Chiefs-Raiders rivalry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders^[2] of the National Football League are considered to be part of one of professional football's most bitter rivalries.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Since the American Football League was established in 1960, the Chiefs and Raiders have shared the same division, first being the AFL Western Conference, and since the AFL-NFL merger, the AFC West.

The Chiefs lead the regular season series 50-42-2^[1] However, the Raiders won the last meeting between the teams with a score of 20-17 on November 25, 2007.

The Chiefs are also ahead in playoff match-ups with a record of 2-1.^[1][6] The Chiefs are the only team in the NFL with a winning record against the Raiders (with 10 or more contests)^[8].

[edit] History

The two teams first met in 1960 when the Chiefs were known as the Dallas Texans. The Texans defeated the Raiders 34-16 in the team's first game at Oakland,^[1][9][10] while the Raiders defeated the Texans 20-19 at Dallas.^[9][10]

The rivalry did not become so apparent until the Kansas City Athletics baseball team moved to Oakland, California in 1967. In 1969, the Kansas City Royals expansion team was placed in the same division as the Athletics.^[11] The move was met with considerable distaste in the Kansas City area and much of the frustration was put upon the Raiders when they played in Kansas City. The 1966 Chiefs team participated in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, later known as the Super Bowl. The Chiefs and Raiders both had identical 12-2 records in 1968 and faced off in a playoff game to decide who would go to face the New York Jets for the AFL Championship. The Raiders won 41-6.

The following year, in 1969, the Raiders defeated the Chiefs twice in the regular season^[12][13] and went on to win the AFL Western Conference title. The two teams met in the 1969 AFL Championship Game at Oakland and the underdog Chiefs won 17-7.^[12][13] The Chiefs participated in Super Bowl IV a week later and defeated the NFL's heavily favored Minnesota Vikings.^[12] It was not until 1976 that Oakland would finally win their first Super Bowl championship.^[14]

In the first meeting between the teams during the 1970 season, the Chiefs held a 17-14 lead late in the fourth quarter and appeared ready to run out the clock. Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson rolled around right end and gained enough yardage for a first down, and as he fell to the ground, he was speared from behind by Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson.^[3] A fight ensued, and Davidson was shoved out of the way by Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor. Offsetting penalties were called, and the play was nullified. Kansas City was forced to punt, and the Raiders took advantage, as George Blanda nailed a 48-yard field goal with two seconds left to secure a 17-17 tie. Due to this play, the NFL changed the rules so that Davidson's personal foul would have been enforced at the end of the play, and Taylor's penalty would have been assessed only after the Chiefs had been awarded a first down. The tie proved to be costly for the Chiefs, as Oakland clinched the first AFC West championship with a 20-6 victory in Oakland in Week 13.

The Chiefs defeated the Raiders by a score of 42-10 in the 1975 season, prompting the Chiefs' live horse mascot Warpaint to circle the field after each touchdown scored. After the game, Raiders coach John Madden said "We couldn't beat the Chiefs, but we damn near killed their horse."^[15]

The Raiders would go on to win two more Super Bowl titles in 1980^[16] and 1983^[17] while the Chiefs were considered to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Raiders won most of the games between the 1970s and 1980s.^[6] Following their victory in Super Bowl IV, the Chiefs returned to the playoffs in 1971, but lost in double overtime to the Miami Dolphins in the divisional round in the longest game in NFL history, the final game at Municipal Stadium. Following that loss, Kansas City did not return to the playoffs until 1986.^[18]

In the final game of the 1999 season, the Chiefs and Raiders faced off at Arrowhead Stadium. A win for the Chiefs would put them in the playoffs. A game plagued by special teams mistakes for the Chiefs, including three attempted kickoffs that ended up out of bounds by kickoff specialist Jon Baker, helped keep the Raiders in the game and stop the Chiefs from sealing the victory. The game went into overtime and, helped by favorable field position after the third and final kickoff out of bounds, former Chief Rich Gannon drove the Raiders into Chiefs territory, setting up the game-winning field goal and knocking the Chiefs out of the playoffs, their first win at Arrowhead since 1988. ^[19]

On November 6, 2005 when the two teams met at Arrowhead Stadium, with five seconds left in the game, the Chiefs were trailing the Raiders by three and had the ball on the Oakland 1.^[20] Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil called for a touchdown instead of a game-tying field goal. Behind center Casey Wiegmann and 10-time Pro Bowl right guard Will Shields, running back Larry Johnson dived over the pile into the end zone for a 27-23 victory that brought a roar from the sellout crowd and left the emotional head coach in tears.^[20] The drive began with quarterback Trent Green driving the Chiefs 72 yards downfield.^[20] Green attended his father's funeral just four days earlier.^[20]

On October 21, 2007, the Chiefs defeated the Raiders for a record ninth straight victory. No other team in NFL history has defeated the Raiders nine straight times.^[21] Also, for the third time straight time, the game ended with an interception by Chiefs safety Jarrad Page.^[21] For the eighth time in the Chiefs' nine victories, the winning deficit was within 7 points or less.^[21]

The two teams met again on November 25, 2007 when the Raiders won their first AFC West divisional game since 2004 after losing 17 straight. The Raiders also defeated Kansas City for the first time since December 23, 2002.

[edit] Rivalry statistics

As of week eight of the 2007 NFL season, the Chiefs and Raiders have played 94 regular season games and three post-season games against each other.^[1] The Chiefs lead the series 50-42-2 in regular season play and 2-1 in post-season meetings.^[1] The Chiefs have shut-out Oakland twice (1981, 1997) and Oakland has done the same once (2002).^[1] The teams have a 1-1 record in overtime results.^[1]

[edit] Game results

The following is a list of results from all of the meetings between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders from their first meeting on September 16, 1960 to the present:

[edit] 1960s (AFL)

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1990s

[edit] 2000s

[edit] Connections between the two teams

• Quarterback Rich Gannon, whom was the Chiefs' starting quarterback in the late 1990s signed with the Raiders for the 1999 season and two years later was named NFL MVP.
• Wide receiver Andre Rison played for the Chiefs before getting cut prior to the 2000 NFL season. He signed with Oakland later that year.
• Running back Marcus Allen played for the Raiders in Los Angeles and led the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XVIII. Allen signed with the Chiefs for the 1993 season after a feud with Al Davis became public. Allen later reportedly asked to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Chiefs, even though unlike the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn't induct players on a certain team.
• Backup quarterback Tom Flores won a Super Bowl championship with the Chiefs in 1969, but never started in Kansas City. Flores went on to become head coach of the Raiders ten years later and led the team to two Super Bowl titles.
• Former Chiefs head coach and current defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham spent four years with the Los Angeles Raiders (1991-1994) as the team's defensive coordinator. He joined the Chiefs in 1995.
• Cornerback Albert Lewis and Running Back Harvey Williams started their careers in Kansas City but were both traded to the Raiders in 1994.
• Linebacker Napoleon Harris started his career after getting drafted by the Oakland Raiders, before being traded. He would sign with the Cheifs after.
• Quarterback JaMarcus Russell and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe hold many records while attending LSU. In the 2007 NFL Draft, Russell would be drafted to the Raiders (No.1 overall) and Bowe would be drafted to the Chiefs (No.23 overall).

[edit] Quotes

• "Those were my favorite games...I always likened them to a heavyweight fight. You knew you were going to get beat up, but it was fun. We needed the Chiefs. We wouldn't have been as good without them." — Ben Davidson, former Raiders defensive end.
• "It's something special. It's not just media hype...You can sense it with coaches and players. Then you get out into the community, and you realize what a huge game this is for both cities." — Will Shields, former Chiefs offensive guard.
• "In Oakland...the games you always really wanted to come see were the Niners and the Chiefs. You grew up hating red...It goes deep. It's not just the teams. It's the organizations, you know, which organization is better? These are two teams that played in the old AFL against each other. Most of the history goes back to it. They've been AFC West rivals for a very, very long time. It's always been the must-win game." — Kirk Morrison, current Raiders linebacker.^[23]
• "It's a dark game. I characterize it as a lot of darkness." When asked whether "dark" was meant as 'a good vs. evil dark'—"You can read between the lines." — Gunther Cunningham, former Raiders defensive co-ordinator and former Chiefs Head coach, currently working as the Chiefs defensive co-ordinator.^[7]

[edit] See also

• Rivalries in the NFL

[edit] References