OAKLAND -- The Raiders lost their chance at first place Sunday after a
narrow defeat by the Chiefs, despite some good plays by Culpepper, whose
performance showed some improvement since last week. Holmes’ return
sealed the Chiefs’ 12-10 victory.
Daunte Culpepper completed 18 of 29 pass attempts for 228 yards, threw
one touchdown and one interception.
Larry Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the
fourth quarter.
Holmes, Kansas City's career leader in yards rushing and touchdowns, was
activated this week for the first time since suffering a neck injury on
a vicious hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman on Oct. 30, 2005.
Holmes entered the game on the third play of Kansas City's third drive.
He caught a screen pass from Damon Huard, but was tackled by Nnamdi
Asomugha for a 6-yard loss. Holmes had no other catches and rushed four
times for 9 yards, gaining a key first down with under 3 minutes left
and Kansas City (4-3) protecting a 12-10 lead.
The Chiefs were unable to run out the clock and the Raiders (2-4) took
over at their 26 with 1:46 remaining and one timeout.
Culpepper completed three straight passes to move the ball to the 44
before Jarrad Page jumped in front of a slant pass to Ronald Curry with
35 seconds left, sealing Kansas City's fourth win in five games.
It was another nailbiting finish for Kansas City against Oakland. Eight
of the wins during the Chiefs' streak have been by seven points or
fewer. It's the longest streak any team has had against the Raiders, who
have also lost 17 straight division games.
