Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 12/15

Chiefs defeat Raiders 31-13 from The Associated Press via The Mothership

The Kansas City Chiefs kept their fading playoff hopes alive on Sunday.

Alex Smith threw for 297 yards and two scores, Kansas City shut down Derek Carr and the Oakland offense and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 31-13 to end a three-game losing streak.

Knile Davis added touchdowns running and receiving, and De'Anthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards for another touchdown as the Chiefs (8-6) got even for a 24-20 loss to the Raiders just last month.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: 10 Observations from The Mothership

3. Smith and the passing game opened up

Alex Smith and the Chiefs offense took their shots down the field against the Raiders defense in the passing game.

It was a 48-yard pass deep down the field to rookie receiver Albert Wilson that showed the vertical passing game people had been asking about throughout the season.

Smith finished the game 18 of 30 for 297 yards and two touchdowns.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Game Takeaways from The Mothership

"I thought Len Dawson got us started, banging that drum," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game of Dawson, Sunday's drum honoree. "I thought he was going to throw his shoulder out hitting that son of a gun. He got the crowd rolling and I thought they were phenomenal.

"We sure enjoy bringing people into Arrowhead to play in front of our crowd. They are something."

Before Sunday's game, the Chiefs were already in control of their playoff chances and if Sunday's game was the first test, they passed with flying colors.

After dropping three straight, the Chiefs got back in the win column thanks to big plays on both sides of the ball, plus one electric punt return from rookie De'Anthony Thomas.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Postgame Facts and Stats from The Mothership

CHIEFS DEFENSE DOES NOT ALLOW A RUSHING TD: The Chiefs defense did not allow a rushing touchdown in today's game. Through 14 games, they have only allowed two rushing touchdowns. The NFL record for fewest rushing touchdowns allowed in a single season is two, set by four teams: 1934 Detroit Lions, 1944 N.Y. Giants, 1968 Dallas Cowboys and the 1971 Minnesota Vikings.

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Andy Reid Postgame Reaction from The Mothership

If you can continue to get the ball down the field in the passing game like you did today, what is this team capable of? "I thought that was one of the positives offensively. We were able to drive it down there. It loosens things up a bit. You saw they were playing a lot of single safety middle and putting that extra guy in the box, obviously concerned about Jamaal and the run game. So it opened up something down the field for us. I thought Alex (Smith) did a nice job, 297 yards throwing the football."

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Alex Smith Postgame Reaction from The Mothership

Why did the down field game work today? "Combination of things, coach putting together a great game plan and then calling it and kind of setting them up. I thought I did a good job leading some guys with some underneath stuff and then hitting them over the top and then guys making plays, making plays downfield."

How good can you guys be if you guys can keep that up? "I mean the key is to do it when they're there. They are built within the play call. When you get presented the opportunity, you're certainly not back there trying to force a bunch of deep balls. You've got to let them come. I thought we did a good job of that today. Stayed aggressive all day with the play calling and I think the offensive line played great then those guys making plays downfield."

Chiefs vs. Raiders: Arrowhead Recap from The Mothership

To start the day, Chiefs Hall of Fame LB Bobby Bell threw on his Santa Claus suit and visited fan's tailgates with Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt.

On the field, to begin the pregame festivities, there was a mass enlistment for 50 service members from Ft. Leavenworth.

The national anthem was then performed by retired Navy Petty Officer Generald Wilson. He was astounded by the Chiefs Kingdom, the stadium and the loud "Chiefs" he heard at the end of the song.

KCChiefs.com Podcast: Chiefs Download 12/15

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs vs. Raiders: Postgame Report

KCChiefs.com Video: Wired: Sean Smith Reacts to De'Anthony Thomas's TD

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs vs. Raiders: Player Reactions

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs vs. Raiders: Game Highlights

FS Kansas City Video: Sights and sounds from Chiefs-Raiders game

Chiefs overcome sluggish start to rout Raiders 31-13 from Chiefs Digest

It took a lackluster first half for the Chiefs offense to wake up in a penalty-filled game.

The Chiefs (8-6) scored 21 third-quarter points to escape the Oakland Raiders' (2-12) threat of a season sweep by way of a 31-13 win at Arrowhead Stadium.

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith put together his best passing performance of the season, throwing for 297 yards, besting his 295-yard performance last week in Arizona.

With Sunday's big win, Chiefs claim control of their playoff destiny from FS Kansas City

After all the moaning and groaning that emerged from the Chiefs' three-game skid, here's what we still know: The Chiefs, after blowing out the Raiders 31-13, control their own playoff destiny.

Win their remaining two games against Pittsburgh and San Diego, and the Chiefs will make the playoffs.

Kansas City linebacker Frank Zombo, a former Packer, remembers the same scenario in Green Bay in 2010.

"We had to win our last two games against the Giants and Bears," he said. "We won both and then we got hot in the playoffs and won it all.

"This team could do that as well. This team could get hot."

Rapid Reaction: Kansas City Chiefs from ESPN

The Chiefs at long last got their downfield passing game to work. One wide receiver, rookie Albert Wilson, got deep for a 48-yard catch, while another, veteran Dwayne Bowe, hauled in a 37-yard pass in the first half alone. Running back Knile Davis caught a 70-yard touchdown pass in the second half. The Chiefs were able to harass Oakland rookie quarterback Derek Carr in a way they didn't in last month's loss to the Raiders.

Smith leads rejuvenated air attack from KC Star via The Wichita Eagle

It was a sight Chiefs fans haven't seen enough this year. Perfect protection. A deep, gorgeous spiral. And a receiver wearing red, white and gold settling under the ball for a big gain.

Yes, the Chiefs threw a deep ball on Sunday, and it marked the second straight week quarterback Alex Smith hooked up with a receiver for a big gain downfield. Not a catch-and-run - though the Chiefs did that, too. A deep ball.

And to Smith and receiver Albert Wilson, who teamed up for a 48-yard gain on a post route in the second quarter, it was as beautiful to them as it might have been for the average fan.

Chiefs fire on all cylinders for Week 15 highs from Chiefs Digest

The Chiefs defense sacked Oakland quarterback Derek Carr four times on Sunday. Linebacker Justin Houston had the first one of the day, bringing his season total to 17 and is tied for the lead in the NFL. Other players chalking up sacks were linebacker Tamba Hali (1), defensive end Jaye Howard (½), defensive end Vance Walker (½), rookie linebacker Dee Ford (½) and linebacker Josh Martin (½).

Dee Ford does his part for Kansas City Chiefs in Auburn's NFL Week 15 from AL.com

Outside linebacker Dee Ford got to play a little more than he has been for Kansas City on Sunday, and the rookie contributed half a sack and three tackles in the Chiefs' 31-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

"Donald did well," Kansas City outside linebacker Tamba Hali said. "The guy can rush the passer. I keep telling him it's a long season. Just be patient."

Chiefs' De'Anthony Thomas makes Dave Toub's prediction come true from Chiefs Digest

Toub just days earlier called the shot when it came to the special teams unit breaking a punt return for a touchdown.

"We're still waiting to get a big one really is what we're waiting on," Toub said Thursday. "We just need to do a better job blocking the gunners and we take care of the gunners, I think we're going to pop one."

Thomas made Toub's forecast a reality with an 81-yard punt return down the left sideline for a touchdown in the first quarter. The play helped build a lead the Chiefs wouldn't relinquish en route to a 31-13 win to snap a three-game losing streak and move to 8-6 with two game remaining.

Chiefs' Cairo Santos to draw from experience to return to form from Chiefs Digest

Santos' streak came to an end Sunday after he missed his first field goal attempt from 44 yards. While he came back to make a 41-yard field goal, he then missed an attempt from 47-yards during Sunday's 31-13 win against the Oakland Raiders.

Missed kicks are growing pains for a rookie kicker, but Santos has been through this already at the start of the season.

And that experience has Santos believing the lessons learned from that experience will assist getting him back on track.

For Chiefs, ugly is the new beautiful -- as long as it leads to a playoff berth, baby from FS Kansas City

What the Red Ryder BB gun was to Ralphie, the playoffs are to the Andy Gang. At 8-6, they're still in the cluster with half the AFC for one of the last seats on the January train, but a seven seed -- the last team out -- if the postseason started tomorrow. Fortunately for Ford and his Chiefs, it doesn't, and they get a crack at Pittsburgh (9-5) on the road and San Diego (8-6) in the home finale two weeks from now.

Win and you're in. That simple.

"Every game is playoff mode," tailback Jamaal Charles said. "Every game, you've got to come with it. It's like lose or go home. We're hungry, this team is young, but we're still trying to keep some of these guys around here. It's the playoffs. Every week we play with a playoff mentality."

Chiefs thump Raiders to keep playoff hopes alive from NFL.com

After playing his best game of the season in last week's upset of the 49ers, Carr took a beating. Kansas City held the rookie quarterback to 222 yards at 4.0 yards per attempt and a passer rating of 64.7. Much of that yardage -- and his lone touchdown pass -- came in garbage time for a Raiders team that managed five or fewer plays on 10 of Oakland's 16 drives.

Kansas City Chiefs wallop Oakland Raiders 31-13 from The Sacramento Bee

Just a week after pounding their cross-bay rivals, the Oakland Raiders were hammered by the Kansas City Chiefs 31-13 Sunday in Kansas City.

Discovery of big passing game brings Chiefs to life from ESPN

Dwayne Bowe wouldn't reveal his answer, perhaps in fear of jinxing his quarterback, his team and its discovery of the downfield passing game.

But the possibilities seem endless for the Kansas City Chiefs if they can continue to open their passing game as they did in Sunday's 31-13 win over the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.

"You've gotta stick around and wait for it," said Bowe, one of three players to catch a pass of longer than 35 yards on Sunday. "We've got to show you."

If indeed Bowe and his teammates continue to make as many long pass plays as they did Sunday, the Chiefs will be showing up in the postseason for the second straight season.

Raiders at Chiefs Quick Hits from Raiders.com

The loss drops the Raiders' all-time record against Kansas City to 51-56-2 (1-2 in postseason) and 24-30-1 on the road against the Chiefs. The two teams split their season series for the first time since 2011.

Oakland's defense continued its streak of strong performances on third down, holding the Chiefs to just 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) on third downs. The Raiders have allowed four-or-fewer third-down conversions in each of their last five games

The Raiders have held the Chiefs to four-or-fewer third-down conversions in each of their last seven meetings dating back to Dec. 24, 2011 at KC.

Chiefs roll to big win over Raiders from ProFootballTalk

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith put up big numbers, completing 18 of 30 passes for 297 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Although most of his yardage came on short passes (particularly a short pass that running back Knile Davis turned into a 70-yard touchdown) he was in control of the offense and accurate in his passes, the way Andy Reid needs him to be.

Neither of Smith's touchdown passes was to a wide receiver, which means Kansas City has now gone more than a year since it last threw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver.

Injuries continue to nag Jamaal Charles from ESPN

Running back Jamaal Charles was none too happy about being yanked from the game with the Kansas City Chiefs about to score a touchdown in the third quarter of Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders but he had only himself to blame.

Charles had just taken a hit to the head, similar to the one he had taken in an October game against the San Diego Chargers. Then, he kept quiet about the incident until the next day, when he described having symptoms consistent to those of a concussion.

This time the Chiefs were quick to pull Charles from the game and examined him for a concussion, which it turns out he didn't have.

Watch: Chiefs break new ground with 'fake fake punt' vs. Raiders from FOX Sports

Credit Dustin Colquitt for breaking new ground Sunday.

The Kansas City Chiefs punter was on the field against the Oakland Raiders for what seemed like a routine punt. But, oh no, there was nothing routine about it.

Chiefs fans show support for Berry after cancer diagnosis from KCTV5

And this holiday season, Berry's jersey is a top-selling item.

"It seems like every time we get some in, they're flying off the shelf," said Sean Faulkner, a Rally House employee.

It is such a hot commodity that Faulkner can barely keep them on the shelves, a show of support for Berry and a sign of commitment in Chiefs Nation.

Sign 'Get Well' card for Chiefs' Eric Berry from KCTV5

KCTV5 wants your help in wishing Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry all the best as he undergoes treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

We have a large "Get Well" card that you can sign this week at six area Hy-Vee locations.

The card will be at the following stores at the following times:

Alex Smith takes what's given and avoids mistakes in Chiefs win from The San Francisco Chronicle

"They had a good game plan," Oakland defensive tackle Antonio Smith said. "Then, when we stopped one of those screens, there would be a penalty."

Smith completed passes to a season-high 10 receivers, as Kansas City got on top and didn't look back. The Chiefs are 6-1 when they lead at halftime and 5-0 when Smith has a passer rating of over 100 (he was at 115.6 Sunday).

The back-breaker was a 70-yard touchdown pass to Davis, who was matched against middle linebacker Miles Burris. Burris slipped on the short pass, and as Davis said "it was like practice" there was so much green turf ahead of him.

Derek Carr at a loss for Raiders' passing-game struggles vs. Chiefs from The Contra Costa Times

"When a team beats you, you have to give them credit,'' Carr said. "They outplayed us. I don't know exactly what it was, but obviously it was something. We have to take a look at it. They came out and played really hard.''

Carr completed 48.2 percent of his passes (27 of 56) for 222 yards and a touchdown a week after completing 78.5 percent (22 of 28) for 254 yards and three touchdowns.

When Carr hit the 28-pass mark against the Chiefs, he had just 12 completions for 81 yards. His passer rating plummeted from 140.2 against the 49ers to 64.7 against the Chiefs.

Offensive line allowed the Chiefs to rush in from The San Francisco Chronicle

Not flat this time: It's clear the Chiefs are more talented than Oakland and their 24-20 loss at the Coliseum was more about them being flat than anything else.

"Yeah," Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said, "as it worked out, that was a short week and so on and travel. We didn't quite have as much juice as maybe what we had today."

Nightmares do come true: For more than a month, Sparano has been worried about his special-teams play. On Sunday, it bit him as De'Anthony Thomas almost broke a punt return in the first quarter before returning one for a touchdown in the second quarter.

All told, the Chiefs had 222 punt- and kickoff-return yards. The Raiders managed 74 on 10 opportunities (four were touchbacks).

Raiders, once again, fail to build on big win from ESPN

For the second time in three weeks against the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr engineered a last-minute touchdown drive.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, this scene was reminiscent of so many other Oakland games this season and not the first game against Kansas City. The Raiders were scoring in the final minute of a game Sunday that was completely out of reach. It was the sixth time the Raiders scored a garbage time touchdown.

It's the story of their season -- production when it doesn't count.

Raiders roll over vs. KC from The Santa Cruz Sentinel

When interim coach Tony Sparano broke down the Raiders' 31-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, he saw several instances of "Oakland beating Oakland.''

Others agreed, including tight end Mychal Rivera, who said he needed to watch the film, but it sure seemed like "us beating us."

Veteran free safety Charles Woodson, noting that his team had been outplayed in all three phases, wasn't so sure.

"Kansas City beat Oakland," Woodson said. "That's what it boils down to. We didn't rise to the occasion.''

Chiefs super fans tie the knot at Arrowhead Stadium from KCTV5

Two lifelong Kansas City Chiefs fans will cheer on the team Sunday for the first time as husband and wife.

Andy Wyatt married his college sweetheart Monica Berry inside Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.

The Chargers' Mindset Moving Forward from Chargers.com

At 8-6 with two games remaining, the Bolts no longer control their own playoff destiny.

Still, San Diego remains in the hunt.

There are numerous realistic scenarios where the Chargers get in as long as they get to 10-6 by defeating the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs on the road.

To a man, they are confident they can do that.

Steelers-Falcons: What we learned from Lindy's Sports

Both teams remain in tight division races. The Steelers (9-5) began the day one-half game behind the Cincinnati Bengals and tied with the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. Pittsburgh will win the division if it beats the Kansas City Chiefs next week and the Bengals in Week 17. Both games are in Pittsburgh.

De'Anthony Thomas is the Black Mamba for a reason from KWCH

Chiefs' rookie De'Anthony Thomas goes by the nickname the Black Mamba for good reason.

"Well, I got it in the Snoopy football league and we played Snoop Dog's team in our first game and we blew them out 52-0 and he gave me the name Black Mamba," Thomas said.

A single strike is deadly. The Raiders learned that the hard way.