The set-up: The Raiders and Chiefs (at first Texans) both joined the AFL in 1960 and have continued to be division rivals through the 1970 merger and subsequent NFL expansion years. There have been many classic battles between to the two rivals but not so much in recent seasons, as the Raiders last postseason appearance came back in the 2002 season, when Oakland lost the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay. However, this Week 14 Thursday night meeting features the 9-2 first-place Raiders visiting the second-place, 9-3 Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:35 p.m. (local time) in what is predicted to be a frigid evening, with temperatures in the high-teens and a wind-chill factor that will make it feel like 10 degrees. Where's Ben Davidson, Daryle Lamonica, Len Dawson and Bobby Bell when you need them?

Oakland: The Raiders have not only not made the postseason since that 2002 season but the 2016 season marks Oakland's first-winning season since that year, as well (Raiders had back-to-back 8-8 years in 2008 & ‘09). Derek Carr has turned into a top-notch QB in the NFL and enters this game completing 65.5% for 3,375 with 24 TDs and 12 INTs (100.3 QB rating). He's got a pair of quality WRs in Cooper (68 catches on 14.4 YPC) and Crabtree (67 catches and a team-high 7 TDs) plus a running game which despite no "big names," ranks seventh with 114.6 YPG (4.3 YPC). That's a major improvement from the 91.1 YPG (28th) the Raiders averaged last year and the NFL-worst 77.5 YPG the team averaged in Carr's rookie season of 2014. Oakland's defense is a weak spot, allowing 389.7 YPG (30th) and 24.9 PPG (22nd), despite the fact that DE Khalil Mack's name is being bandied about for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Mack has registered at least one of his team-leading 10 sacks in each of the last seven games, while also recording four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception in that span.

Kansas City: The Chiefs have already beaten the Raiders 26-10 at Oakland back in Week 6. That victory began a 7-1 run that sets up KC for this game with the Raiders knowing a win and the Chiefs would move into a first-place tie with Oakland, while also sweeping the season-series (huge in a tie-break situation). The Chiefs' offense has struggled most of the season thanks in large part to a rash of injuries to its RBs and then its WRs. The Chiefs had scored just one offensive TD over their previous three games heading into its Week 12 SNF game in Denver, averaging only 18.7 PPG in that span. The team had one offensive TD, 10 FGs and one "pick six" over that three-game span but managed 30 points against Denver, despite gaining only 273 yards (an 86-yard KO return TD sure helped). However, KC again scored 29 points in Atlanta to eke out a one-point win over the Falcons last Sunday, as the offense had three TDs and 387 total yards. However, it was the defense which again came up huge, as Eric Berry had a "pick-six" for the go-ahead score with 37 seconds left in the second quarter, before he brought back another pick for a two-point conversion with 4:32 remaining in the game, which gave the Kansas City Chiefs an improbable 29-28 victory.

The pick: Is it possible that the Chiefs can continue "living on the edge" and keep getting away with it? With their 11-1 record to close out the 2015 season, Kansas City is 20-4 in their last 24 regular-season and postseason games. However, the Raiders also know something about "late-game magic," as Oakland owns a half-dozen victories this season which have come due to fourth-quarter comebacks. Carr rallied Oakland from a 15-point halftime deficit in Sunday's 38-24 victory over Buffalo, becoming the first player in NFL history to throw five game-winning TD passes in the fourth quarter or overtime in a single season. Oakland is a 10* play.