ALAMEDA -- It's taken 14 games, a mind-numbing six-game losing streak and countless boos, but it finally all came together for the Raiders.
Granted, it was against hapless Kansas City, but the Raiders will take it.
Run the ball, and stop the run. Done deal. Raiders 15, Chiefs 0.
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"That's part of the formula that we want, for being able to be successful and win football games," Raiders Dennis Allen said during his weekly Monday media conference. "And I think we all saw that when we execute that gameplan the way that we feel like we're capable of executing it, we have a chance to win games. And I thought our defense played outstanding yesterday and I thought we were able to run the ball effectively against them. So that will be a key for us moving forward.
"We had the run game going, and so then our play-action game was opened up a little bit more. We weren't able to get the ball down the field like we would hope, but the protection was there, we were able to hold up in protection. I thought the biggest key was we were able to move the ball effectively, and that's what you got to be able to do."
In two games this season against Kansas City, which entered Sunday the No. 5-ranked rushing team in the NFL, the Raiders, who were 26th against the run, limited the Chiefs to a combined 112 yards on the ground, on 32 carries, for a 3.5-yards per carry average.
Sunday, though, the Chiefs had 10 rushing yards -- total -- on 10 carries.
NFL
Against the rest of the NFL, the Raiders are giving up a full yard more per carry, 4.5.
"Our guys had confidence going into that (Kansas City) game," yesterday, Allen said. "We felt good about it. We fit up the run the right way and guys got off blocks and made plays. At the end of the day, that's what run defense is about, is getting off blocks and making plays and that's what we were able to do, really, both times we played Kansas City."
Sounds simple, right? Then how do they translate that run-stopping success these last two games, at Carolina and San Diego?
"Well, just like I've been saying from Day 1 -- we've got to be more consistent at it," Allen said. "We've proven that we can do it at times, but we've got to be more consistent at it. That will be our challenge moving forward."