Pregame Stat of The Week for 9/18

The Chiefs arrive in Oakland with a high-powered offense that is going to come out swinging (no pun intended with regard to RB Larry Holmes). We can’t afford to give these guys any points or even any yards that aren’t earned. The Raiders need to remain cool and poised to the end. That’s why penalties are my pregame stat of the week.

The Raiders sabotaged themselves with 16 penalties last Thursday. They racked up three times more penalty yards (149 total) than the Patriots. Click here to check out the book from that game. Do you see an evident mismatch? The stat lines actually look pretty even until you get to the penalties. I’m not saying that the game is played on paper. But I’m on the subject of stats right now, and that “16” jumps of the page like a sharp stick in they eye. If we go double digits on penalties again, it's going to be hard to turn the Chiefs into chumps.

P.S. Please don’t give me that crap about “that’s just the Raiders, they’ve always committed a lot of penalties.” At least they used to get something in return for their personal fouls, such as an air of intimidation, domination, mystique, etc. What did we get from Routt’s personal foul in the 4th quarter? Nothing but our asses backed up 15 yards closer to the opponent's final fate-sealing touchdown.