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Chiefs Snap Skid By Downing Raiders

POSTED: Sunday, November 30, 2008

(Sports Network) - Larry Johnson rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Maurice Leggett returned a fumble 67 yards for another score as the Kansas City Chiefs got by the Oakland Raiders, 20-13.

Tyler Thigpen completed 15-of-22 passes for 162 yards and was picked off once for Kansas City (2-10), which snapped a seven-game skid. Tony Gonzalez had eight grabs for 110 yards, while Connor Barth kicked a pair of field goals in the win. The Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to win six straight road games versus the Raiders.

"He (Thigpen) is playing really well," Gonzalez said. "I don't know what our offense has been putting up since he became the starter. I gotta assume if he was in there since the beginning of the year maybe we could have been top 10. And you've got to give the coaches some credit too by putting him in a good position, something that he's comfortable with, something that he did in college and he's playing lights out right now."

Kansas City won for only the second time in its last 21 games and last Sunday dropped a wild 54-31 decision at home to the Buffalo Bills.

JaMarcus Russell was a woeful 10-of-28 passing for 132 yards for the Raiders (3-9), who were unable to build off a shocking 31-10 road victory over the Denver Broncos last Sunday. Oakland has dropped five of six.

Justin Fargas accounted for the Raiders lone touchdown and rushed for 82 yards, while Zach Miller caught five passes for 79 yards.

With the Chiefs holding a 10-3 lead after one half, Chris Johnson picked off Thigpen's pass intended for Dwayne Bowe at the Kansas City 45 and returned it to the one-yard-line. Fargas then leaped over the top and into the end zone for the score to tie the contest.

A two-yard touchdown dive by Larry Johnson early in the fourth put the Chiefs in front by a 17-10 margin. The score capped a well-orchestrated 16-play, 91- yard drive that took 9:24 off the game clock.

Starting at their own nine-yard-line, Thigpen completed two passes to Gonzalez sandwiched around a effective run by Larry Johnson that quickly got the Chiefs near midfield. Kansas City then used a steady dose of the ground game to get down to the two-yard-line before Larry Johnson went in for the score.

"Tony Gonzalez is a great great player. He is a Hall of Famer," Raiders head coach Tom Cable said. "I had the joy of being around him in college, so I know a lot about him. I thought our coverage was on him most of the time, but great players make great plays."

A 27-yard chip shot by Barth with 8:54 left in the fourth period put KC up 20-10. Sebastian Janikowski's 51-yarder with 2:55 remaining made it a seven- point game.

Instead of trying the on-sides kick, the Raiders elected to kick deep and Janikowski booted it through the end zone, giving the Chiefs the ball on their own 20.

Kansas City then converted a key 3rd-and-3 when Thigpen hit Bowe for 12 yards and the first down. The Chiefs then took a knee to run out the clock.

Oakland opened the scoring when Janikowski booted a 25-yard field goal, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive with 7:52 left in the first quarter. But Barth's 38-yard effort tied things with 1:07 remaining in the stanza.

The Raiders then lined up for 43-yard field goal attempt in the early stages of the second quarter, but in a designed fake, holder Shane Lechler attempted to flip the ball back to Janikowski, but the ball was fumbled and Leggett picked it up and sprinted 67 yards for the touchdown.

Each team then traded punts for the remainder of the quarter and Oakland held a 10-3 lead heading into the break.

Game Notes

Oakland visits San Diego on December 4, while the Chiefs play at Denver on December 7...Kansas City holds a 51-44-2 edge in its all-time regular season series with Oakland...Chiefs' Herm Edwards improved to 7-6 against the Raiders as a head coach, including playoff losses for his Jets to Oakland in both 2001 and 2002...Gonzalez extended his reception streak to 127 games in a row... Thigpen won his first NFL start at the age of 24 years, 7 months and 23 days and as is the youngest quarterback to win his first game for the club since Todd Blackledge (23 years, 6 months and seven days) did it at Pittsburgh (9/2/84).

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