I don't think I deserve to be accused of being a homer when I say that my favorite team, the Raiders, have a legitimate chance of beating the undefeated Chiefs this week.
The Chiefs are the toast of the NFL right now, and I just saw a Jeffri Chadiha article touting them as the team to knock off the Broncos. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Jamaal Charles is injury-prone. Alex Smith is their quarterback. The receiving core is very weak. While their defense, led by Justin Houston, has excelled, the offense could hurt them in the long run. Oh, by the way, this team was 2-14 last year. And in an AFC with numerous wild-card-caliber teams, 5-0 is no guarantee of a playoff spot.
Meanwhile, the Raiders have quietly surprised the NFL. Pryor to this season, (see what I did there?) the esteemed Sports Guy Bill Simmons called Oakland the worst team in the NFL and postulated that they could go 0-16. But their much-maligned defense held the Chargers to zero touchdowns in the first three quarters yesterday, helped them almost beat the Colts, and overall, has done a lot better than expected (although that doesn't say very much.) In addition, Terrelle Pryor looks like a legitimate starting quarterback. For all of these reasons, I'm expecting a very competitive game next Sunday.
Plus, history is on my side. In the last three seasons, Oakland is 5-1 against Kansas City. The one loss was in Carson Palmer's debut, by the way. Kyle Boller also played, and each quarterback threw three interceptions. In addition, five wins is greater than or equal to eight of the Raiders' season win totals from the last ten seasons. The point is, this team just plays well against Kansas City.
To conclude, even with Arrowhead Stadium's home field advantage, I think the Chiefs will lose this week. Calling it now: Raiders 27, Chiefs 20.
