National Football League

Palmer leads Raiders to 26-16 win over Chiefs

Published Oct. 29, 2012 12:25 a.m. ET

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The Oakland Raiders made themselves right at home at Arrowhead Stadium.

They're making a habit of it, too.

Carson Palmer threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and the Raiders pounded the struggling Chiefs 26-16 on Sunday for their sixth straight on Kansas City's home turf.

It was the Raiders' first road win since beating the Chiefs last December.

Sebastian Janikowski was perfect on four field-goal attempts, and the Raiders (3-4) nearly became the third straight team to keep the Kansas City offense out of the end zone. The Chiefs got their lone touchdown on Dexter McCluster's catch with 2:27 left in the game.

Darren McFadden ran for 114 yards, and Denarius Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey had touchdown catches for Oakland, which has won two straight after losing four of its first five.

The Chiefs (1-6) have lost four straight overall, their only win coming in overtime at New Orleans, and still have not led a game in regulation this season.

Matt Cassel threw for 218 yards in place of Brady Quinn, who left in the first half with what the team called a ''head injury.'' Quinn had started his second straight game even though Cassel was cleared to play following his own concussion sustained three weeks ago against Baltimore.

Neither quarterback could get the Kansas City offense going.

The Chiefs committed four turnovers to run their league-leading total to 25, and the Raiders turned them into 13 points. They allowed three sacks to a team that had seven coming in, and their fourth-quarter touchdown was the first by the offense since Sept. 30 against San Diego.

Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs' biggest offensive weapon, was a nonfactor. He carried only five times for 4 yards and caught three passes for 6 yards.

Altogether, it's little wonder that two more banners appeared prior to the game, towed behind an airplane over Arrowhead Stadium. They were paid for by disgruntled Chiefs fans and renewed their plea from earlier this season that general manager Scott Pioli be fired.

The first play of the game pretty much summed up the confrontation between two of the league's lousiest teams: Palmer threw into tight coverage and was intercepted by Stanford Routt.

Naturally, the Chiefs countered by going three-and-out and punting.

The Raiders finally got on the board when Palmer found Moore for a short completion that he turned into a 38-yard gain, and Janikowski connected from 36 yards for a 3-0 lead.

The field-goal struggle was on.

Janikowski hit from 38 yards early in the second quarter, and Ryan Succop matched him with a 30-yarder. Succop hit again from 42 yards late in the half to tie the game.

The Raiders took the lead into halftime when the Chiefs' Javier Arenas fumbled a punt while attempting to make a fair catch. Jon Condo recovered it at the Kansas City 11, and Palmer hit Moore in the back of the end zone on third down to give Oakland a 13-6 lead with 49 seconds left.

The game's circuslike nature continued in the second half.

Cassel fumbled the snap on the first play of the third quarter and the Raiders' Tommy Kelly recovered it, but Oakland couldn't manage anything in three plays - two of them woeful throws by Palmer. The Raiders had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Janikowski.

Succop added a 52-yarder later in the quarter to get the Chiefs within a touchdown, but Oakland answered by going 80 yards in just six plays for another score. Palmer picked on Routt the whole way, and his 36-yard touchdown pass to Heyward-Bey gave the Raiders a 23-9 lead.

How bad were things going for Kansas City? Janikowski finally missed a field goal in the fourth quarter, only for Jalil Brown to be called offsides on the play.

Janikowski knocked through the redo with 8:14 left to put the game away.

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