The Oakland Raiders are 4-2 and are starting to pick up some steam, but coming out of their week six matchup with the Cleveland Browns, there's a couple question marks that will affect the immediate future of the team. During the game, quarterback Jason Campbell went down with a collarbone injury and will be out for at least six weeks. His time in Oakland is likely done, though, and not because Kyle Boller came in and played pretty well in his absence.
No, before Tuesday's trade deadline, the Raiders traded for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. They sent a first-round pick and a conditional first/second-round pick in exchange, and now the Raiders are even harder to figure out right now. With Carson Palmer comes a veteran quarterback who - if healthy - can get the ball to Oakland's young and sometimes underrated receivers.
It's still up in the air as to whether or not he'll be playing on Sunday, though. The trade was finalized Tuesday afternoon and at the time of writing, nothing is known about when he'll be able to play. Would he be able to pick up the offense in time? Who knows. What we do know is that the Kansas City Chiefs are coming to town, and these matchups are almost always entertaining.
Kansas City sits at 2-3 on the season and have recovered nicely from two-straight beatdowns at the beginning of the season and a close loss in game three to the San Diego Chargers. They're winners in their last two and are coming off their bye week. The teams they beat are the Vikings and Colts, however - they've a combined 1-11 record on the season. So it's hard to place the Chiefs and their struggling team in regards to their chances, but if history has shown us anything, it's that the Chiefs and Raiders usually combine for close matchups. With the Chiefs struggling to gain ground in the AFC West, it's even more meaningful.
It it comes down to a game of quarterbacks, the Raiders might even be favored regardless of who is playing. Matt Cassel has been the leading passer in just one of the Chiefs' four games this season, and their defense has been giving up a decent amount of receiving yards, and has been about average in stopping the run, so Darren McFadden will be looking for a big game, especially with the shaky quarterback position.