The Raiders' Tyrone Wheatley celebrates a fourth-quarter TD in front of the Chiefs' Lew Bush.(AP)

The victory lifted the Raiders to 5-1, giving them a commanding lead in the AFC West over Kansas City (3-3), which had won three in a row and blew a 10-point lead.

Oakland coach Jon Gruden said an "R-rated" conversation with his troubled young kicker last week may also have had something to do with his improvement.

"We basically cleared the air and I let him know that we're going to keep sending him out there," Gruden said. "I think he's going to be a great kicker for a long time."

Former Chiefs QB Rich Gannon drove the Raiders 64 yards in eight plays to set up Janikowski, who also missed a 59-yarder as time ran out in the first half.

"Rich Gannon made some plays out there," Chiefs center Tim Grunhard said. "He's running sideways and throwing the ball 50 yards. He really amazes me sometimes."

The Raiders tied it 17-all with a long drive aided by a gambling fourth-down pass by Gannon.

On fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 35 and the Chiefs all expecting a run, Gannon scrambled and hit Tim Brown for 32 yards to the 3. After a false-start penalty, Tyrone Wheatley caught Gannon's 7-yard pass in the end zone with 9:25 left, capping an 80-yard drive that took more than eight minutes.

"I thought we had him sacked, and then he throws up a duck that Tim Brown makes a great play on," Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards said.

"That's what Rich does. He's able to go out there and make something out of nothing."

Earlier in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs appeared to be driving for the go-ahead score when rookie wide receiver Sylvester Morris took a pass from Elvis Grbac and lost the ball at almost the same instant his knee hit the ground. The ball was recovered by Charles Woodson on the Oakland 12 with 7:09 left.

The Chiefs' challenge of a fumble was not upheld, triggering thunderous booing from the sellout crowd who watched the replay of the extremely close play on the video board.

"I was totally surprised when they said it was a fumble," Morris said. "I felt my knee touch (the ground). Nothing I can do about it."

Tight end Tony Gonzalez helped the Chiefs take the early lead with several leaping catches and totaled seven receptions for 100 yards.

Gonzalez made his first leaping catch of the game on an 11-yard gainer to get the Chiefs started on their 17-point third quarter.

Todd Peterson, signed at mid-week to replace Pete Stoyanovich, missed a 44-yard attempt in the first quarter but connected from 27 yards with 6:38 left in the half, making it 7-3.

John Browning and Dan Williams combined to sack Gannon a few minutes later, and the Chiefs took over at midfield. In the ensuing five-play, 50-yard drive, Gonzalez had three catches for 46 yards, including a 14-yarder to put the Chiefs on top 10-7.

Late in the half, Grbac hit Derrick Alexander on consecutive plays for 17- and 16-yard gains. On third-and-10 from the 15, Gonzalez suckered the defense to follow him over the middle, leaving Tony Richardson all alone for the pass that gave the Chiefs a 17-7 halftime lead.

Gannon led a 14-play, 80-yard march on Oakland's first possession, capped by his 4-yard TD pass to Napoleon Kaufman.

Notes

• Oakland has won two straight in Kansas City after losing 11 consecutive games in Arrowhead Stadium from 1989 to 1999.
• Grbac has thrown touchdown passes in 12 consecutive games, tying Len Dawson for the second-longest streak in team history. Dawson also holds the record, 14 games from Oct. 3, 1965, to Oct. 8, 1966.
• Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who also owns the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer, was in Washington to watch the Wizards defeat the Chicago Fire 1-0 in the MLS Cup final.
• Oakland wide receiver Andre Rison, cut by the Chiefs in the preseason, was booed after each of his two catches.