straight start at the split end position.

Chiefs look to avoid letdown vs. winless Raiders from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

Wedged between a pair of games against last season's Super Bowl participants, the Kansas City Chiefs appear to get a bit of a breather with a visit to the winless Oakland Raiders.

Just don't tell that to the Chiefs.

"We don't even talk like that around here and that's not even the way we think, not the type of group that we have," quarterback Alex Smith said.

"We do such a great job I think of kind of living week to week. And this week it's a short week. Guys immediately right after the game knew what we had in hand. Division game, on the road, there are too many things at stake here for us to even talk like that."

Chiefs DE Walker, an ex-Raider, says Oakland mess 'not as bad as it seems' from FS Kansas City

O.Co Coliseum puts the "pit" in pit stop: The toilets inside the home baseball clubhouse reportedly flooded over at least once this past spring and at least twice (that we know of) the summer before that.

The Raiders are 0-10 this fall and 4-22 since the start of the 2013 season. Over the past 22 months, the Silver & Black have cycled through four different starting quarterbacks and two head coaches. When the owners don't want to move to Los Angeles, they want to move to San Antonio. Or Dubuque. Or Kabul.

And yet ...

"Honestly, it's never as bad as it sounds," Kansas City defensive end Vance Walker, a Raider last fall, says of his 2013 sojourn in Oakland, site of the 7-3 Chiefs' Thursday night showdown.

Thursday's Matchup: Chiefs (7-3) at Raiders (0-10) from The New York Times

This seems to contain all the ingredients of a classic trap game for Kansas City. Between home games against the participants in the most recent Super Bowl, the Chiefs must go on the road on a short week to face a hapless team that was competitive against New England, San Diego and Seattle...

...Pick: Raiders

Silverman: Reid's Chiefs May Just Be The NFL's Biggest And Best Secret from CBS New York

The Pats are indeed playing well, and they have the best record in the AFC at 8-2. They have won five games in a row, and two of those victories were one-sided triumphs over the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. Those two teams have been considered the best in the AFC for most of the season, so it should be an easy jog for the Patriots from this point forward, right?

Belichick is just too smart for the competition, and nobody can keep up with him.

That sounds nice and Belichick's record of success makes him one of the five best NFL coaches of all-time (along with Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Don Shula and Bill Walsh). But don't go crowning the Patriots just yet. There's a team that's being virtually ignored in the AFC, and it may be able to keep the Pats from getting back to the top of the football world.

NFL Picks, Week 12: I'll take the 49ers minus big points (over Washington) and Kansas City also minus big points (over the Raiders) from The San Jose Mercury News

A hurry-up week (Raiders vs. Kansas City tomorrow), followed by another hurry-up week (49ers vs. Seattle on Thanksgiving), so let's get right to this week's picks ASAP, OK?

We're away from the normal schedule-I'll add the other panelists' picks when they come in...

1. RYAN (last week 0-3, overall 16-17)/

* KANSAS CITY -7, over Raiders. Ryan comment: Should be a fairly easy one for the Chiefs, as the Raiders aren't likely to tackle Jamaal Charles any better than they did the last time they saw him.

Thursday Night Football Breakdown: Kansas City Chiefs At Oakland Raiders from CBS Los Angeles

Don't expect a breakout game from Carr on Thursday, as he'll be facing the top-ranked pass defense in the league. Kansas City has benefited from Justin Houston's league-leading 12 sacks. Carr has shown some elusiveness and a quick release, and both traits will serve him well on Thursday. Still, Oakland will need to run the ball, and they've been terrible doing that this year (sense a trend here?). Darren McFadden has been surprisingly healthy but disappointingly ineffective, as has Maurice Jones-Drew, so Latavius Murray may get more carries. Someone will have to step up to take pressure off Carr and give Oakland a fighting chance.

Prediction: Kansas City 24, Oakland 16

Raiders Look For Redemption On Thursday Night Football from CBS Sacramento

The last time the Chiefs came to Oakland on Dec. 15, 2013, it ended in a 56-31 loss for the Silver and Black.

Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles scored not one, not two, not three, not four, but five touchdowns!

The Raiders defense looked non-existent allowing four touchdowns on screen plays.

If there's one thing the Raiders can take away from last season's game is that the Chiefs offensive strategy will be exactly the same.

What to watch for in Chiefs-Raiders 'TNF' game from NFL.com

1. The Chiefs have an overwhelming advantage on the ground. Opponents are rushing 50.1 percent of the time against the Raiders, the highest percentage in NFL. The Chiefs lead the league with 16 rushing touchdowns. Jamaal Charles owns the highest career yards per carry average in NFL history (5.54) and the second-highest (5.20) this season. Since taking over as the starter in 2009, Charles has averaged 100 all-purpose yards and more than a touchdown per in seven games versus Oakland. He was best player on the field last week versus the Seahawks.

Fantasy Football: Travis Kelce Among Starts, Sits For Chiefs-Raiders Game from NESN

In all honesty, this could be a very short article: If you have a Kansas City Chiefs player on your roster, start him. If you have a Oakland Raiders player on your roster, find a new player.

Red-Hot Chiefs Present Problems For Raiders from NBC Bay Area

Defensive end Justin Houston leads the NFL in sacks with 12, and tackle Dontari Poe - dominant vs. the run - also has five sacks. Linebacker Tamba Hali, meanwhile, is one of the most active in the NFL.

On paper, at least, it seems impossible that the Raiders will be able to run the ball. Oakland is last in the NFL in rushing. The only hope is that Latavius Murray, who looked good in a brief role vs. the Chargers last week, gets more opportunities Thursday night and makes the most of his chance.

Game Preview: Raiders vs. Chiefs from Raiders.com

TE Brian Leonhardt, who is often in a blocking role, knows he will have to play sound in order to stop the Chiefs pass rushers. "They're a couple of the best linebackers in the league and definitely in the passing game, they show up all the time," said the second-year player out of Bemidji State. "They're getting sacks. They're all over the place, so the biggest thing is being able to stop their linebackers from them showing up and that's going to be the challenge this week."

Poe leads the attack up front for Kansas City, but Houston and Hali on the edge make the Chiefs defense incredibly tough to combat. "He's a real handful, he really is," said Coach Sparano on Poe. "What's hard is that when you have a player like that in the middle and then you have two edge rushers on the edge like they have, you get into some single match-ups. It's hard to put two people on a player like him when you have Tamba [Hali] and you have [Justin] Houston outside. Those guys are - that's really a tough deal. He gets freed up and he has speed and power for a big man. So you've got to do a good job of closing the space on him and really, I think it's critical that against players like that that you try to win on your first step - early - because if you play a player like that cautiously, he's going to get you on your heels and that's not a good thing."

Chiefs-Raiders: The most important stats to know for Week 12's TNF game from CBS Sports

The Raiders are the NFL's only winless club but lost to the Chargers (2x), Seahawks and Patriots by just one score this season.

This old-time rivalry doesn't have the same intensity as it had during the Marcus Allen years, but these teams, and their fans aren't exactly friendly foes, that's for sure.

Here are the five of the most important advanced stats you should know for this AFC West tilt on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network at 8:25 p.m. ET.

AFC Playoff Projections: Can Kansas City Knock Denver to a Wildcard Game? from The Big Lead

OVERALL PREDICTIONS

#1 Seed: New England (12-4)

#2 Seed: Kansas City (11-5) [over Denver on division or common games tiebreaker]

#3 Seed: Pittsburgh (10-6) [over Baltimore on division or common games or conference tiebreaker, over Indy on H2H]

#4 Seed: Indianapolis (10-6)

#5 Seed: Denver (11-5)

#6 Seed: Miami (10-6) [over Baltimore, also at 10-6, on H2H]

Alex Smith May Just Get His Chance to Go to the Promised Land from XN Sports

He is not the Most Valuable Player in the NFL, and he will get no consideration for that award at the end of the season.

But Alex Smith is the right quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, perhaps the most overlooked team in football. He has a wide receiving crew that would be the envy of a lot of high school football teams, but they are laughable at the pro level. Nevertheless, the Chiefs may just be on their way toward winning the AFC West title and they have the kind of mindset to win in the playoffs.

But none of it would matter if Smith was not at the helm here.

Raiders game plan vs. Chiefs from The Associated Press via The Sacramento Bee

STRUGGLING OFFENSE

The Raiders are last in in scoring at 15.2 points per game, and the offense has been particularly bad recently. Oakland has failed to top 240 yards in its past three games with rookie quarterback Derek Carr struggling after a promising start to the season.

‘Gienie' in a bottle: Patriots, Browns, and Seahawks highlight week 12 picks from The Massachusettes Daily Collegian

Thursday Night: Oakland Raiders (+7) vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Is this the next prime time blowout? On the surface, the answer appears to be yes. The Chiefs just staked their claim as the second best team in the AFC with a strong win over defending champion Seattle, and the Raiders are threatening to become the second team in history to go 0-16. But this has all the makings of a dreaded trap game for Kansas City. They play Denver next week in a game with huge divisional implications. No matter how much the Chiefs say they aren't looking past Oakland, human nature says they are. I think Kansas City comes out sluggish, but Jamaal Charles does enough to power them to a close win.

The pick: Kansas City 20, Oakland 16

Hurley's Picks: Trying To Decide If The NFL Has Any Truly Great Teams from CBS Boston

The Patriots may have the best case as the "best" team, but that's not saying all that much. Yes, they have come a long way since losing in Miami and getting smoked in Kansas City, and I know I might be considered to be more than a little crazy to try to argue that the Patriots aren't very good. But I can't shake the fact that they barely beat the Jets and barely beat the Raiders. I suppose we'll see what they are made of when they head to Green Bay in a couple of weeks.

The Chiefs would argue pretty strongly that they're better than the Patriots, because, of course, they demolished New England in September. But it's long been my contention that a team quarterbacked by Alex Smith can only go so far, and the same holds true for a team coached by Andy Reid. There is a ceiling to their success, no matter what.

Key stat trends entering Week 12 from ESPN

Much was made of Travis Kelce finally getting a chance to be a full-time player with Anthony Fasano out for last Sunday's game versus the Seattle Seahawks. Kelce drew just five targets despite playing on 44 of 46 offensive snaps for the Kansas City Chiefs. Look for Kelce to remain a low-end starting option, with decent upside.

Flag Is An Insult, Not A Tribute from The Daily Comet

I was playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers when the School Board decided to name a stadium after my brother, Melvin Jr., an All-American football and track star at South Terrebonne who died while playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Some weeks later, the School Board decided to rescind the name.

There were many public facilities that were named after certain individuals - Allen Ellender High School, Tom B. Smith Stadium, H.L. Bourgeois High School, and the list goes on. Yet, when the School Board decided to name a stadium after my brother, who was black, a board member was quoted as saying there was no way he would name a stadium after a n-word.