Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs: Preview, Key Matchup and Prediction

The Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders will meet in the final week of the regular season at Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday afternoon.

The Raiders/Chiefs rivalry goes back many years, as the two teams have played together in their respective AFC West division since the 1970's.

This game might have had some possible playoff implications wrapped around it if the Chiefs hadn't already won the AFC West last weekend and eliminated the Raiders in the process.

However, this will still be a big game as KC will be looking to avenge a loss that was suffered at the hands of Oakland back in week nine of this season.

When the Chiefs play at home, it all starts with the defense.

Kansas City's defense is giving up around 12 points a game in seven wins so far this season when playing in their friendly confines of Arrowhead Stadium.

They have also ranked 19th and 12th overall against the pass and run, respectively.

Tamba Hali leads the Chiefs defense with 12 sacks on the season, which is good enough for fourth in the league. They also have a safety named Eric Berry, who could be in line for defensive rookie of the year honors.

They will be going against a Raiders offense that can put up some points and have a ground attack that is ranked second in the NFL(behind the Chiefs) and is headlined by their thunder and lightning combo of Michael Bush and Darren McFadden.

The duo have combined to rush for 1,675 yards this year and will be all over the Chiefs radar on Sunday.

Raiders QB Jason Campbell has been average at best this season and knowing this, KC will likely put more guys up by the line of scrimmage in order to force Campbell to make plays for the Raiders to come out of Kansas City with a win this weekend.

The Chiefs offense is lead by fifth-year QB Matt Cassel and is quietly becoming one of the better units in the league.

Cassel's favorite target is receiver Dwayne Bowe, who has nearly 1,100 yards on the season and 15 touchdowns.

The Chiefs version of thunder and lightning includes veteran Thomas Jones and the explosive Jamaal Charles

Charles is one of the best backs in the league as his 1,380 rushing yards is good enough for second in the league and his 6.4 yards per carry average is the best in NFL history for a RB with over 200 carries in a season.

Jamaal Charles and the rest of his teammates will be squaring off against a solid Oakland defense that has the third-best passing D in the league, and is lead by Pro Bowl corner-back Nnamdi Asomugha.

They also possess one of the most physical defensive lines in the AFC that has Pro Bowler Richard Seymour and young studs Matt Shaughnessy and Lamarr Houston.

Oakland's defense will likely have the same philosophy as the Chiefs do: find a way to force Kansas City to pass for much of the game.

Key Matchup: Darren McFadden/Michael Bush vs. Chiefs Defense

With the Raiders offense running through their rushing attack, it will be Chiefs number-one priority to slot them down in this area. This particular matchup will be very interesting to see with what KC defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel will do with his young defense, which could include blitzing Campbell often and bringing up play-making rookie safety Eric Berry closer to the line of scrimmage more often in this game.

Prediction: Chiefs- 24  Raiders-14

The Raiders and Chiefs will both enjoy good days from their respective running games, but the Kansas City offense will have the last laugh as the Chiefs will score more points in the end against the hated Raiders.