Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles scored a touchdown on the game’s first play Sunday against Oakland, which served as a terrible harbinger of the remainder of the day for the Raiders.
Charles scored four more times before he was done and the Chiefs were finished with their 56-31 demolition of the Raiders. His five scores tied a team record and were a main reason K.C. clinched at least a playoff wild-card position.
“A big part of this team depends on me,” Charles said. “Once I’m healthy this offense can go a long way and this team can go a long way.”
Kansas City is 11-3 and tied for first place in the AFC West with the Denver Broncos, who hold the advantage by virtue of their two wins over the Chiefs. But the Chiefs hardly seem to be fazed by that at the moment. They were more impressed with their vast improvement under first-year coach Andy Reid. They won only three games last season.
“Anytime you can be a part of the turnaround, it’s a special feeling,” quarterback Alex Smith said. He was 17-for-20 for 287 yards “These guys have worked hard and deserve a ton of credit. It’s special to be a part of this.”
Meanwhile, the Oakland fans were hardly impressed with their team. In fact, they booed their Raiders who, for the 11th straight season, will finish with a sub-.500 record.
“We get paid out there to play, we get paid out there to not let these guys light up the scoreboard the way they did,” cornerback Tracy Porter said. “They did, in fact, what we didn’t want them to do. We have no one to blame but ourselves.”
