Raiders start to miss Jason Campbell

Neither Kyle Boller nor Carson Palmer were able to fill the gap left by Oakland’s star quarterback, and suffered three interceptions each in the 28-0 defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Prior to Sunday’s home game against the Kansas City Chiefs there was a debate in Oakland about who the Raiders’ starting quarterback should be, after Jason Campbell broke his collarbone on Week 6 action against the Cleveland Browns. Coach Hue Jackson had to choose whether going with Kyle Boller from start or giving that responsibility to newly acquired Carson Palmer.

Jackson opted for Boller, who didn’t correspond the confidence given by his coach, and had a very poor performance throwing for 7 of 14 for 61 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. No response was found in the bench neither, since Palmer did badly too, as he was 8 for 21 for 116 yards, no TDs and three INTs in his debut.

The great job from the Chiefs’ defensive unit kept the Raiders scoreless for the first time in the season, and also handed them their first defeat against division rivals of the year. And since bad news don’t come alone; Oakland also lost their starting running back Darren McFadden, who abandoned the game in the first quarter accusing a foot sprain. But that wasn’t it, since tight end Kevin Boss had to leave the field with a concussion.

Kansas City took the lead early in the first quarter thanks to a mistake from Boller, whose pass was intercepted by Kendric Lewis and turned into a 59 yard touchdown, putting the Chiefs ahead by 7-0. Late in that quarter the difference was increased to 14 points when Le’Ron McClain scored a 1-yard TD.

In the second quarter no one was able to score, leaving the best plays for the second half. At 10:25 in the third quarter Javier Arenas scored the third TD of the game for the visitors, and early in the fourth quarter Palmer did the same mistake as Boller had done in the first quarter: he threw an INT that was returned for TD by Brandon Flowers.

The Raiders will now go into Bye Week, which will give Palmer a little bit of time to get back in shape after being inactive all season, and to get more familiarized with the playbook as well as his new teammates.

It is evident that they have a quarterback issue: throwing six interceptions in a game was something that didn’t happen to Oakland since 1998 against the Miami Dolphins. And for the first time in 13 years they witnessed a Raider QB throw three of them in the first half.

Kansas City improved their biggest road win over Oakland, which dated from 1966 in the victory by 32-10. The squad also picked up a three-game lost streak with three victories in a row, which keeps them one win away from the division leaders San Diego Chargers, precisely their next rival. Chargers and Chiefs will be starring in NFL’s Week 8 Monday Night Football at the Arrowhead Stadium.