Darren McFadden Injury: Oakland Raiders in Trouble If Star RB Has to Miss Time

The O.co Coliseum was a disaster zone for the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, one that Darren McFadden stepped into at a rather inopportune time.

The NFL's leading rusher left with a sprained right foot in the first quarter of the Raiders' 28-0 annihilation at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. McFadden managed just two carries for four yards and a three-yard pass reception before the injury bug bit, leaving the Silver and Black dangerously dependent on their quarterbacks.

Which, as it turns out, was something of a problem, to say the least. First came Kyle Boller, who get the call ahead of the recently-acquired Carson Palmer. The former Baltimore Raven and Cal Bear promptly threw three picks in the first half, the first of which was returned for a 59-yard touchdown by Kendrick Lewis.

Then, with his team down 21-0 and Boller having stunk up the joint to high heaven, head coach Hue Jackson called upon Palmer, his favorite boy toy, to clean up the mess.

Unfortunately, Palmer had no idea he'd be playing, nor would he have been prepared had he known. Palmer, 31, hadn't been around an NFL facility in months, choosing to stay put at his home in San Diego rather than report to Cincinnati to play for the Bengals, who stubbornly refused to trade the aging quarterback.

Until, of course, Tuesday's trade deadline, when the Raiders came calling with a king's ransom after losing Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone. That gave Palmer only a precious few days to get to Oakland, meet his teammates, pick up Jackson's playbook, get acquainted with his receivers and endear himself to the organization.

You know, just the sort of stuff that takes months of hard work and dedication to accomplish, even for the very best players in the NFL.

It wasn't surprising, then, that Palmer had about as much success as Boller did, throwing three interceptions, including a pick six, of his own.

Would the result have been any different had McFadden been available? It's tough to say, though it certainly would've made life easier on the Raiders' quarterbacks. Rather than throwing the ball 35 times as they did, Oakland's signal callers probably would've had the green light to hand the ball off to McFadden early and often to keep the offense moving forward and the ball away from Matt Cassel and company on the opposing sideline.

Instead, the task fell to Michael Bush and Taiwan Jones to carry the load and though they did well for themselves (159 total yards between them), they could do little to keep the Raiders in the game amidst the seemingly endless string of miscues by Boller and Palmer.

On the bright side, the Raiders now have two weeks to pick up the pieces from Sunday's disappointment before hosting the Denver Broncos in Week 9. Chances are, they'll spend plenty of time and energy helping Palmer shake off the rust and getting him up to speed.

All the while keeping their fingers crossed that McFadden's injury isn't too severe and that he'll be healthy enough to play in two weeks time.

Otherwise, the Raiders' hopes of winning the AFC West, weak as it may be, or even sneaking into the playoffs as a wild-card will go by the wayside.