Second Chiefs-Raiders contest boasts new look

ALAMEDA -- Two months may not seem a long time in the real world, but in the NFL it can be an eternity.Back on Oct. 23, the Raiders still had Darren McFadden as their lead running back. Jacoby Ford was rounding back into form as their electric kick returner and playmaking receiver and Carson Palmer was still picking the cobwebs out of his ears.Kansas City, meanwhile, had Matt Cassel under center and Todd Haley as its coach.With so much turnover and turmoil as a backdrop, it will be as though the Raiders and Chiefs will be meeting for the first time this season on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium. Kyle Orton is the Chiefs quarterback now and Romeo Crennel is their interim coach.
"It's two totally different teams because it's later on in the season and these teams have already seen each other once," said Raiders fullback Marcel Reece, who did not play in that first game between the two teams either as he was still recuperating from a sprained ankle suffered in Week 3."I think teams are going to have to come out with their adjustments and go after it...it's going to be a different game, but not because I didn't play (the first time) or Carson wasn't familiar with us, or anything like that. It's just going to be two different games by two different teams."The Raiders, of course, would like a different result. The Chiefs beat the Raiders that day, 28-0, at the O.co Coliseum and the week leading up to the game was one of self-imposed and ultimately futile cloak-and-dagger gamesmanship.With Jason Campbell suffering a broken collarbone the previous week and the Raiders trading for Palmer during the week, coach Hue Jackson played coy as to who would start at quarterback -- Palmer or Kyle Boller.Turns out Boller got the start, but was not told of it until the day before. But after a rough outing, Palmer got in on the action in the third quarter and threw three interceptions.Now, Palmer is acclimated and coming off his most efficient game as a Raider in completing 80 percent of his passes (32 of 40) for 367 yards and a touchdown without an interception in the 28-27 loss to Detroit."We look at the first game because the system is still the system," Crennel said. "Carson now is more established in that system, he understands the players that he's working with better, he understands his weapons better and he's using those guys to his advantage. So, it will be a different type game than it was the first time we played them."So what, if anything, does Palmer glean from the first encounter with the Chiefs, when he was essentially thrown into the fire?"I'm not taking much from that game," he said. "They're a different team. We're a different offense now. Personnel-wise, I guess it helps a little bit, but they're playing a little bit differently now, and we're definitely playing a little bit differently. And it's in their environment."It's going to be a hostile environment. It's going to be wild. There's going to be a lot of energy from last weeks game, the new head coach thing. They're all fighting for him, and the fans, I'm sure, are fighting for him. It's going to be a much different game than the last time we played them."By the time Palmer entered that game, the Raiders trailed 21-0.And the nine-year pro has also been in situations where the "return" game is between two markedly different teams."A lot of times those divisions games, not every year, but there are a lot of coaching changes that shake things up," Palmer said. "Or you play a division team early in the year and you don't play them again (for a while), kind of like this situation. It's happened before."You watch the film and you kind of digest what they did to you last time. Then it's kind of a guessing game. Are they going to do the same thing or are they going to completely change it up? Were preparing, really, for everything. Don't know what we're going to see, but we're going to have to adjust on the fly and make plays when it comes down to it."