KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ For approximately 25 game minutes, the Chiefs' Thursday night showdown against Oakland had the makings of a special, memorable night.
Alex Smith was dealing, Tyreek Hill could not be caught (on offense or special teams), and the defense was playing fast and aggressive. It all added up to a 17-point first-half lead, and Arrowhead Stadium was rocking.
Until it wasn't.
The good vibes stopped at the 5:37 mark of the second quarter, when star inside linebacker Derrick Johnson fell to the turf with a non-contact left Achilles injury.
He was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game _ the severity of the injury is currently unclear but he did miss most of 2014 with a right Achilles injury _ and the Raiders quickly mounted a momentum-turning scoring drive.
The Chiefs, however, did not fold; they got enough big plays when it mattered to pull off a 21-13 victory and seize control of the AFC West. But the injury, despite the win, put a significant pall on the proceedings.
The Raiders scored first, courtesy of a field goal set up by a Tyreek Hill muffed punt. The Raiders took that 3-0 lead into the second quarter, but it didn't stand long.
On the first play of the quarter, quarterback Alex Smith _ who finished 17 of 26 for 264 yards, a touchdown and an interception _ stepped up in the pocket and uncorked a pretty deep ball to Hill, who redeemed himself by splitting the quarters coverage on a post route and catching a 36-yard touchdown.
Smith continued to deal. On their next drive, he fired impressive downfield completions to Hill and Chris Conley to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Charcandrick West that put the Chiefs ahead 14-3.
Hill wasn't done yet, though. After another fruitless Raider drive, Hill _ apparently energized by thousands of Chiefs fans chanting his name before a punt _ broke a 78-yard return that put the Chiefs ahead 21-3.
That's when Johnson went down, and the Raiders scored a touchdown to make the halftime score 21-10. They cut into the lead again with a third-quarter field goal after an Alex Smith interception, and had a chance to cut into it further after a fumble by Smith on the next drive.
But the Raiders spared them by fumbling the snap on the ensuing field goal, and the Chiefs averted disaster.
Each offense spent the rest of the game, gaining yards in spurts but never enough to put points on the board.
The Chiefs' defense did its part, as it limited quarterback Derek Carr to a miserable 17 of 41 for 117 yards. The Raiders still mounted a final drive late in the fourth quarter, only to see it stall out on fourth-and-6 from the Chiefs' 19, when cornerback Terrance Mitchell _ in only his second game as a Chief _ knocked away an isolation pass intended for Seth Roberts.
The Chiefs' rushing game _ which struggled all day, accumulating 65 yards on 27 carries _ came through when it mattered, as the offensive line churned out enough yards on three straight running plays for a game-winning first down.
With the win, the Chiefs seized control of the AFC West race over the Raiders. Both teams are 10-3, but if they finish with the same record, they'll own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Raiders since they swept the season series.
