Kyle Boller dropped back on Oakland’s first series and threw a pass to the left sideline that Kendrick Lewis intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Carson Palmer did the same to the right side to Brandon Flowers in the fourth quarter.

After all the talk this week about who would start at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, it didn’t much matter. Boller and Palmer were equally bad.

Boller and Palmer each threw three interceptions and the Kansas City Chiefs took advantage of the rusty quarterback play to win their third straight game, beating Oakland 28-0 Sunday in their most lopsided road win ever against the Raiders.

“It was just an awful feeling walking off the field to be beat like that in the fashion that we were beat,” said Palmer, who was a retired player at home less than a week ago. “We need to regroup.”

Boller became the first Raiders quarterback in 13 years to throw three interceptions in the first half, including Lewis’ 59-yard score on the first drive of the game for Oakland (4-3). Palmer relieved in the second half and threw three more interceptions, including one that Flowers returned 58 yards to give the Chiefs a 28-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Cornerback Javier Arenas and Le’Ron McClain each added touchdown runs for the Chiefs (3-3) on a day the Kansas City offense didn’t have to do much at all.

After being outscored 89-10 in lopsided losses to Buffalo and Detroit to open the season, the defending AFC West champion Chiefs have won three straight to get back into contention in the division race. While the wins came against cellar dwellers Minnesota and Indianapolis and a banged-up Raiders team missing its leading passer, scorer and rusher for most of the game, the Chiefs aren’t apologizing.

“We don’t have too many pretty games but as long as we come away with the victory that’s all that matters,” said cornerback Brandon Carr, who had one interception. “We’re definitely making progress and trying to keep this thing going.

The Raiders’ promising season was jolted last week when starting quarterback Jason Campbell was knocked out with a broken collarbone. Coach Hue Jackson moved quickly to get a replacement by trading for Palmer on Tuesday.

Palmer had been working out on his own in Southern California. Because of his rust and unfamiliarity with his teammates and the playbook, Palmer did not start in his debut.

It didn’t end up mattering because neither quarterback was able to do much besides throwing interceptions.

Boller was 7 for 14 for 61 yards and became the first Raiders quarterback to throw three interceptions in the first half since Donald Hollas in 1998 against Miami. Palmer went 8 for 21 for 116 yards with the three interceptions.

Palmer now has the bye week to get up to speed before making his first start Nov. 6 at home against Denver.

“We’re not blinking,” Jackson said. “This football team is not going to blink. We have to play better. We have to play better offensively. I take full responsibility.”

This marked the first time the Raiders had thrown six interceptions in a game since that 1998 game against the Dolphins and the Chiefs had their first six-interception game since 1984 against Seattle.

“We knew that they had a quarterback controversy,” Lewis said. “We studied film and studied their routes and that they were going to give him a limited playbook. When we had the opportunity to make big plays and capitalize, that’s what we did. And we did a good job with it.”

Jackson was coy all week about whether Boller or Palmer would start at quarterback in Oakland’s first game since Campbell’s injury. With star running back Darren McFadden leaving in the first quarter with an injured right foot, it didn’t much matter.

Oakland moved into Kansas City territory on its first drive and tried to run a trick play on third-and-1 that backfired. Third quarterback Terrelle Pryor lined up at receiver and went in motion to behind the center and took a quick snap for a keeper. The Raiders were called for a false start because Pryor was not set for a second.

On the next play, Boller threw an out pass to Jacoby Ford that Lewis stepped in front off and returned 59 yards for the touchdown to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.

The boos for Boller started but Palmer remained on the sideline with a baseball hat. Boller threw his second interception on a deep pass to Denarius Moore that Flowers caught. The Chiefs then drove 61 yards for a score Le’Ron McClain’s 1-yard run.

Boller finally got the Raiders moving with some good runs by Michael Bush before Derrick Johnson stuffed him on fourth down at the 1 when Jackson called for a direct snap to the running back.

Boller was intercepted again late in the half.

“I’m just extremely frustrated,” Boller said. “I had an opportunity to go there. It just didn’t go as planned. Definitely not my best outing. I feel bad for my teammates. I feel like I let my teammates down. There’s not much to say. The play speaks for itself.”

— Associated Press —

Matt Cassel finally figured out how to beat the Colts on Sunday.

He used the unbeatable combination of Dwayne Bowe’s size and Steve Breaston’s elusiveness.

Cassel threw four touchdown passes — two each to Bowe and Breaston — to rally the Chiefs from a 17-point deficit for a 28-24 victory over winless Indianapolis.

“He is a guy I trust with all my heart — and the ball,” Cassel said of Bowe. “Then you get Steve Breaston, who continues to make so many plays. They compliment each other very well. If you’re going to double one, you can’t double the other.”

Without paying a steep price, as the Colts learned.

Even Peyton Manning’s return to the sideline couldn’t detract from the impact of this big-play tandem. Kansas City’s comeback was the largest since Todd Haley took over as coach in 2009 and rekindled images of how the Chiefs (2-3) won the AFC West last season.

Cassel was an efficient 21 of 29 for 257 yards with a rating of 138.9.

Bowe caught seven passes for 128 yards and simply outmuscled the much smaller Jacob Lacey for many of them. Breaston caught four passes for 50 yards but made a spectacular effort to get into the end zone at the end of the first half and a terrific move against a backup cornerback to give the Chiefs their only lead with 5:15 left in the game.

Jackie Battle also ran 19 times for 119 yards, enough to give the Chiefs their first win at Indy.

“We just started doing things better,” coach Todd Haley said. “That’s three weeks in a row with strong second halves. That’s our conditioning and hard work paying off in our favor. We did a good job wearing them out.”

Indy, one of three winless teams left in the league, is 0-5 for the first time since 1997 and has lost five straight for the first time in a decade.

But this one was not Curtis Painter’s fault.

With Manning around to advise to Painter and the receivers between series, Painter delivered a brilliant first half. He opened the game 12 of 17 for 237 yards with two TDs and a near-perfect 152.2 rating. A series of second-half drops prevented the Colts from moving the ball, though, and Painter finished 15 of 27 for 277 yards.

Painter even managed to avoid getting sacked despite playing behind a makeshift offensive line.

This time, it was the defense that broke down.

“The offense was doing a great job in the first half, and we just kind of let down,” Colts safety Antoine Bethea said. “We blew this.”

Bowe was the primary reason.

He burned Lacey on a slant for a 41-yard touchdown in the first half, a play that seemed to spark Kansas City’s moribund offense. He repeatedly broke tackles for first downs. And when Cassel needed a play on first-and-goal from the Indy 5, of course he went to Bowe, who caught the TD pass despite Lacey’s deflection and pass interference penalty. That made the score 24-21.

Two series later, with Bowe as the set-up guy, Cassel went the other direction and found Breaston matched up against rookie cornerback Chris Rucker. It was no contest — an 11-yard TD reception for the go-ahead score.

“Take your hats off to them,” Colts receiver Reggie Wayne said. “They came out with a good game plan in the third quarter and they executed it well. I feel like we should be walking out of this game with a ‘W,’ but we didn’t get that done.”

Yes, Indy dominated early.

Painter threw a 6-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon on the opening series and after a 53-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri, hooked up with Garcon on a 67-yard TD pass to make it 17-0 less than 20 minutes into the game. Garcon finished with five catches for 125 yards.

Then, after Bowe’s long TD catch, Painter led the Colts down the field again, setting up Delone Carter for a 3-yard TD run that made it 24-7 with 1:09 left in the half.

That was too much time for Cassel and Breaston, who made a nifty stop just before stepping out of bounds and dived across the goal line for a 16-yard score to make it 24-14 at the half.

Painter had one chance to rally the Colts late, but his fourth-down pass was knocked away by Jon McGraw and the Chiefs held on for their second straight win.

“This is a big win, a step in the right direction,” Cassel said. “We kept our focus, and you could see the end result was very positive for us.”

— Associated Press —

The National Football League informed the Chiefs on Tuesday that K Ryan Succop has been named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts in Week 4 of the 2011 NFL regular season.

Succop (6-2, 218) was five-for-five on field goal attempts with a PAT, tallying a career-high 16 points en route to a 22-17 victory vs. Minnesota (10/2) at Arrowhead Stadium. The South Carolina product was successful on two 50+ yard field goal attempts, tying the club’s franchise record. Succop now has five field goals of 50+ yards in his career, the fourth-highest total in team annals. Kansas City’s placekicker connected on a career-long 54-yard field goal in the third quarter to give Kansas City a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. His five field goals tied the club’s record for most field goals in a single game, joining K Jan Stenerud and K Nick Lowery.

Succop was selected as the final pick in the 2009 NFL Draft (256th overall). He has connected on 52 of 65 career field goal attempts (.800) and has successfully hit on 75 of 75 PATs for 231 points in 36 games with the club.

Succop is the first Chiefs player to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors since RB Dexter McCluster did so in Week 1 of the 2010 campaign vs. San Diego (9/13/10).

— Chiefs Public Relations —

Three straight losses, an offense that couldn’t punch it into the end zone — the frustration started to boil over for Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Matt Cassel had just spiked the ball on third down to force another field goal, and the quarterback was greeted at the sideline by coach Todd Haley. An animated conversation ensued, some choice words exchanged, the TV cameras catching all of it in gory detail.

Whatever message Haley delivered must have been received.

Cassel hit Dwayne Bowe for a 52-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass, Ryan Succop was perfect on five field-goal attempts and the Chiefs held off the Minnesota Vikings 22-17.

“It’s just part of the game,” Cassel said of the sideline flare-up. “You hug, you make up, you do high-fives and you just move on to the next play. It’s part of football.”

So is winning, something neither team had experienced before Sunday.

The Chiefs lost to Buffalo 41-7 in their opener and were trounced 48-3 at Detroit, before nearly rallying in a 20-17 loss to San Diego. The miserable start had some fans calling for Haley and general manager Scott Pioli to be fired.

The heat is off them for a week.

It’s still on Vikings coach Leslie Frazier.

Minnesota squandered first-half leads each of its first three games, and this time couldn’t hang on after Ryan Longwell’s field goal in the third quarter pushed them ahead.

The Vikings are 0-4 for the first time since 2002.

“We’ve got to re-evaluate everything,” Frazier said simply.

Succop’s field goals included a career-long 54-yarder, and his total matched Jan Stenerud and Nick Lowery for the single-game franchise record.

His accurate right leg had staked Kansas City (1-3) to a 15-10 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. Cassel dropped back to pass and saw Bowe get around Cedric Griffin, who slipped just after the snap, and hit his Pro Bowl wide receiver in stride.

Bowe made a pirouette to get around safety Jamarca Sanford, then broke Griffen’s tackle, and trotted the last couple of yards for the touchdown.

“It was a simple play, a simple hitch-and-go route,” Bowe said. “Coach told me, ‘If I call this, will you score?’ And I told him, ‘Coach, all you have to do is put it in my hands.’ ”

Cassel said the Chiefs saw a weakness in the Minnesota defense and drew the play up on the fly, just like a bunch of kids on a school-yard playground.

“It was a great adjustment by our coaching staff,” he said. “They saw that they were jumping some of those routes, intermediate routes, so we thought we had an opportunity.”

The Vikings answered with a 13-play drive that Donovan McNabb capped with a short pass to Michael Jenkins for Minnesota’s first second-half touchdown of the season.

The defense held to give McNabb time to mount a potential game-winning drive, but after picking up a first down, four straight incompletions effectively ended the game.

“It’s frustrating. We’ve got to go back and do the same thing we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks and try to find a solution,” McNabb said.

McNabb finished 18 of 30 for 202 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Adrian Peterson carried 23 times for 80 yards in another underwhelming performance.

Kansas City’s defense set the tone early, forcing Minnesota to go three-and-out on its opening possession. Succop’s 40-yard field goal gave Kansas City its first lead all season.

McNabb answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Devin Aromashodu, who beat Brandon Carr down the sideline and laid out to make a spectacular catch, and looked like it would build on the 7-3 lead by marching deep into Chiefs territory.

After a sack by Tamba Hali set up third-and-long, McNabb’s pass was tipped by running back Toby Gerhart and intercepted by Carr. The Chiefs struck with a 42-yard completion to Steve Breaston, but the drive fizzled before they could cross the goal line.

Cassel didn’t see Breaston open in the end zone on second down, and he chucked the ball into the turf on the third down. When he trotted over to Haley on the sideline, their heated conversation ensued, with a few expletives crossing their lips on television.

“Matt and I and a number of others who really, passionately care about trying to make this team special, you’re going to have some emotion and feeling,” Haley said. “Like I said, Matt, great response, and how he played, and that’s No. 1. That’s all that matters.”

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Wednesday that the club has signed free agent TE Jake O’Connell and released TE Anthony Becht.

O’Connell (6-3, 250) has appeared in 20 games (four starts) with Kansas City (2009-11). He has six catches for 53 yards (8.8 avg.) and added two special teams tackles. He originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick (237th overall) of the Chiefs in 2009.

Becht (6-6, 270) has appeared in 160 games (128 starts) with the N.Y. Jets (2000-04), Tampa Bay (2005-07), St. Louis (2008), Arizona (2009) and Kansas City (2011). He has caught 185 passes for 1,511 yards (8.2 avg.) with 21 touchdowns. He originally entered the NFL as a first-round pick (27th overall) of the Jets in 2000.

— Chiefs Public Relations —

Matt Cassel didn’t even see Eric Weddle, the San Diego Chargers’ $40 million free safety.

That was the difference between the Kansas City Chiefs having a chance at a huge upset — or at the very least, to get the game into overtime — and a third straight loss.

Weddle intercepted Cassel on a screen pass at midfield with 55 seconds left, and the lethargic Chargers held on for a 20-17 victory over the winless Chiefs on Sunday.

“In the end, we made the play and they didn’t,” Weddle said. “It’s huge. We definitely didn’t want to lose this game.”

Neither did the Chiefs, who were outscored a combined 89-10 in their first two games and were without stars Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry and Tony Moeaki, out with season-ending knee injuries.

“Those were the highs and lows of football,” Cassel said. “One minute you feel good with a 20-yard gain close to field goal range and great position, and then on the next play the game’s over.”

Ryan Mathews scored twice, and the Chargers overcame two more interceptions by Philip Rivers to improve to 2-1 for just the second time in Norv Turner’s five seasons as coach.

The Chiefs, who last year ended the Chargers’ four-year run as AFC West champions, got the ball back at their 33 with 1:26 left after Rivers was stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 34. Out of timeouts, Cassel threw for 23 yards to Leonard Pope to get into Chargers territory. On the next play, Cassel, under pressure and backpedaling, threw the ball right to the blitzing Weddle, who signed a $40 million contract in the offseason.

Although he was blitzing, Weddle said he read that it was a screen play, with running back Dexter McCluster as the intended receiver, so he backed up.

“I knew something was up,” Weddle said. “That’s why I stopped. I knew the ball was coming my way. I read the play, read the quarterback and he threw it right there.”

Said Cassel: “It was a screen pass. You try to keep your head downfield. When I swung back around I thought I could get it in there to Dexter. Obviously it’s one I’d like to have back.”

McCluster thought the Chiefs could make a big play on the screen.

“I thought he was blitzing, but at the last second he saw it and backed up, which led him to the interception,” he said.

The Chiefs looked awful in the first half but the Chargers let them hang around.

Kansas City didn’t get a first down until its opening drive of the second half, when Cassel threw a 4-yard TD pass to Dwayne Bowe to pull to 10-7.

The Chargers responded with an 80-yard drive capped by Mathews’ run to the right side for a 10-point lead.

After the teams traded field goals, the Chiefs pulled to 20-17 when Cassel found Pope on a 1-yard scoring pass with 4:58 to play.

The Chiefs were out of timeouts, and all the Chargers had to do was run out the clock. They went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 34, and Rivers was stopped to give the Chiefs a final chance.

Mathews ran 21 times for 98 yards. Rivers was 24 of 38 for 266, his lowest total of the season. Cassel was 17 of 24 for 176 yards, two touchdowns and the one INT.

Rivers has thrown two interceptions in each of the first three games. Kendrick Lewis picked off Rivers and returned it 50 yards. The Chiefs got 15 more yards for unsportsmanlike conduct after a referee ran into a Chargers player on the sideline who was too close to the field. The Chiefs got to the San Diego 11 before a holding penalty pushed them back, and Ryan Succop was wide right on a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Brandon Flowers had the other interception for Kansas City, along with a 43-yard return. He hurt his right knee on the play.

“Certainly I need to play better, and I’m going to work like crazy to do that,” Rivers said. “But 2-1 is what’s important.”

Rivers also fumbled on San Diego’s second drive, but center Nick Hardwick recovered. Two plays later, Mathews scored on a 2-yard run.

“We’re not in sync in terms of playing the entire game with the rhythm that we’d like. That’s going to come,” Turner said.

Nick Novak kicked field goals of 35 and 41 yards for the Chargers. Succop kicked a 33-yarder for the Chiefs.

— Associated Press —

The Detroit Lions are off to a fast start that has them looking as if they could be the breakout team some expect this season.

Matthew Stafford threw two of his four touchdown passes to Calvin Johnson and Detroit routed the Kansas City Chiefs 48-3 Sunday, the largest margin of victory in franchise history.

Detroit broke its record set with a 44-0 win over the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995.

The Lions (2-0) led Kansas City 20-3 at halftime and 41-3 early in the fourth quarter after turning two fumbles into TDs.

The Chiefs (0-2) lost more than just the game, coming off a 34-point loss at home to Buffalo.

Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles was carted off the field midway through the first quarter with an injured left knee. Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry and tight end Tony Moeaki are already on injured reserve with knee injuries.

The Chiefs also set a team record, one they’re not proud of after winning 10 games and the AFC West last season.

Kansas City lost its first two games by a combined margin of 79 points, the worst scoring differential to start a season for the Chiefs since losing the first two games of the 2007 season by 27 points, according to STATS.

Matt Cassel was 15 of 22 for 133 yards with three interceptions and a fumble. Dwayne Bowe had five receptions for 101 yards, providing the only offensive spark the team had without its star running back, who ran for 1,467 yards last season.

Detroit, meanwhile, had plenty of options on offense.

Stafford was 23 of 39 for 294 yards and four TDs — one short of his career high — and avoided mistakes after throwing an interception on the opening drive.

Jahvid Best accounted for 123 yards and two scores. Johnson caught two touchdown passes for the second straight week and Nate Burleson had seven receptions for 93 yards.

Detroit’s Jason Hanson kicked two field goals in the first half, playing in his NFL-record 297th game with the same team.

Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews played 296 games with the Houston-Tennessee franchise and Darrell Green was in 295 with the Washington Redskins.