KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
The Oakland Raiders are one of four teams this weekend that will play their 14th straight game without a week off.
Two of those teams won't play any more games this season beyond Sunday.
That means either the Raiders are in a groove and wouldn't benefit from a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs or they could use a break as much as any of the 12 teams that make the playoffs.
The Raiders can earn a first-round bye by beating Kansas City on Saturday or by losing and receiving some help from one or more teams.
Coach Bill Callahan implemented safeguards against his players getting too fatigued down the stretch and experiencing another late-season meltdown long before the prospect of the Raiders earning a bye surfaced.
"[Everybody] said we were going to fade," wide receiver Tim Brown said Tuesday. ""You guys can't play in December.""
Oakland lost its final three regular-season games last season and got knocked from the playoffs in an AFC divisional semifinal game.
Brown and many of his teammates cite Callahan's prudent approach to practice and conditioning as a key ingredient in their winning three of four December games and six of their past seven this season.
Callahan said his insistence on resting older players such as free safety Rod Woodson on a regular basis and scaling back practices in recent weeks is validated by their high-level performance in games.
"What you see on Sunday and what's displayed in the nature of how guys are coming out of the [locker room] tunnel is a very energized and very physical group of players that are excited about game day," Callahan said. "They are not worn out, they're fresh, they're stimulated, they're energized."
The players drove home that point in Oakland's 28-16 win over Denver on Sunday.
"You can see the finishing effort at the close of the game," Callahan said, "And you can see the energy throughout and the physicality of it.
"So there is no doubt in my mind that we're on the right track and we're utilizing the right approach. Guys are fresh for these types of games late in the year for a veteran squad."
One would be hard pressed to find a perceptible drop-off in the production of players such as Brown, 36, quarterback Rich Gannon, 37, Woodson, 37, receiver Jerry Rice, 40, defensive end Trace Armstrong, 37, and outside linebacker Bill Romanowski, 36.
Gannon passed for a touchdown, ran for another and completed two-thirds of his passes Sunday.
Woodson set up a TD with his league-leading seventh interception.
Armstrong intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and had three sacks.
Romanowski hit as hard as any player on the field and knocked from the game Denver quarterback Brian Griese. Brown caught six passes.
All that serves as proof positive why the Raiders' Super Bowl aspirations aren't dependent upon them getting a week off, Brown said.
Sure, injured players such as cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tory James would benefit from an extra week to heal, but the Raiders showed they are capable of playing well with and without them.
"Obviously a bye week would be great," Brown said, "but Callahan has really done a great job of cutting back the schedule as far as on the field practice time.
"The last three or four weeks we've gone into the game feeling pretty good about ourselves as far our physical bodies. We're never going to turn down a couple days off, no doubt about that. It'd be nice, but we can't really think about that right now."