CHIEFS HEAD COACH DICK VERMEIL

On the game: “The Raiders came in here and played their hearts out on Christmas Day away, from their homes. That’s not easy to do. Obviously, I’m extremely pleased with our guys and how they battled and kept going. We were minus two, and to win the football game like that it’s tough to do. But the defenses really came alive in the second half and did a heck of a job.

“The Raider defense shut down our running game pretty good with those big giants inside there. Those big guys came to play. We threw the ball more than we normally do. The game’s on the line and they kick the ball to Dante [Hall] and he brings it out, as you all saw. He is so tough and so courageous.

“The old cliché is character and all of that stuff, but I think we played like a real good football team tonight and played against another football team that played like a good football team, regardless of their win/loss records. At this late in the year, to play that hard, and on two short weeks in a row, is a tremendous tribute to our guys.”

On Trent Green: “Our quarterback was spectacular. The job that he did on that last touchdown drive, there were two or three of the plays that were just on Trent Green. I keep raving about him because I love the guy and respect him so much and the whole squad does. Oh boy! Was he special? It’s tough to do what he did tonight.

On your comfort level with Lawrence Tynes when you sent him out that final time: “I was nervous because we have not put him in that position, but he did a great job. We’ve had him here two training camps and sent him out of here twice before we kept him here the third time. So, it was outstanding for him to be able to do that. That’s Lawrence Tynes’ first game winning field goal in his career. He kicked off for the most part pretty good tonight.”

QB Trent Green

On the game:”We wanted to get as close as we could after Dante’s return. They tired squibbing to him and split the seam. We made the mistake, and if we continue to get first downs, they don’t get the ball back. We were able to get to midfield but then we missed on the naked that we tried. And then on third down I tried to slide in the pocket and just got the ball hit out of my hand. Thanks to the special teams for saving me today.”

On not spiking the ball and running another play: “We completed the two passes to get the first down and then on first down we ran the draw. Then we ended up spiking the ball and then on third down we had an incompletion. I was just doing what I’m told and it worked out and I’m not going to say anything.

“Every game is like this. If we don’t give the ball back the game’s over and we run it out.”

On the Raiders missing their starting CBs and RB: “We were going to try and attack them in the passing game and knew there was a possibility that neither [CB Phillip] Buchanon or [CB Charles] Woodson would play. But their replacements played real well and did a good job of mixing up the coverage in cover-two and three and were giving them some help. And anytime you’ve got those two big boys in the middle, they’re going to make some plays at times. I was really impressed with how those two corners played because we had all intentions of going at them.”

On your composure: “I feel real good about where I am in terms of where the game management is going. As disappointed as I was, I learned a while ago it’s not how you start but how you finish the game. Playing this position, as frustrating as it may be, most of these games come down to the fourth quarter and being able to find a way to make plays. Fortunately we were able to make plays at the end.”

On WR Samie Parker’s catches: “Every time he gets in there he comes up with some big plays and today he had two huge catches, converting first downs and putting us in position to get that final touchdown. You can’t say enough about his opportunities.”

On TE Tony Gonzalez: “We came in thinking we were going to attack the corners and all of a sudden you get Tony doing what he does best. The thing is the defense was screaming, ‘we’re going to double him, we’re going to double him’ and he still beats you. The second touchdown they were doubling him, the linebackers and safety were calling it out. I just thought I’d give him a look and sure enough, he beats them. I think in the four years I’ve been here it’s his best season, by far.”

KR/WR Dante Hall
On the season: “We felt all along that the way we started the season was not a reflection of the abilities of this team. We just want to go out and finish the season off right and just start playing better. There was no magic speech or no magic player inserted into a position. We just took responsibility upon ourselves as individuals to get whatever job we had, done. The last four weeks, we’ve shown it.”

On his return in the final minutes: “It was a great call. We had a little wedge and the guys did great job of sticking to their guys. I had two or three lanes to choose from. It was a total team effort… I’ve been praying a lot more than I’m used to and I had an ankle that was killing me and my hamstring was getting tight on me. I put my head down and prayed to God, ‘Give me my legs, let me have my legs and give us an opportunity.’ We got the opportunity and took full advantage of it.”

On Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning FG: “I knew he was going to make it. He hasn’t missed very many from that distance; in fact I don’t think he’s missed any from that distance. I knew once Trent [Green] got a couple of completions that we were in field goal range. It was just a matter of getting the snap, holding and protecting and we were going to get the three [points].”

K Lawrence Tynes
On his game-winning FG: “I got a great snap and great hold. When I kicked that ball, I was very confident because I had hit the other two good, and one got blocked and the other hit the crossbar. I wasn’t down in the dumps at all. I was real positive when I went out there and I knew I was going to make it.”

On his season performance: “It’s been all right. There’s some things I can do more consistently, like kickoff more consistently. I think, compared to other rookie seasons, it’s better than most.”

LB Monty Beisel
Does this feel like a playoff team? “Most definitely. I think we’re one of the better teams in the league right now. Unfortunately, we’re 7-8 and we’ll head to San Diego next week and try to get to .500. That’s all we can ask for.”

DE Jared Allen
On today’s victory: “Any win is a special one, but we were in this one until the last minute. It felt like the Monday night game against Tennessee where we had to come up with a big stand and hold them to a field goal. Dante [Hall] came through with a big return and when our offense has positive field position, they’re going to score. It was a great team effort”

On the improvement in the defensive play in the second half: “We were tired of giving up points. We didn’t say much at halftime. We just came in as a defensive unit and said ‘We know we can stop them, we know they can’t score.’ They had many good opportunities in the second half and we held them to field goals.”

OAKLAND HEAD COACH NORV TURNER

On the game: “A game like that, that goes back and forth, there are so many plays that end up being made you don’t end up remembering the ones that are made in the middle but I know our guys made a lot of plays. We made a lot of plays in all three areas; it gives you a chance to be in this type of game. They made one more than we did at the end with the return. (Dante Hall)’s a great returner and that put them in position, obviously, to kick the game-winning kick. Our guys, causing the fumble, putting the ball in (good) field position, did a great job trying to put the game away.”

On the squib kick to Chiefs WR Dante Hall at the end of the game: “We call it a hard squib kick. We didn’t want to give them short field position, but we knew if we bounced the ball around pretty good it could disrupt their return. I think it did disrupt their return. I didn’t get a great look; I tried to look at the replay, but I thought we had a couple of guys that had a chance to get him. We mixed up our kicks all day and for the most part did a good job. He made a great run.”

On reasserting the running game: “The last time we played these guys we threw the ball almost every down. We thought we could get some run going. They played us a lot more coverage and a lot of times you’re doing (things) based on what gives you the best chance and I liked the mix we got in the run. And obviously it gives us a chance to make some plays in the passing game.”

On trying to slow down Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez: “We talked to them about not letting him get such a clean release. Then we played a little more coverage. We rushed three at times; it gave them a little more time to throw. But we did get better pressure in the second half. That probably helped us as much as anything.”

On missing his two starting corner backs in the game: “We made an awful lot of plays (defensively) in the passing game. They made a big play early, got us an interception, got us a short field. I thought our corners played in a physical manner; we made some good hits.”

DT Warren Sapp
On the two tough losses to Kansas City:

“The Chiefs are a good football team. We got the lead right there at the end (today) and we knew it was going to come down to stopping them on defense one more time. We just couldn’t get the little fella’ (Dante Hall) down. He made an excellent return, set them up and he (K Lawrence Tynes) kicked it through. Not a lot you can do about that, but give a good rush – which I know we did – and get our hands up to block the ball. They made one more play than we did.”

S Ray Buchanan
On going back out on defense knowing they are already in field goal range: “It’s never tough. It’s a fact that you have to go out there and get the job done. When something like that happens, you have to go out there and hold them to as minimal yards as possible to put them in longer field goal range. I think guys went out there and tried to do their best. They made a pretty good field goal.”

On solidifying the pass defense in the second half: “Without your top corners, it’s always going to be tough. We needed Charles Woodson out there; we needed Phillip Buchanon out there healthy. When they’re not healthy, the next guy’s got to step up. They got the opportunity to play on national TV; it’s their time to shine. I remember when I was a cornerback, I used to love having the opportunity to come out there and play. They did a great job in the second half. We all did.”

On two close losses to the Chiefs: “It’s tough. We’re going up against the number one offense in the National Football League and you know they’re going to put up yards. They put them up on everyone else and we’re not going to catch a break. We went out there and fought. My hat’s off to our defense the way we played in the second half. It was more a defensive game than offense in the whole second half. If you look at the first half, you might have thought it would be 68-63 by the way the scoreboard was lighting up. Both teams tightened up defensively, made adjustments and went out there and tried to execute. It’s a tough bullet to bite when you lose twice in the same type of fashion.”

RB Amos Zereoue
On if they thought they could get the run going against Kansas City: “Yeah, we thought coming in from the last game we didn’t run the ball enough. We knew coming in that we could mix it up. It worked and unfortunately we didn’t get the results we wanted. The guys fought hard and we did what we had to do.”

On the frustration of losing two close games to the Chiefs: “It was very frustrating. Especially as hard as those guys went out there and played, you really can’t ask for much more than what we gave out there. Sometimes the ball just rolls that way. Dante Hall made a great play for them and they won the game.”

T Barry Sims
On the offensive gameplan: ”(We were) just trying to mix it up, keep people off balance. We’ve been throwing the ball a lot the past couple of weeks and it’s time to see if we could break some runs off. We felt like we ran the ball pretty good throughout the game. It just went down to the wire. It was a crazy game.”