OAKLAND, Calif. _ The Chiefs spent the better part of the week speaking about how they felt refreshed after the bye, and how that time away helped them not only regroup, but refocus.
Those seemed like idle words early on Sunday, especially when the Oakland Raiders carved up the Kansas City defense on their first drive to take a seven-point lead. But from that point on, the Chiefs asserted themselves and scored 23 of the game's next 26 points in a 26-10 victory at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The offense, much maligned for its inconsistent performance throughout the first four games, finally found some balance. After throwing the ball at a 63 percent clip over the first month, the Chiefs pounded the ball against the Raiders' porous run defense, rushing 40 times for 183 yards.
The Chiefs' commitment to running the ball helped out the passing game, and quarterback Alex Smith completed 19 of 22 passes for 224 yards against the league's worst pass defense.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs' defense keyed in on stopping the Raiders' physical running game and largely succeeded, holding Oakland to a 3.8-yard average on 17 attempts.
With the run game locked down, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found some windows, completing 22 of 34 passes for 225 yards, a touchdown and an interception. However, the Chiefs never let him get into a rhythm _ they repeatedly got timely stops on third down while also sacking him twice _ and successfully stifled one of the league's best offenses.
Momentum turned for the Chiefs, in a good way, midway through the first quarter. That's when Carr, who had just mounted a seven-play, 46-yard scoring march on his opening drive, lofted a floater toward cornerback Marcus Peters, who hauled in his fifth interception of the season in front of his hometown crowd.
Peters' interception set up the Chiefs' first score, courtesy of a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Spencer Ware.
After the Raiders missed a field goal to open the second quarter, the Chiefs took the lead when running back Jamaal Charles scored his first touchdown of the season, from four yards out.
Kicker Cairo Santos missed the ensuing extra point however, leaving the score at 13-7, and that wasn't Santos' only issue of the day. He also failed to knock in a 38-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the half, which gave Oakland enough time to drive 44 yards and set up a 46-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski, who cut the Chiefs' lead to 13-10 at halftime.
The Chiefs, however, bounced back nicely. They took the ball to open the second half and promptly mounted a 75-yard scoring drive that ended with quarterback Alex Smith tossing a tunnel screen to Dontari Poe _ yes, the Chiefs' 346-pound defensive tackle _ who turned upfield and plunged into the end zone for a score that put the Chiefs ahead 20-10.
The Chiefs extended that lead to 26-10 with a pair of field goals _ Santos redeemed himself with a strong second half _ and with the Raiders' offense struggling to get anything going, that was all the Chiefs' needed to pick up their third win of the season.
The Chiefs improved to 3-2 ahead of their home matchup next Sunday against New Orleans, which improved to 2-3 by defeating Carolina on Sunday.
