The Kansas City Chiefs will likely play this game very close to the vest on offense.  With Tyler Thigpen making his first career NFL start the Chiefs will likely turn to Larry Johnson a lot in this football game.  Johnson has only rushed for 96 yards on 34 carries (2.8 ypc) this season but the Falcons are allowing 113.0 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Falcons will likely try to take the running game away from the Chiefs and make Thigpen beat them through the air.  Chiefs’ QBs have been sacked 9 times already this season so DE John Abraham (4 sacks) of the Falcons must be licking his chops.

The Chiefs are a team that’s custom made for the Falcons to dominate.  The Chiefs are allowing 213.0 yards rushing per game and 5.7 yards per carry and that has to have Michael Turner (262 yards rushing, 7.3 ypc) and Jerious Norwood (111 yards rushing and 5.6 ypc) foaming at the mouth.  Rookie QB Matt Ryan had a rough time against the Bucs’ defense but they are much more formidable than what the Chiefs will put in front of him.

PREDICTION:  ATLANTA FALCONS 27, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 10

The Chiefs played a horrible all around football game and Herman Edwards should be ashamed on his team’s effort in this game.  Damon Huard completed 2 of 4 passes for 17 yards with a interception before leaving the game with mild head trauma.  Tyler Thigpen replaced Huard and he was horrible completing 14 of 33 passes for 151 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Larry Johnson was keyed on by the Raiders’ Defense and he only produced 22 yards rushing on 12 carries (1.8 ypc) in this game.  WR Dwyane Bowe was one of the few Chiefs who came to play in this game as he finished with 90 yards receiving on 6 catches (15.0 avg).  TE Tony Gonzalez pitched in with 5 grabs for 39 yards (7.8 avg) with a TD grab.  The Chiefs finished up with 55 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 17 of 38 passes for 135 yards.

The Defense pretty much sucked in this game too for the Chiefs.  DT Tank Tyler (8 tackles) and safety Bernard Pollard (6 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries) came to play…..too bad no one else did on defense.  The Raiders rushed for a stunning 300 yards on 47 carries (6.4 ypc) in this game!  They only completed 6 of 17 passes for 55 yards but they didn’t need to pass against the Chiefs.  The Chiefs should begin looking for a new head coach as they are now 0-2.

These are two fairly evenly matched football teams who will likely prefer to run the ball in this game.  These two teams split last seasons’ series with the Chiefs outscoring the Raiders 30-29.  The Raiders will attack the Chiefs’ defense with the two-headed running attack of Justin Fargas (97 yards rushing) and Darren McFadden (46 yards rushing).  The Chiefs allowed 126 yards rushing against the Patriots last week so the Raiders should have some success on the ground.  To win this game though, the Raiders must trust JaMarcus Russell to throw the ball dowfield to Ashley Lelie, Ronald Curry and Javon Walker.  The Chiefs’ safeties must also keep tabs on TE Zach Miller who is one of Russell’s favorite targets.

The Chiefs will likely be content to feed the rock to Larry Johnson against the Raiders as he has rushed for over 100 yards in all 5 of his starts against them.  With Damon Huard starting at QB the Chiefs might open the offense a tad more than if Brodie Croyle was starting this game.  With that in mind, look for Tony Gonzalez to be effective on the shorter passes and for Dwayne Bowe to stretch the field for the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 20, OAKLAND RAIDERS 17

The Chiefs have added 25-year old WR Marques Hagans off of the practice squad.  He played in 2 years for the Rams covering 4 games (1 start) in which he caught 8 passes for 101 yards (12.6 avg).  The Chiefs have demoted WR Maurice Price and RB Jackie Battle to the practice squad.  Price didn’t play last season but Battle played in 3 games for the Chiefs last season and he carried the ball 14 times for 47 yards (3.4 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs use Hagans who does have some talent.

The Chiefs have signed 26-year old QB Ingle Martin to the practice squad as he will serve as the #3 QB on the Chiefs until Brodie Croyle is ready to return.  He played in all 4 preseason games for the Titans this season and he completed 13 of 25 passes (52%) for 185 yards without a TD pass or a interception (76.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 18 yards (3.0 ypc).  Martin has only one game of NFL experience in 2006 with the Packers and all he did was kneel on the football 2 times for a loss of 5 yards.  This was a good signing for the Chiefs who had to protect themselves more at QB with Croyle out.