Raiders key matchup No. 3: Myers vs. Berry

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first part in a series that spotlights three Raiders-Chiefs matchups to watch Sunday, 1:25 p.m. (CBS), at the O.co Coliseum

Raiders TE Brandon Myers vs. Chiefs SS Eric Berry

Tale of the tape
Myers (83): 6-foot-3, 256 pounds, fourth season, Iowa
Berry (29): 6-foot, 211 pounds, third season, Tennessee

ALAMEDA -- Two games ago, Brandon Myers caught a franchise record-tying 14 catches, equaling Tim Brown's 15-year-old mark, against the Cleveland Browns.

Last week, against Denver, Myers caught one pass.

"That's just the game," said Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer. "Some guys get a hot hand one week and there's a lot of plays called their way because of certain matchups, because of certain schemes. And some weeks you're called on to block, or called on for the run game. So it's not anything we lost any confidence, obviously, in Brandon at all. It has nothing to do with anything like that.

"It's just, some games your number's called more often than others and it was just of those weeks where he was blocking a little bit more and they had shown some things where they weren't going to let him catch 14 balls."

Neither, it seems, would the Chiefs want to allow such production out of Myers, whose 70 receptions thus far leads all AFC tight ends and is the most by a Raiders tight end since Todd Christensen caught 95 balls in 1986 and the most by any Raiders pass catcher since Jerry Porter had 76 in 2005.

And for what it's worth, 33 of Myers' catches have come in the fourth quarter.

Berry, who was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2010 but suffered a season-ending injury in the Chiefs' season-opener in 2011, has started all 13 games this season. As the strong safety, he figures to draw the assignment of covering Myers.

"When you look back earlier in the year, they matched him up with Antonio Gates against San Diego," said Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp. "He is a very good safety, in my opinion, who is not just one dimensional. Sometimes safeties can be a box safety or a deep safety. He plays both well. He has great range to play the middle safety. But he has no problem playing linebacker.

"In fact, in their sub packages, he will play the linebacker the majority of the time and he’ll stick his nose in there. He’s good against the run and he can cover a tight end really well."

The experience of sitting out basically an entire season has not gone over well with Berry, who has 65 tackles (53 solo), with six for a loss, an interception and seven passes defensed. As a rookie, he led the Chiefs with four interceptions and also had two sacks.

"I would say, physically I was ready to go, I was in shape and stuff like that," he said of returning this year, in a conference call with Bay Area reporters. "It’s just, I lost all my game experience…I only had one year under my belt. So a lot of the stuff I had to go back, to certain game situations, what I could and could not do.

"Obviously, my role has changed a lot from my rookie year. I was more in the box as far as like, I don’t even know what to call the position. Just little stuff like that. As far as physically though, I felt I was back where I was supposed to be. But I just had to get that game experience, and I feel great now."

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