Raiders Notebook: Persistence in running game paid off against Chiefs

Raiders RB Darren McFadden had a solid day in Oakland's win Sunday over the Chiefs. The Raiders were able to wear down Kansas City by continuing to pound the ball, and McFadden piled up 97 yards of his 114-yard total in the second half.

Raiders RB Darren McFadden rushed for 97 yards in the second half on Sunday as Oakland wore down the Chiefs en route to a 26-16 win. (US Presswire)

By the end of the first half Sunday against Kansas City, Raiders running back Darren McFadden had rushed for only 17 yards on 12 carries.

McFadden finished with 114 yards on 29 carries after a 97-yard second half in the Raiders' 26-16 win.

Was that big second half the result of the Raiders' wearing down the Chiefs with their zone-blocking scheme?

"I think that's what you expect with any running game," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said Monday. "The way we're built is, when the score dictates that we can stay with the run and be consistent with the run and keep pounding and keep pounding, we believe that eventually those runs that are one and two yards in the first half, they become 10-, 12-, 20-, 30-yard runs in the second half.

"And  when you're playing with a lead, you're able to continue running the ball. That's what makes Darren so effective is that it takes one play. And I thought we did a nice job of staying with it at the end of the day. I thought we were effective."

Allen said he'd like to get the running game untracked faster.

"But at the end of the day, when we needed to run it and we needed to close out a football game and win a football game we were able to do it."

Victory Monday: Allen gave his players a day off Monday, a decision he made in the locker room at Arrowhead Stadium after Sunday's victory.

"You just got to look at your team and where they're at," Allen said. "There's times during the season where players need a mental break and a physical break. I felt like, we had the bye, we've gone through three straight tough weeks, it was time to give them a little bit of a mental break. So they'll be back in here Wednesday. There were a lot of them in here today already looking at the tape."

Injury report: Backup running back Mike Goodson suffered what Allen described as "a little bit of a turf toe" injury Sunday against the Chiefs. Starting center Stefen Wisniewski hurt an ankle, and LB Keenan Clayton re-injured a shoulder.

"We're a little bit banged up, offensive line-wise," Allen said. "It's a lot of bumps and bruises. (Goodson) is probably the biggest one we're concerned with. We'll see where he's at. Keenan Clayton's shoulder, he tried to play in the game and made it through about half and just wasn't able to continue on after that.

"I'm hopeful that it's not going to cause any of them to miss any game time, but we'll see how practice goes this week."

Back to work: Starting cornerback Ron Bartell will practice Wednesday for the first time since suffering a broken shoulder blade in the season-opener against San Diego. Bartell was placed on the new short-term injured reserve list. He became eligible to practice Saturday and is eligible to play Nov. 11 at Baltimore.

Allen said Bartell should have "no limitations" in practice because of his injury. "The only limitation that I see is just his physical conditioning as far as being ready to practice football for any significant length of time."

Curry update: Linebacker Aaron Curry (knees) will begin his third week of practice Wednesday since returning from the PUP list. The Raiders have until the following Wednesday to either activate Curry, release him or place him on injured reserve.

"We'll practice him again this week and see where we are at the end of the week," Allen said.

Allen said "there was a real thought about" activating Curry for the Kansas City game. "The thing that we have to consider is it's not just about activating Curry but somebody else has to come off the roster. It's not as simple a decision as it might seem."

Trade winds? The NFL's trade deadline is Thursday -- the NFL moved it back two days because of Hurricane Sandy -- and the Raiders "will look and see what's out there" in the market, Allen said.

"We're not going to close all our doors to anything that might be available," Allen said. "But who knows what could happen over the next couple of days."

Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter @CBSRaiders.