Janikowski delivers after Raider errors

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Even when he makes mistakes, Rich Gannon

finds a way to beat the team that labeled him a career backup.

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Gannon rallied Oakland for 10 points in the final 3:10 Sunday,

including Sebastian Janikowski's 31-yard field goal with 15 seconds

to go in the Raiders' 27-24 victory.

"He always does that," said Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez.

"That's his style."

Gannon overcame two fumbles and an interception that was

returned for a touchdown to improve his record to 4-1 against the

Chiefs since leaving Kansas City to join the Raiders.

"Unbelievable," Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. "The guy

showed great resolve and great command in one difficult place to

play, especially when you're behind."

Gannon's first pass to new Oakland teammate Jerry Rice was

intercepted by Eric Warfield, who returned it 51 yards for a

touchdown. But in true Gannon style, he kept scrambling out of

trouble and made big plays when big plays were needed.

"It was disappointing to me that we put the ball on the ground

so many times," said Gannon, who was 31-of-46 for 341 yards. He

was also sacked twice and harried almost all day.

"This isn't very typical for us. Whenever we turn the ball over

like that, especially against a well-coached defense, when we put

the ball on the ground twice in the red zone, we don't usually

win."

Gannon gave the Raiders a 24-17 lead with 3:10 left on a 15-yard

TD pass to Jon Ritchie.

Then, after Trent Green's 30-yard touchdown pass to Marvin

Minnnis tied it at 24, Gannon's 31-yard pass to Tim Brown set up

Janikowski's fourth field goal.

"It doesn't matter what happens early on," Chiefs cornerback

Ray Crockett said. "We got him to make some turnovers and costly

mistakes. But the guy made plays when it counted."

It was not a game the NFL will use to brag about replacement

refs. Several times there was confusion, and a controversial

reversal near the end of the first half might have cost the

Raiders.

"All in all, I felt they did everything they could to manage

the game," Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. "No matter who

officiates the game there's going to be people who make second

guesses."

The outcome spoiled the Kansas City debut of coach Dick Vermeil,

whose offense converted only two of 12 third downs.

"Either we were bad on third-down conversions or they were

very, very good," Vermeil said.

With Oakland down 17-6, Gannon connected with Brown on a deep

sideline pattern late in the third that went for a 33-yard scoring

play.

Gannon then sidestepped his way into the end zone for a 2-point

conversion to make it 17-14.

Rice, the former San Francisco All-Pro, started slowly, but made

eight catches for 87 yards.

Green's first pass for the Chiefs was to himself when it was

batted back to him from the line. He was 16-of-37 for 222 yards and

twice turned the ball over on fumbled center snaps.

"It's a thing where you could point fingers and blame a number

of things," he said. "We can't have fumbled snaps. It's not fair

to point fingers at any one thing."

Janikowski's 36-yard field goal -- after Rice dropped a

third-down pass in the corner of the end zone -- tied it at 17 with

9:35 left. Two minutes later, Kansas City's Todd Peterson was wide

left on a 37-yard attempt.

"The offense and defense were playing their hearts out,"

Peterson said. "You never want to miss, but when you miss in that

situation, that's pretty tough."

Late in the first half, Charlie Garner made a great catch near

the sideline as Jerome Woods slammed him out of bounds on a play

that was first ruled a 27-yard gain.

But the call was reversed upon review when referee Randall

Beesley decided the tackle did not cause both of Garner's feet to

go out of bounds. A subsequent unsportsmanlike penalty on Brown

resulted in the Raiders having third-and-17 from their own 46

instead of first-and-10 from the Kansas City 12.

The first of Kansas City's two fumbled center snaps led to

Janikowski's 43-yard field goal. Then Janikowski's 42-yarder,

following Dan Stryzinski's team-record 76-yard punt, made it 7-6.

Tony Richardson's 3-yard touchdown run gave the Chiefs a 14-6

lead before Peterson made it 17-6 with a 31-yarder.

Game notes
Oakland's last three wins at Arrowhead have been by a late

field goal. Janikowski hit a 43-yarder with 25 seconds left to beat

Kansas City 20-17, and in 1999, Joe Nedney kicked a 33-yarder in

overtime for a 41-38 Raiders win. ... Vermeil is the first Kansas

City coach to lose his regular-season home debut since Marv Levy in

1978, in a 20-17 loss to Houston. ... Before Warfield's pickoff,

Gannon had thrown 104 straight passes against the Chiefs without an

interception. ... Warfield's 51-yard interception return for a

touchdown extended Kansas City's streak of seasons with a defensive

TD to 13. ... With five catches for 81 yards, Gonzalez passed Fred

Arbanas for most receiving yards by a Chiefs tight end. Gonzalez

has 3,122 receiving yards; Arbanas had 3,101 from 1962-70. ...

Richardson's 47-yard catch was the longest of his career.