The Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) missed a great opportunity to break away in the division. At the start of Week 7, the Chiefs lost 30:31 to the Oakland Raiders (3-4). The headlines were first published by Raiders-Back Marshawn Lynch, who left the field before half-time because of a crazy outburst. In the end, however, it went completely crazy for Oakland with several penalties and the game winner with the last chance to win – it was the most dramatic finish of the season so far.
It didn’t take long before the rivalry between the two teams became apparent to everyone. In a dubious play call in the middle of the second quarter – a quarterback draw for the just recovered Derek Carr (29/52,417 YDS, 3 TD) – Carr got a late hit from Marcus Peters. Marshawn Lynch, who is very close to Peters, then stormed into the field and pushed a referee aside, and consequently flew off the field. Another suspension could follow.
By that time, both of them had already left their mark on the game. Amari Cooper (11 REC, 210 YDS, 2 TD) finally signed up for the 2017 season with two touchdowns, while Tyreek Hill managed another long touchdown on a 3-Play 99-yard drive. Previously, Travis Kelce had beaten NaVorro Bowman – who started directly after his move to Oakland and announced Plays on the field – to the TD in the Red Zone.
However, the raiders were also very fortunate at an early stage: In Cooper’s first touchdown, however, the impartial team did not whistle an allegedly clear offensive pass interference against the receiver, and shortly afterwards a bag fumble against Carr was whistled back by a highly questionable penalty. The second half of the match remained a turbulent game: The Raiders went straight back into the lead, a crazy touchdown by Albert Wilson, actually a safe interception for McGill after a bad throw by Alex Smith (25/36,342 YDS, 3 TD), brought KC into the front line again.
In the final quarter, the Chiefs were lucky enough to have a pass interference in the final zone, but Oaklands Defense stopped KC twice and gave the offense the last chance. Then it went crazy: Cook seemed to have the game winning touchdown, but was down on the 1-yard line with 18 seconds on the clock – without timeout for the raiders. Oakland had eight seconds left and Crabtree received a passport interference. Then the game seemed to be over again, but two 0-second holding penalties against the Chiefs gave Oakland two more chances until Crabtree finally caught the game winner! A totally crazy finish!
Oakland Raiders (3-4) – Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)31:30 (14:10,0:10,7:10,10:0) BOXSCORE
Over the past few weeks, Oakland’s offensive line has also been criticized, and in the pre-season a strength of the team, the raiders also had problems here. The game against the Chiefs, however, was impressive: The raiders withstood long and obvious passing downs, Carr often had a clean pocket and could hold the ball longer. It was a central element of the Raiders victory.
Of course, the game winner – Carr had four passes in the last seven seconds of the game clock due to the penalties, the fourth to Crabtree in the final zone – was the dramatic highlight of a highly exciting game. However, this would not have been possible if Oakland’s defence had not suddenly stood up in the final minutes. A Bowman flash and an impressive Mack bag at Third Down finished the two Chiefs drives Kansas City could have played down the clock with.
Cooper’s season has been a bad one for him, which was one of the reasons for the stumbling Raiders-Offense. He had more than twice as many yards as in the first six games together, his 210 yards were the majority of a raiders’ receiver since Art Powell’s franchise record in 1963, and finally you could see his explosiveness again. But: Again he had several drops, Cooper has to stop them. He is already standing at nine drops this season, no other receiver has more than six.
Whoever thought that Kelce dominated the worst linebacker corps of the league was confirmed at first – but after his early touchdown, Kansas City’s dominant tight end was not enough. Four catches for 33 yards ended up in the end.