Sleeping WIth the Enemy: Week Seven, Chiefs @ Raiders

Welcome back to another installment of Sleeping with the Enemy, where your one and only House swaps spit with fans of our teams' opponents. This week, those obnoxious Denver Broncos host the Pittsburgh Steelers, but as of late they get little coverage around here. I happen to dig that trend and will focus on the good guys, who travel to the Black Hole for a dose of Art Shell Norv Turner Bill Callahan Art Shell again Lane Kiffin and his Oakland Raiders. Today's feature will have a slightly different feel to it, and by "slightly," I mean entirely. You see, I could've contacted Christopher Perales at JustBlogBaby. I could've contacted these guys. They seem to do a respectable job. But no. I tried to rely on the non-professional sports tool known as friends. Oops. My bad.

Yeah. I contacted John Turk who, in the words of Mr. Hercules Rockefeller, attended THE Fort Lewis College with Cecil, 7 and myself. It only took Turk five weeks to respond to 7's questions, and since his response was timely for my Chiefs needs, I thought, Hey, insert other AFC West rival here, and we're in bidniss. To Turk's credit, he did respond right away. Once. Here's what it looked like.

Bankmeister: Your Oakland Raiders have somewhat of a new look this year. Though they had a rough afternoon against the Chargers last Sunday, they've managed to be competitive in each of the games they've played. How much of their early-season success is attributable to Lane Kiffin's coaching and motivational skills? Do you feel like the JaMarcus Russell holdout has had any impact on the club? And how about the presence of Daunte Culpepper?

John Turk: Kiffin has energized the club after years of mudding around with has beens (Turner, Shell etc) Kiffin has kept them in games with solid gameplans. Look at how well the running game has been with this"mediocre" o-line. Good coaching! I am not in a hurry to bring Jamarcus Russell in. Stick around for a year and learn the system. Daunte Culpepper has re-energized the club too and should remain the starter. I thought then and I still think the Raiders drafted the wrong guy. I would have taken Adrian Peterson at number 1. I was so pissed on draft day for them letting him slip through their hands. Serviceable QBs are a dime a dozen. Franchise runningbacks hard to come by.

B: Well said, Mr. Turk. The House thanks you for your abbreviated participation. I'd urge you to speak with the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals, the Carolina Panthers, the New York Jets, the St. Louis Rams, the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears regarding this plethora of serviceable QBs of which you speak.

From there, I turned to a local source, a guy -- my former boss -- I like to call JFrizzle. I sent him a similar series of questions, to which he responded "Raiders 28, Chiefs 14. If I'm wrong, I'll buy you a beer." Really? Six touchdowns and no field goals between a Herm Edwards-coached team and a team with SeaBass? Okay.

So, I ask you, precious readers: Is there any hidden meaning behind two Raiders fans flaking? Just a coincidence, perhaps.

Nevertheless, I say this: The Raiders look a tad more intimidating than they did with this guy in the coffin at the helm, and we're only six games into Kiffin's tenure. I've read some InterNets nonsense this year that suggests the Chiefs will lose to the Raiders this year. I ain't buyin' it. Are they a better team? Sure. Does Daunte Culpepper give them a better hand? You bet. Will they contend for the division? Please. (Editor's Note: Any House-related prognostication is deemed immediately inaccurate.) It could happen. The Chiefs could lose today. I'll remain optimistic that they leave the Bay Area unscathed. Chiefs 23, Raiders 17.

Previous SwtE Episodes:
Week Six
Week Five
Week Four
Week Three
Week Two
Week One