The Kansas City Chiefs got off to a rough start this season losing their first two games but they have rebounded winning three of the last four contests.  The Raiders have played much better than many thought they would as they are 2-3 right now.

The Chiefs will no doubt come off the bus running the football with Larry Johnson (394 yards rushing, 3.4 ypc) against a Raiders defense that is allowing 144.8 yards rushing and 5.6 yards per carry this season.  After the Chiefs establish the running game look for them to throw the ball deep to Dwayne Bowe and Jeff Webb.  Damon Huard must be careful when throwing the ball towards Tony Gonzalez as linebackers Thomas Howard (4 INTs) and Kirk Morrison (3 INTs) have been making big plays over the middle of the football field.

The Raiders will also look to run the ball with LaMont Jordan (466 yards rushing) and Justin Fargas (6.0 ypc) against a Chiefs defense that is allowing 117.7 yards rushing per game and 4.3 ypc.  The Raiders need to have a good running game against the Chiefs or they will have a hard time passing the ball.  That’s because the offensive line has allowed 16 sacks already this season and DE Jared Allen of the Chiefs is on fire as he already has 6 sacks this season despite missing a big chunk of the season to a league suspension.

PREDICTION:  The Chiefs will have a big game on offense and the Raiders won’t be able to keep up.  CHIEFS 27, RAIDERS 17.

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The Chiefs have traded Michael Bennett to the Bucs for conditional draft picks in both the 2008 and 2009 Draft.  Bennett played in 6 games this season for the Chiefs and he carried the ball 20 times for 52 yards (2.6 ypc) and he also caught 10 passes for 47 yards (4.7 avg).  What this means is that Priest Holmes could be ready to play football again as he returned to practice today.  If that is the case this was a great trade for the Chiefs as Holmes is 10 times the player that Michael Bennett is.

The Chiefs jumped the Bengals early in this game and they made it stand.  Damon Huard had his best game of the season as he completed 25 of 35 passes for 264 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Larry Johnson also had a good game as he carried the ball 31 times for 119 yards (3.8 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 24 yards (12.0 avg).  TE Tony Gonzalez was off the charts against the Bengals as he caught 9 passes for 102 yards (11.3 avg) with 2 TDs.  WRs Jeff Webb (7 rec, 78 yards) and Dwyane Bowe (4 rec, 46 yards) each had solid games.  The Chiefs finished with 121 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 25 of 35 passes for 233 yards.

The defense gave up a lot of yards today but they also made their share of big plays as Carson Palmer turned the ball over 3 times.  Donnie Edwards (9 tackles) and Jared Allen (3 tackles, 2.5 sacks) were the big difference makers on the defense today.  The Bengals finished up with 78 yards rushing on 18 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 43 passes for 295 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014012

This should be a good football team between to desperate teams that really need a victory.  The Bengals have lost three games in a row and they have allowed 109 points during the losing streak.  The Chiefs are sitting a 2-3 and they need to play better on offense at home as they have only scored 20 points in 2 games there. 

The Bengals will get RB Rudi Johnson for this game and it couldn’t come at a better time.  The Chiefs are allowing 125.6 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry so the Bengals might try to pound them some on the ground to keep the defense on the sideline.  But it’s also very likely that Carson Palmer will try to light up the sky and essentially take Larry Johnson out of the Chiefs game plan by making them play from behind.  WRs Chad Johnson (28 rec, 495 yards, 3 TDs) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (39 rec, 360 yards, 5 TDs) will have a big speed advantage on the corners of the Chiefs.

Damon Huard’s MRI came back o.k. and he will start this week against the Bengals and that’s a good thing.  The Chiefs will try to get Larry Johnson (275 yards rushing, 3.3 ypc) to keep control of the football and keep the Bengals offense on the bench.  Look for Huard to be able to get the ball to TE Tony Gonzalez (29 rec, 338 yards, TD) and WR Dwyane Bowe (22 rec, 369 yards, 3 TDs) often against the Bengals defense which is allowing 251.0 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  This will be a high scoring game but I have a hunch that the Chiefs will be inspired and win this game by a field goal.

Damon Huard injured his shoulder last week and he had to leave the football game.  He won’t be able to play this week either so Herman Edwards will get his wish as he wanted to start Brodie Croyle all along.  Croyle will get to face one of the worst defenses in the NFL (Cincinnati Bengals) so chances are he will look good in his starting debut.  Croyle has completed 10 of 17 passes (58.8%) for 138 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (104.5 QB Rating).  Huard will have a hard time getting his job back when his shoulder is 100%.  He has completed 97 of 149 passes (65.1%) for 1,029 yards with 4 TD passes and 6 interceptions (77.3 QB Rating).