Opening loss adds urgency to Chiefs game against Raiders

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Try as he might to turn everything upside down at Chiefs headquarters, one thing Todd Haley has been unable to do is eradicate the stench created by two seasons of losing.That much became obvious in the final minutes of Sundays season opener in Baltimore. The score was tied with 5 minutes remaining, but from that point, one team made all the plays and advanced for a 38-24 victory.That team, of course, was the Ravens, who lost in last seasons AFC title game, and not the Chiefs, losers of 24 of their last 26 games.The situation is already threatening to get worse before it gets better, assuming it ever does. Beginning a week from Sunday, the Chiefs open a stretch of four games against opponents from the NFC East.Each looked strong enough in their openers Sunday to exploit the Chiefs considerable weaknesses.That puts a desperate light on this Sundays game against Oakland at Arrowhead Stadium. The game is suddenly about a frantic attempt to save their season from peril two weeks in.It doesnt really matter whos coming in, safety Jarrad Page said. We need a win. Thats the thing I can definitely tell you. We need a win.The Raiders are one team on the early schedule capable of providing the Chiefs some comfort. One of KCs last two wins came against the Raiders last season in Oakland.But the Raiders won their last two games at Arrowhead. In any case, the Chiefs are in no position to take anything for granted.After fighting their way back from an early 10-point deficit, the Chiefs made enough plays in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the score twice.After that, they looked like a team waiting for bad things to happen, which of course they did. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco beat an all-out Chiefs blitz with a touchdown pass to begin the unfortunate chain of events.We do have confidence, Page said. The team is so new. There are so many new people on the team that I dont think enough has happened for the team not to have confidence. We just fell a little short.The game had enough other troubling aspects to the Chiefs that made it look suspiciously like 2008. Baltimore dominated the game on both sides, rolling up more than 501 yards of offense and holding the Chiefs to 188.To their credit, the Chiefs punched back with some big plays and were every bit a threat to win until Flaccos fateful touchdown pass, a 31-yarder on third and 8 to Mark Clayton.So, in the end, all the Chiefs efforts did was partly obscure the magnitude of the beating they took.It felt like the first loss of this season, Page said. People asked me that after the game: Did it feel like last year? A loss is a loss. Weve got a whole bunch of different guys on this team that Im lined up playing with on defense, and there are (new) guys lined up on offense. So it doesnt feel like last year at all. It feels like were a totally new team.If they are a new team, the Chiefs have to find a way to win at Arrowhead. The place once provided one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL, but the Chiefs over the last two seasons are no better in Kansas City than theyve been on the road.

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