The Oakland Raiders, coming off of their Week 9 bye, entered this week refreshed and ready to start the second half of the season against their division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Head Coach Tom Cable stated after practice Friday that he is excited for the game on Sunday and wants to start the second half of the season on the right track.
"You know I think we've had good work the whole way. We got an extra day in obviously, a couple extra days last week because of the bye, so we were able to work on ourselves as well as the opponent. Like I said earlier, I'm pretty excited about this weekend," Cable stated.
The Raiders are getting healthy on the offensive side of the ball with the return of two offensive weapons WR Chaz Schilens and RB Darren McFadden, along with offensive linemen Robert Gallery and Cornell Green.
Schilens, who has been out since training camp with a broken foot, is anxious for his 2009 regular season debut and finally feels like he has the injury behind him.
"I had a good week of practice. Things went great out there. The timing was really good, better than I expected. I actually felt better as the week went on, so I feel confident about the game," Schilens said.
Schilens emerged at the end of last year claiming a starting spot and becoming one of QB JaMarcus Russell's favorite receivers. He finished the year with 15 receptions for 226 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie.
Regardless of record, it can be assured that a game between the Raiders and Chiefs will be a close, hard fought battle. Since 2002, of the 14 games played between the two teams, 11 have been decided by a margin of seven points or less. In this year's first meeting against the Chiefs, the Raiders in Week 2 left Arrowhead Stadium with a 13-10 victory.
In that game RB Darren McFadden scored the winning touchdown. Coming back from a knee injury, McFadden is looking forward to coming back and playing a team against which he has had success.
"When you play them, you always want to go out there and just play your hardest. It's been a great week for me just being able to get back and run the ball again. I am looking forward to Sunday," McFadden stated.
The Oakland Raiders defense came up big in Week 2 as well, sacking QB Matt Cassel twice and intercepting him twice.
Safety Michael Huff, who had both interceptions against Cassel, enters the week 10 matchup with confidence and hopes to duplicate his performance this week against the Chiefs.
"It's about making plays and winning games. At the end it comes down to winning. We are confident every week. We have proven that if we play Raider football we can beat anybody. If we just go out there and execute I think we can come out of there with a win," Huff said.
