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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
|  | | Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman scored a TD on Sunday in Oakland's win. |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Sebastian Janikowski no longer feels
like a wasted first-round draft pick.
The rookie kicker, just 6-for-11 on field goals coming into the
game and feeling the heat, nailed a 43-yarder with 25 seconds left
Sunday, lifting the Raiders past Kansas City 20-17.
Before hitting a 47-yarder to slice Kansas City's lead to 17-10
five minutes into the third quarter, Janikowski was 0-for-2 for the
game and 0-for-6 from beyond the 40.
The week before, the kicker on last season's national
championship team at Florida State missed a potential game-winner
from 35 yards out at San Francisco.
Now everything's right again, he declared.
"The media was putting a lot of pressure on me. I needed to get
off by myself and figure out what I was doing wrong," he said. "I
figured it out. I was kicking on the snap. That's why I was
missing."
The victory lifted the Raiders to 5-1, giving them a commanding
lead in the AFC West over Kansas City (3-3), which had won three in
a row and blew a 10-point lead.
Oakland coach Jon Gruden said an "R-rated" conversation with
his troubled young kicker last week may also have had something to
do with his improvement.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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The difference in a tight game was Oakland's ability to run the football and Kansas City's inability to do the same. The Raiders' running attack
was two-pronged with Tyrone
Wheatley and Napoleon
Kaufman.
Another key to the Raiders' offensive attack was the consistent scrambling
of quarterback Rich Gannon. It seemed
that whenever Oakland's offense was in trouble, Gannon would scramble and
make a big play.
On the other side, the Chiefs managed only 58 yards on 19 carries.
On a day when their running attack was the difference, the Raiders finally
got Sebastian Janikowski to
pay some dividends.
One of the reasons Oakland picked Janikowski in the first round of the
2000 NFL draft is because they felt they lost a lot of close games last
year that they might have won had they had a field-goal kicker.
They've won some close games this year, but until today Janikoswki was not
the reason why.
Janikowski, who has struggled this year, missed his first two field goals
in this game but hit two in the second half -- including the game-winner.
This should be a big boost to Janikowski's confidence. Earlier this week
he said he wasn't going to talk to the print media -- he was getting into
his bunker mentality.
So this is a big boost for him and for the Raiders, who are now in the
driver's seat in the AFC West.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers'
director of football operations.
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"We basically cleared the air and I let him know that we're
going to keep sending him out there," Gruden said. "I think he's
going to be a great kicker for a long time."
Former Chiefs QB Rich Gannon drove the Raiders 64 yards in eight
plays to set up Janikowski, who also missed a 59-yarder as time ran
out in the first half.
"Rich Gannon made some plays out there," Chiefs center Tim
Grunhard said. "He's running sideways and throwing the ball 50
yards. He really amazes me sometimes."
The Raiders tied it 17-17 with a long drive aided by a gambling
fourth-down pass by Gannon.
On fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 35 and the Chiefs all
expecting a run, Gannon scrambled and hit Tim Brown for 32 yards to
the 3. After a false-start penalty, Tyrone Wheatley caught Gannon's
7-yard pass in the end zone with 9:25 left, capping an 80-yard
drive that took more than eight minutes.
"I thought we had him sacked, and then he throws up a duck that
Tim Brown makes a great play on," Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards
said.
"That's what Rich does. He's able to go out there and make
something out of nothing."
Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs appeared to be driving
for the go-ahead score when rookie wide receiver Sylvester Morris
took a pass from Elvis Grbac and lost the ball at almost the same
instant his knee hit the ground. The ball was recovered by Charles
Woodson on the Oakland 12 with 7:09 left.
The Chiefs' challenge of a fumble was not upheld, triggering
thunderous booing from the sellout crowd who watched the replay of
the extremely close play on the video board.
"I was totally surprised when they said it was a fumble,"
Morris said. "I felt my knee touch (the ground). Nothing I can do
about it."
Tight end Tony Gonzalez helped the Chiefs take the early lead
with several leaping catches and totaled seven receptions for 100
yards.
Gonzalez made his first leaping catch of the game on an 11-yard
gainer to get the Chiefs started on their 17-point third quarter.
Todd Peterson, signed at mid-week to replace Pete Stoyanovich,
missed a 44-yard attempt in the first quarter but connected from 27
yards with 6:38 left in the half, making it 7-3.
John Browning and Dan Williams combined to sack Gannon a few
minutes later, and the Chiefs took over at midfield. In the ensuing
five-play, 50-yard drive, Gonzalez had three catches for 46 yards,
including a 14-yarder to put the Chiefs on top 10-7.
Late in the half, Grbac hit Derrick Alexander on consecutive
plays for 17- and 16-yard gains. On third-and-10 from the 15,
Gonzalez suckered the defense to follow him over the middle,
leaving Tony Richardson all alone for the pass that gave the Chiefs
a 17-7 halftime lead.
Gannon led a 14-play, 80-yard march on Oakland's first
possession, capped by his 4-yard TD pass to Napoleon Kauffman.
Game notes
Oakland has won two straight in Kansas City after losing 11
consecutive games in Arrowhead Stadium from 1989 to 1999. ... Grbac
has thrown touchdown passes in 12 consecutive games, tying Len
Dawson for the second-longest streak in team history. Dawson also
holds the record, 14 games from Oct. 3, 1965, to Oct. 8, 1966. ...
Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who also owns the Kansas City Wizards of
Major League Soccer, was in Washington to watch the Wizards defeat
the Chicago Fire 1-0 in the MLS Cup final. ... Oakland wide
receiver Andre Rison, cut by the Chiefs in the preseason, was booed
after each of his two catches.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
Clayton: Gannon's K.C. masterpiece
Janikowski no longer kicking himself
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sebastian Janikowski says today was his day.
wav: 55 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jon Gruden is happy for Sebastian Janikowski.
wav: 134 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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