If I’m an Oakland Raider, my biggest fear–aside from injury, Rolando McClain, Greg Knapp’s play-calling, or Bill Romanowski’s trademark steroid-induced rant–would be losing to a quarterback who shares his surname with a Jane Seymour character. Of course, I’m referring to this strapping young man:

Don’t let this picture fool you. Though Quinn might excel at pool sports, especially beer-pong, he’s not much of a quarterback.

Year Tm No. Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD Int Y/A Rate QBR AV
2007 CLE 10 3 8 37.5 45 0 0 5.6 56.8 0
2008 CLE 10 45 89 50.6 518 2 2 5.8 66.6 43.15 1
2009 CLE 10 136 256 53.1 1339 8 7 5.2 67.2 33.37 2
2012 KAN 9 24 40 60.0 212 0 2 5.3 53.3 23.34
Career 208 393 52.9 2114 10 11 5.4 65.4 3

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/27/2012.

Sure, Quinn has never played on talentless teams in the past, but he won’t have much to work with on Sunday. I won’t try to convince you that the Chiefs are without talent because they aren’t. But Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe alone won’t make up for Quinn’s faults. They’d need superb coaching to do that and the Chiefs haven’t had that since … well, I don’t know. Suffice it to say that it’s been a while.

In general, the Raiders are pretty evenly matched, according to Pro Football Focus, that is.

 

Why they’ll Win

The Raiders have been trending in a positive direction as of late. They were dominated in the first half of the Jacksonville game, but they were able to eek out victory after making the appropriate adjustments at the half. This suggests that the coaching staff is competent. In this league, competent coaching is equally as important as competent players.

Why They’ll Lose

The Raiders are like a drunk frat guy. Which is to say, you never exactly know what to expect. Typically, the night will end in one of two ways: Bloody and battered in the ER or passed out on top of some sorority girl on the coach. There is usually  no middle ground. In this scenario, we’d better hope for passed out. The other means the Raiders imploded, an all too real possibility when the Raiders play in another’s frat house stadium.

What They’re Saying

Raiders Game Preview vs. Chiefs: Analysis, prediction, TV info by Eric Gilmore

Raiders vs. Chiefs: Sketching out a Game Plan for Oakland by Chris Hansen

Raiders vs. Chiefs preview: Game with Kansas City more important after Thursday Night Football by James Arcellana

Who We’re Taking

Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs (PK)

Bay Area Sports Guy: The Raiders are 0-3 on the road. The Chiefs are 0-3 at home. Kansas City finally replaced Matt Cassell, but they replaced him with Brady Quinn. In a related story, the AFC West is the worst division in football. Picking the Raiders rarely seems to work, so… Pick: Chiefs

East Bay Sports Guy: I know: I must be a fool to pick the Raiders on the road. But, look, this pick is coming straight from the heart, ya’ll. Like emo poetry, which may or may not have been published on my Myspace page, this prediction won’t reflect reality. But I know we haven’t seen a team as poorly managed as the Chiefs since, well… the Raiders. Because of that, I think the 2012 Raiders would be easily beat their 2006 team. Pick: Raiders

Bay Area Stats Guy: No projection model this week as I am headed to a wedding. However I have a good idea what it would probably be telling me, and that is something along the lines of don’t bet the Raiders on the road. Pick: Chiefs

Ruthless Sports Guy: I know I shouldn’t draw too much confidence from a near-trap game win in Atlanta and a near-loss to a Jacksonville Jaguars team without Maurice Jones-Drew and Blaine Gabbert, but the Chiefs are really bad this season. They’ll be going with Brady Quinn at the helm, which doesn’t bode well for either the Chiefs offense or Dwayne Bowe’s production on my fantasy team. I’ve got the Raiders in a blowout here. Pick: Raiders

Bay Area Duck Guy: I have been waiting all season for the Chiefs to figure it out, and it just hasn’t happened. On the flip side, the Raiders have been impressive lately, so I have a feeling that trend will continue against an under-performing Kansas City squad. Pick: Raiders

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