ALAMEDA – Justin Fargas is one of the few Raiders who have been around long enough to take playing the Kansas City Chiefs personally.
Fargas was on his way to a big game against the Chiefs in Week 2 with 43 yards on nine rushes before leaving with a groin injury. In last year's win at Kansas City, Fargas ran for 139 yards and a touchdown.
"It's definitely one of those games I look forward to," Fargas said. "I like the rivalry. Certain teams I like playing, and I like playing against the Chiefs."
All the Raiders' running backs probably feel the same way about the Chiefs.
While interim coach Tom Cable tries to teach a group of young players the importance of rivalry games, the Chiefs' porous run defense gives Raiders running backs reason to be giddy about today's game at the Oakland Coliseum.
Darren McFadden ran for 164 yards and a touchdown in relief of Fargas in the Raiders' 23-8 win Sept. 14. Michael Bush had 90 yards and a touchdown as the Raiders ran for 300 yards.
"The offensive line had a great game that day," McFadden said. "It was just one of those days where we were clicking real good, so it just felt good being out there, being able to gain so many yards against them."
A lot of teams have had that good feeling against Kansas City. The Chiefs have the second-worst run defense in the NFL, allowing 165.9 yards a game.
Fargas expects the same thing today.
"We had success last time and a year ago," Fargas said. "I just think as a team we're confident we can play well against them. And hopefully we'll be able to pull off another W."
The Raiders had lost 17 consecutive games against AFC West rivals before beating the Chiefs 20-17 Nov. 25, 2007.
So after struggling to win in the division for so long, the Raiders could run through the Chiefs for a third consecutive win over their division rival.
That means something to Fargas, who was a Raider for all 17 consecutive division losses.
"I like that (Cable) stresses the importance of winning games in your division and rivalry games," Fargas said. "It gives us a little extra motivation to play for because when you have hard times, it's tough to find that extra motivation. We're playing at home against the Kansas City Chiefs, and we still have a lot to play for."
A victory would keep alive the Raiders' faint hopes of winning a down AFC West.
It also would be the first time the Raiders swept a division foe since taking two games from Denver in 2002. The Raiders haven't beaten the Chiefs twice in one season since 2001.
"It's our responsibility to get some rebirth into that legacy, into that tradition," Cable said.
And winning another game doesn't hurt, either.
Read Jason Jones' Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/raidersblog.
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