Chiefs crush Raiders to clinch playoffs

At the end of the year, Charles may get a trophy as the NFL's most valuable player. Sunday, he got a beer in the face from fans in the Black Hole after one of his TDs.

"I had to wipe it down," Charles said. "I was like, whoa, they just threw beer at me. That's the fun about this game, playing in this Black Hole, seeing their fans get into the game so much. They get crazy."

The fans may have planted a direct hit on Charles, but the Raiders never could on those screen passes. One of them came on the first snap of the game, a dreadful omen for the home team. The second came on third and 19 and featured a one-handed grab by Charles. The third immediately followed a turnover and bumped Kansas City's lead to 35-10.

After all that, the Raiders managed to momentarily make things interesting.

Rashad Jennings took advantage of an end-zone pass interference call on the Chiefs to score on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter. Taiwan Jones' 52-yard catch set up Matt McGloin's short touchdown pass to Andre Holmes to start the third quarter, and Oakland cut its deficit to 35-31 on McGloin's 14-yard throw to tight end Mychal Rivera about seven minutes later.

The Coliseum crowd, which had booed the home team just seconds into the game, got into the spirit. Appropriately, it was Charles who dampened their fervor. On third and 1 from the Kansas City 29, he ran a wheel route, caught a pass in stride from Alex Smith, eluded free safety Charles Woodson and streaked for a 71-yard score.

"You have to, of course, give him credit for being as versatile as anybody, being able to do it running and catching," Raiders linebacker Nick Roach said of Charles.

"At the same time, hey, it's our job to try to stop him."

After Charles' fifth touchdown (to put it in perspective, no Raider has ever scored that many in a game) Jones fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, Smith hit tight end Sean McGrath with a 6-yard touchdown pass four plays later and the Raiders never mounted another serious threat.

It was the first five-touchdown game in Smith's nine-year career. In fact, he'd never thrown four before. Then again, it can look pretty easy when you're tossing the ball to Charles.

While the defense wound up flogging itself for the breakdowns, the Oakland offense was equally giving. The Raiders turned over the ball seven times — McGloin threw four interceptions, relief quarterback Terrelle Pryor threw another, center Stefen Wisniewski and McGloin misconnected on a shotgun snap, and Jones lost control of the kickoff return just before he hit the ground — a play successfully challenged by Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

Asked about McGloin's interceptions, Raiders head coach Dennis Allen replied: "He is a young player. He's got to go through that learning process. And it's tough. It's tough on all of us."

Kansas City strong safety Eric Berry had two of the picks, returning one for a 47-yard touchdown and bringing back the second one 49 yards to set up another score.

The Chiefs, one year after finishing an NFL-worst 2-14, improved to 11-3 and clinched an AFC playoff spot. The Raiders lost their fourth straight and fell to 4-10, ensuring their ninth season of double-digit losses in the past 11 years.

Allen, fighting for his professional life, insisted his players have not lost interest.

"I think those guys are focused," he said. "We gotta play better."

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.