Raiders at Chiefs - Week 12 - Record: 4-7

At the bye we were 4-3 with four of five home games coming up. Since then we've lost all four we've played, three of them at home. Next week I'm sure the Chargers are thinking about what we did at their place earlier this season. I just don't think they'll have much trouble making it five straight.

Today we let a very bad team run all over us. That supposedly fine defense all Chiefs fans would like to think is our bread and butter? They ran over it like a Peterbilt on buttered bread. As Raider back Lamont Jordan, in what I think was his only run of the game, slogged past Chief after Chief defender on his way to a TD, I had plenty of time to think, "Um, hmm, excuse me, I wonder, is any Chief going to actually, perhaps tackle this particular Raider player here?..."

Newbie back Kolby Smith himself ran a lot over a tremendously weak Raider offense, but QB Brodie Croyle still needs tons of experience despite some signs of quality play. Again, as I said last week, maybe this very stupid loss will keep these young guys hating it with such a passion that when they're actually surrounded by a good team they'll make sure it doesn't happen again.

What is quite frustrating is this placekicker situation. Really, ever since Jan Stenarud (the curse of Odin still haunts us), really, we have just never had a placekicker who'll be there right there and get the job done. All praises to Nick Lowery, I don't for a second disparage him, but the team never got him to the promised land to do anything of substance. I could name other kickers who've been decent, like Pete Stoyanovich.

But this whole kicker thing is just wretched. We think we've got it solved with Justin Medlock, drafting him high to fix it straight away. Then we discover that he really really sucks-- oh that's nice. Then we pick up Dave Rayner who looks like he might be okay, but today he misses another FG he simply has to make-- then worse, the coach has no confidence in him to make a FG late that would've tied it.

We lose the game 20-17. What're we going to do now, ask Santa for a placekicker?

The learning-how-to-lose experience gets more painful.

That'd better be a good thing for later.