How did that Raiders team beat the Chiefs?

 
            Todd Haley said his team did not play smart football following a what-the-heck-happened 13-10 loss to the Oakland Raiders in the 2009 home opener at Arrowhead Stadium.
            For 58 minutes, JaMarcus Russell did his best Ryan Leaf imitation.
            Then, with the game on the line, he turned into Johnny Unitas,leading the Raiders to a game-winning touchdown with 1:07 left in the game.
            The Chiefs showcased some bonehead plays that made you long for the days of Frank Gansz or John Mackovic and the coach called a play before the half that was either the worst call in the history of the franchise or quarterback Matt Cassel didn’t throw the pass Haley had called for.
            The Chiefs had the ball on the Raiders’ 9-yard line with :14 left in the half. Instead of throwing in the end zone or throwing an incomplete pass, Cassel hit Dantrell Savage in the flat for a 1-yard gain as time rolled off the clock.
            The Chiefs had burned two earlier timeouts because of miscommunication between the coach and his quarterback and it came back to cost the team a valuable field goal opportunity.
            Haley opened his news conference by saying he wants a smart team – and when asked if the coach was smart Sunday afternoon he addressed the issue like a man.
            “The way the half ended, I’d say no,” Haley said. “I’m the leader of this team. You make the call where you get the points or don’t get the points. That has to be a sideline pass where you can get out of bounds or it has to be incomplete.”
            Cassel also took responsibility for the play, adding, “I threw the pass. It’s on me.”
            Had the Chiefs gone into the half with a 6-3 lead, Russell’s touchdown drive at the end of the game would have only tied the score, and not allowed the worst quarterback in the NFL to beat the Chiefs at home.
            President Obama should send Russell to Iran, because he could overthrow that tyrannical government. Every pass he threw Sunday was overthrown – until it came to crunch time.
            That’s when the man, who had directed six out of eight series in which the Raiders were three and out, went to work.
            He drove the Raiders 69 yards in 1:31 and capped the drive by handing the ball off to former No. 1 draft pick Darren McFadden, who scored on a five-yard run to the far corner of the end zone.
            The Raiders totaled 166 net yards on the afternoon and were penalized three times on the game-winning drive.
            The Chiefs totaled 409 yards and shot themselves in the foot when defensive end Wallace Gillberry was called for roughing the passer in that final Raiders drive on a play in which Russell had already been sacked for a three-yard loss.
            What was the coach saying about smart football?
            To lose a home opener to a mediocre Raider team should send shock waves through the Chiefs nation – many of whom were disguised as empty seats Sunday.
            I haven’t seen that many empty seats at a Chiefs game, especially an opener, since the laughable days of 1980s with Gansz and Mackovic at the helm.
            This team does not have much talent, but it does have a fiery young coach who is determined to change the mindset of his squad. It must play smart football if it has any chance of winning a game, even a game against the lowly Raiders.
            Just the thought of Al Davis smirking in the visiting owner’s suite following that win is enough to ruin my entire week.
            I hope the Chiefs players feel the same way, too.