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2B Daily News – Friday, December 23, 2011 Sunday 10 a.m. Raiders Oakland Kansas City Chiefs OAKLAND (7-7) At KANSAS CITY (6-8) OPENING LINE — Chiefs by 1 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Oakland 7-5-2; Kansas City 8-6 SERIES RECORD — Chiefs lead 55-48-2 LAST MEETING — Chiefs beat Raiders 28-0, Oct. 23, 2011 LAST WEEK — Raiders lost to Lions 28-27; Chiefs beat Packers 19-14 RAIDERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (11), RUSH (6), PASS (12) RAIDERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (26), PASS (23) CHIEFS OFFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (14), PASS (26) CHIEFS DEFENSE — OVERALL (16), RUSH (24), PASS (9) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Oakland needs to win last two games and have Kansas City beat Denver in Week 17 to win AFC West. Chiefs need to win last two, have San Diego lose one of its next two and have Denver lose at Buffalo on Satur- day. ... Raiders have lost three straight. ... Chiefs 31-13 (.705) overall against Oakland dating to 1990, including 1991 playoff game. Kansas City 14-7 in regular season at Arrowhead Stadium. ... Kansas City had season-high 438 yards against Packers last Sunday. ... Chiefs intercepted season- high six passes in their first meeting with Oakland. ... QB Kyle Orton threw for 299 yards against Green Bay, hitting 10 different receivers in first start for Kansas City. ... K Ryan Succop has con- verted 21 straight field goals for Chiefs, longest active streak in NFL. ... Carson Palmer has three 300-yard passing games in eight starts, most by Raiders QB in a season since Kerry Collins had three in 2005. ... Raiders WR Darrius Heyward- Bey had career highs of eight catches for 155 yards last week against Detroit. RB Michael Bush tied career high with seven catches. ... Oakland highest scoring team in NFL in 2 minutes prior to halftime with 56 points. ... Raiders offensive coordinator Al Saunders spent 10 seasons as assistant with Kansas City (1989-98) and returned as assistant head coach from 2001-05. San Francisco 49ers Sunday 1:15 p.m. Seattle Seahawks SAN FRANCISCO (11-3) At SEATTLE (7-7) OPENING LINE — 49ers by 3 RECORD VS. SPREAD — San Francisco 11-2- 1; Seattle 9-4-1 SERIES RECORD — Seahawks lead 13-12. LAST MEETING — 49ers beat Seahawks 33- 17, Sept. 11 LAST WEEK — 49ers beat Steelers 20-3; Sea- hawks beat Bears 38-14 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (25), RUSH (9), PASS (29) 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (5), RUSH (1), PASS (21) SEAHAWKS OFFENSE — OVERALL (28), RUSH (22), PASS (23) SEAHAWKS DEFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (11), PASS (13T) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — San Fran- cisco beat Seattle 33-17 in season opener on strength of two kick returns for touchdowns by Ted Ginn, Jr. in final 4 minutes after Seattle had pulled within 19-17. ... San Francisco has won two straight over Seattle, both in Bay Area. ... Win by San Francisco and loss by New Orleans would clinch No. 2 seed and first-round playoff bye for 49ers. ... QB Alex Smith has won 12 of past 15 starts dating back to last season and is 5-1 in last six starts vs. NFC West. 49ers 10-0 this season when Smith has a passer rating of more than 100. ... 49ers have allowed five touchdowns in first half this sea- son and haven't surrendered a touchdown rushing all year. According to STATS LLC, since 1932 no team has allowed zero touchdowns rushing in a sea- son. The fewest is two. 49ers are first team in NFL history to not allow a TD rushing in first 14 games. They have not allowed 100-yard rusher in 36 games in row, longest active streak in league. ... Offensive line gave up no sacks vs. Steelers after Smith was clobbered 18 times in previous three games. ... LB Aldon Smith leads all rookies with 13 sacks. ... Seahawks have won five of six to inch back into NFC playoff race, but needs to win its final two games and get two losses from Detroit and/or Atlanta to have shot at postseason. ... Seattle had string of six straight games with at least 100 yards rushing snapped last week at Chicago when Sea- hawks were held to 60 yards. ... Marshawn Lynch had worst game in yards rushing since Week 8 against Cincinnati with 42 yards on 20 carries vs. Bears, but scored two touchdowns rushing to give him 11 for season. He's scored a TD in 10 straight games, longest streak in franchise history. ... Lynch also became Seattle's first 1,000-yard rusher since Shaun Alexander ran for 1,880 yards and 27 touch- downs in his MVP season of 2005. ... QB Tarvaris Jackson was 15 of 19 for 176 yards, one touchdown and a passer rating of 122.8 in the second half against Chicago. ... Since Week 10, Seattle has 18 takeaways, most in NFL. ... Seattle has climbed to fifth in league with a plus-8 turnover margin. ... CB Brandon Browner has at least one interception in four straight games, tying franchise record. He set franchise record for interception return yards in a season last week vs. Chicago with his 42-yard interception return for a touchdown. SEATTLE (AP) — Jim Har- baugh and Pete Carroll may not always get along — see USC vs. Stanford — or find much the polar- izing coaches can agree on. But look at why San Francisco has the second-best record in the NFC and Seattle is making a late surge for an unlikely playoff berth and it's apparent the 49ers and Sea- hawks are finding their success in similar ways. They're bucking the NFL's pass- happy trend and relying on being run-first teams, asking their quarter- backs not to do too much and play- ing stingy, stout defense. ''Regardless of how other people want to do it — there's a million ways to do it — but this is a way to do it that I particularly like the style. I like being part of it and I like the locker room and I like the meeting room when we are like we are, and our guys do, too,'' Carroll said. ''We like to play to it. We're not try- ing to win any popularity contests. We're just trying to win games and play well, so this is the way we're doing it.'' With Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch at the forefront the 49ers travel north to play Seattle on Satur- day in an NFC West matchup thick with playoff implications for both sides. San Francisco is postseason bound for the first time since 2002, having locked up the division weeks ago. They are currently in line for the No. 2 seed and a potential first- round playoff bye, but any slip could open the chance of being passed by New Orleans for that cov- eted first weekend off. Meanwhile, Seattle (7-7) has won five of six to get back to .500, but needs plenty of help to complete its second-half charge and reach the postseason for a second straight season. Foremost is Seattle must win its final two games and see either Atlanta or Detroit drop its final two games to even have a hope. ''Some things got to happen for us to get to the playoffs. If that hap- pen it happens, if it don't, it don't,'' Lynch said. ''I'm just proud to see the turnaround that we had, espe- cially with all these young guys and QBs (Continued from page 1B) against Detroit. Matthew Stafford threw a short touchdown pass with 39 seconds left to cap a 98-yard drive, and Ndamukong Suh blocked the poten- tial winning field goal as time expired for the Lions. ''At the end of the day you have to grind it out,'' Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. ''It's been very hard, but at the end of the day, we weren't ready to win that game, because we didn't.'' Difficulty putting games away hasn't been Palmer's fault, at least not entirely. He was an incredible 32 of 40 for 367 yards and a touch- down without an inter- ception against Detroit, though he did miss on a couple of passes down the stretch that could have helped wrapped things up. ''It's frustrating, no matter how good or bad you play,'' Palmer said. ''A loss is a loss. When you're winning for 90 percent of the game, if you lose, you lose. ''This team's too good not to finish games out.'' Now, the Raiders need to beat the Chiefs and the Chargers in their final two games, and hope Kansas City knocks off the Broncos in Week 17, to squeak into the playoffs. It's not necessarily a long shot, but it's certainly a longer shot than before their three-game slide. ''You can't run from that,'' Jackson said, when asked whether he talked about to his team about controlling its own destiny. know we have let that Playoff implications plenty when Seattle hosts Niners ''It's not quite time for me to reflect on anything. We've done some good things, put ourselves in a good situation. Tough to reflect right now.'' — 49ers quarterback Alex Smith pieces that we've had.'' At a time when passing is domi- nant in the NFL, the Seahawks and 49ers are taking an old school approach. For San Francisco, it started immediately, in the opening week when the Niners beat Seattle 33-17 thanks to two late kick returns for touchdowns by Ted Ginn, Jr. — one on a kickoff, one on a punt. That victory set the 49ers on course for a division title that's fea- tured a lot of Gore, who has 1,119 yards rushing in his fifth 1,000-yard season, and the most solid season of quarterback Alex Smith's career. Not asked to be the key to win- ning games, and rather be an intelli- gent operator of the offense, Smith has led the 49ers with efficiency, not explosiveness. He's thrown just five interceptions, fewest in the NFC, and his passer rating of 91.1 is on pace to be a career high. Last Monday against Pittsburgh, Smith rebounded from arguably his worst performance of the season at Ari- zona to throw for a steady 187 yards and a touchdown in the win. He's getting pushed for the Pro Bowl by Harbaugh and others, although Smith brushed off that talk this week. ''It's hard when you're still in the thick of it. That's probably a better question to ask me at the end of the season whenever everything's wrapped up. Right now there's still a lot on the line,'' Smith said. ''It's not quite time for me to reflect on anything. We've done some good things, put ourselves in a good situ- ation. Tough to reflect right now.'' It's certainly made life easier for Smith, Gore and the rest of San Francisco's offense that the defense is among the best in the NFL. The Niners lead the league in rushing defense, points against and, most critical, turnovers. The 49ers are the first team in NFL history to not allow a touchdown rushing in the first 14 games, a statistic that astounds just about everyone. They haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher slip away, but at the same time it's not over. We have to go play as well as we can and change that in our favor.'' Kansas City also needs a whole lot of help to make the play- offs. The defending divi- sion champions need to beat Oakland and Den- ver in their final two games, Buffalo to upset the Broncos on Satur- day, and the Chargers to lose one of their two remaining games. Of course, the way this season has gone, they'll take whatever the odds might be. There have been dev- astating injuries to star players like Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry, a three-game losing streak that was among the worst in NFL histo- ry, and a four-game win- ning streak that put them in a brief tie atop the division. There was another losing stretch that culminated in the firing of Todd Haley last week, and a buoyant vic- tory over the Super Bowl champion Packers last Sunday. If it's been a nauseat- NCAA Top 25 Schedule Thursday's results No. 1 Syracuse 80, Tulane 61 No. 2 Ohio St. 69, Miami (Ohio) 40 No. 3 Kentucky 87, Loyola (Md.) 63 No. 6 Baylor vs. Saint Mary's, late No. 8 UConn 79, Fairfield 71 No. 9 Missouri 78, No. 25 Illinois 74 No. 10 Marquette 64, Milwaukee 50 No. 11 Florida 82, Florida State 64 No. 12 Kansas at Southern Cal, late No. 14 Xavier vs. Long Beach State, late No. 16 Georgetown 70, Memphis 59 No. 17 Indiana 89, UMBC 47 No. 18 Mississippi St.82 Northwestern St 67 No. 19 Michigan State 90, Lehigh 81 No. 20 Michigan 77, Bradley 66 No. 23 Creighton 87, Northwestern 79 Today's games No. 4 Louisville vs.Western Kentucky, 4 p.m. No. 6 Baylor vs.West Virginia at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 6 p.m. ''They No. 13 Wisconsin vs. MVSU, 2:30 p.m. No. 14 Xavier vs.TBD at Honolulu, 8 p.m. or 10:30 9.m. No. 15 Pittsburgh vs.Wagner, 5 p.m. No. 21 UNLV vs. California, 2 p.m. in 36 games, dating to Ryan Grant's 129 yards rushing for Green Bay on Nov. 22, 2009. ''As long as we win, it doesn't matter to me if we have a running touchdown or not,'' Seattle fullback Michael Robinson said. That streak of holding opponents out of the end zone while running will get one of its toughest tests on Saturday thanks to the resurgence of Lynch. Seattle's change didn't take hold until midseason, when gim- micks were abandoned and the Sea- hawks put their season on the back of Lynch. He's responded with the finest stretch of his career, having scored touchdowns in 10 straight games played — minus the one week he sat out due to back spasms. He's become Seattle's first 1,000- yard back since Shaun Alexander's MVP season of 2005 and given the Seahawks an image and identity they struggled to find through Car- roll's first 1 1/2 seasons back in the NFL. ''He's running extremely hard. He's running angry. He's running with purpose. He's fighting for every inch that he can get,'' San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. ''He's got the ability to be a powerful inside runner, but yet bounces it outside. He's got a good stiff arm. And he's scored 11 rush- ing touchdowns this year, so it's probably been our biggest test from a running back in a while.'' Seattle fans are hoping this isn't Lynch's last appearance in a Sea- hawks uniform at home. Lynch will be a free agent at the end of the sea- son and the last seven weeks have cemented his future importance for the Seahawks. ''He's been the face of the pro- gram here in terms of setting the tempo and the attitude, the philoso- phy that he brings,'' Carroll said. ''The competitiveness that he stands for in his play that you can't help but see by the way he brings it, are all exemplary and emblematic of what we'd like to be.'' ing rollercoaster ride for Oakland, it's been more so for the Chiefs. ''This Raider team, they're in the same situ- ation we are, they need to win like we need to win, so they'll be ready to go,'' said the Chiefs' Romeo Crennel, who was elevated to interim coach last week and whose calming influ- ence has helped stabilize a team in disarray. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 18 10 3 39 93 76 Dallas 19 13 1 39 86 93 Phoenix 18 13 3 39 90 89 Kings Ducks 15 14 4 34 72 81 9 19 5 23 78 110 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 22 9 4 48 118 102 Detroit 21 12 1 43 111 78 St. Louis 19 10 4 42 84 72 Nashville 18 12 4 40 92 93 Columbus 9 21 4 22 85 117 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Minnesota 20 10 5 45 85 78 Vancouver 21 11 2 44 114 82 Calgary 16 15 4 36 87 97 Colorado 17 17 1 35 94 104 Edmonton 14 16 3 31 89 90 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia21 8 4 46 116 95 N.Y. Rangers20 8 4 44 95 70 Pittsburgh 19 11 4 42 110 90 New Jersey 18 14 1 37 91 96 N.Y. Islanders11 15 6 28 74 103 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 22 9 1 45 111 63 Toronto 17 13 4 38 105 110 Ottawa 17 14 4 38 110 120 Buffalo 16 15 3 35 92 101 Montreal 13 16 7 33 88 101 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 18 10 7 43 94 90 Winnipeg 16 13 5 37 95 100 Washington 17 14 1 35 95 97 Tampa Bay 14 17 2 30 89 114 Carolina 10 19 6 26 89 120 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Thursday's results Calgary 3, Detroit 2 Nashville 6, Columbus 5 N.Y. Rangers 4, N.Y. Islanders 2 Ottawa 4, Florida 3, OT Toronto 3, Buffalo 2 Winnipeg 4, Montreal 0 Anaheim at Los Angeles, late Minnesota at Edmonton, late Today's games Los Angeles at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Florida at Boston, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Carolina, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Toronto at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Washington at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Nashville at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Pittsburgh at Winnipeg, 5:30 p.m. St. Louis at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Tampa Bay at Colorado, 6 p.m. Calgary at Vancouver, 7 p.m. ''We have to put the best effort out there,'' Crennel said. ''We real- ly have to play our best game of the year, so that's what I talked to them about, and try to get that done. Hopefully they listened, they took that in and they'll apply it in their preparation." NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Denver 8 6 0 .571 292 343 RAIDERS 77 0 .500 317 382 Chargers 7 7 0 .500 358 313 Kansas City 6 8 0 .429 192 319 East WL T Pct PF PA y-N. Eng. 11 3 0 .786 437 297 N.Y. Jets 8 6 0 .571 346 315 Miami 5 9 0 .357 286 269 Buffalo 5 9 0 .357 311 371 South WL T Pct PF PA y-Houston 10 5 0 .667 359 255 Tennessee 7 7 0 .500 279 278 Jacksonville 4 10 0 .286 207 293 Indianapolis 2 13 0 .133 230 411 North WL T Pct PF PA x-Baltimore 10 4 0 .714 334 236 x-Pittsburgh 10 4 0 .714 285 218 Cincinnati 8 6 0 .571 305 283 Cleveland 4 10 0 .286 195 274 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA y-49ERS 11 3 0 .786 327 185 Seattle 7 7 0 .500 284 273 Arizona 7 7 0 .500 273 305 St. Louis 2 12 0 .143 166 346 East Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 8 6 0 .571 348 296 N.Y. Giants 7 7 0 .500 334 372 Philadelphia 6 8 0 .429 342 311 Washington 5 9 0 .357 252 300 South WL T Pct PF PA x-N. Orleans11 3 0 .786 457 306 Atlanta 9 5 0 .643 341 281 Carolina 5 9 0 .357 341 368 Tampa Bay 4 10 0 .286 247 401 North y-Green Bay 13 1 0 .929 480 297 Detroit Chicago 7 7 0 .500 315 293 Minnesota 2 12 0 .143 294 406 x-clinched division y-clinched division —————————————————— Thursday's result Indianapolis 19, Houston 16 Saturday's games Oakland at Kansas City, 10 a.m. San Francisco at Seattle, 1:15 p.m. Arizona at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Baltimore, 10 a.m. Denver at Buffalo, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Miami at New England, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Washington, 10 a.m. N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 10 a.m. San Diego at Detroit, 1:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 1:15 p.m. Sunday's game Chicago at Green Bay, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Atlanta at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m. WL T Pct PF PA 9 5 0 .643 395 332 C B S F O X