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McFadden fuels Raiders past Chiefs

Sep 14, 2008 - 10:41 PM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Rookie Darren McFadden scored his first career touchdown as the Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-8, on Sunday.

With reports swirling that coach Lane Kiffin would be fired this week, McFadden carried the ball 21 times for 164 yards, including a 50-yard burst to set up the Raiders' first rushing touchdown of year.

The former Arkansas standout then capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run to give Oakland (1-1) a 13-0 lead with 8:22 left in the third quarter.

"Darren had turf toe during the game," Kiffin said. "I don't think you saw how fast Darren can be on that big run he had, but he made up for it on the touchdown."

McFadden, the No. 4 overall pick, was subbing for starter Justin Fargas, who carried the ball nine times for 43 yards before leaving the game with a groin injury late in the second quarter.

"I think Justin did a good job of softening the Chiefs' defense in the first half," McFadden said. "That let us bust open some big runs in the second half."

Sebastian Janikowski put Oakland on the board first with a 56-yard field goal following the Raiders' first possession. Janikowski added a 25-yard chip shot on the next drive as Oakland took a 6-0 lead into the second quarter.

"He must feel a little more comfortable with the (soccer) lines showing," Kiffin said of Janikowski's success at Arrowhead Stadium. "For the really long ones he's in the circle at midfield. He can really kick it, especially in that direction (with the wind at his back). I guess he just really felt comfortable."

The Raiders added another field goal by Janikowski and a 32-yard touchdown run by Michael Bush with 2:14 to play, sealing the victory. Bush finished with 90 yards on 16 carries as Oakland ran for 300 yards overall.

"It looked like at times there were gaps and we didn't fill them," Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. "We knew exactly what these guys were going to do. They came off an embarrassing loss and they were going to try to run the ball on us. That was their mind-set. You've got to give the Raiders credit."

McFadden broke off runs of 50, 24, 22 and 21 yards in addition to his touchdown run.

"Everybody knows what kind of athlete he is," Kansas City linebacker Bernie Pollard said. "We saw what he did at Arkansas, but to see him do that today was embarrassing. It's not what we wanted to see."

The win may have come too late for Kiffin, who is expected to be fired by owner Al Davis on Monday.

"You win by doing three things, in my opinion," Kiffin said. "You win playing great defense and I thought our defense played physical all day. The second way you win is to play great special teams. Special teams are so valuable on the road. The third way you win is you run the ball."

Kiffin did not want to address the reports of his firing.

"It's out of my hands. I don't really want to talk about something I can't control," he said.

Damon Huard, who was replacing injured quarterback Brodie Croyle, left the game with head trauma after directing the Chiefs' first two drives.

"Damon had a little dizziness when he got hit, so we took him out," Edwards said. "He couldn't go back in the game and he was in a position where he didn't feel real good going back in the game."

"I hurt my neck a little bit there on a play where the linebacker came up the middle on a screen we tried to run," Huard said. "I got a little stiff neck. Tyler (Thigpen) was going to play today and that was our game plan."

Third-string signal-caller Thigpen had trouble moving the ball as Kansas City managed just 65 yards from scrimmage in the first half.

"Offensively, we didn't do anything the first half at all - a lot of three-and-outs," Edwards said. "We were unable to move the ball. If you can't run the ball or stop the run, you know it's going to be a long day for you and that's what it was."

"We just played our game today," Oakland linebacker Kirk Morrison said of limiting the Chiefs to 55 yards rushing. "When you play your game, sometimes you get outcomes like we got today. We didn't really think about dominating anybody and definitely not Kansas City.

"This is my fourth year in the league and it always comes down to the last 10 minutes of the game with them."

Thigpen led a scoring drive - only the third Chiefs' possession to reach Raiders territory - late in the fourth quarter, connecting with tight end Tony Gonzalez on a 2-yard touchdown pass for Kansas City's lone score with 2:49 left in the game.

"We wanted to use (Thigpen) in some series, but not the whole game," Edwards said. "That wasn't our plan at all but we couldn't put Damon back in. (Tyler) is a young quarterback - he's green. He's got a pretty good arm, but he was put in a tough spot."

"As an offense we've got to get on the same page," Thigpen said. "We've got to establish the running game as an offense and that will open up the passing game. It's the way football is sometimes. Sometimes you can't get things going."

Thigpen finished with 14-of-33 passing for 151 yards and one interception as the Chiefs lost their 11th straight regular-season contest, the longest active streak in the NFL.

"We got embarrassed at home in our home opener," Edwards said. "They came out and knocked us off the ball and ran the ball down our throat. We're a much better team than that, but we didn't do that today."

"It's the way we should feel," Gonzalez said of being embarrassed. "Our defense played well. We can't keep going three-and-out. Oakland's running game is too good for us to keep sending (the defense) out there for so long. We got nothing going until the very end."