KANSAS CITY — The recent history of the Chiefs-Raiders rivalry might be different if two years ago Kansas City hadn’t drafted safety Jarrad Page.

Page altered three of four games against Oakland with interceptions, two coming in the final minute to close out narrow Chiefs victories. He didn’t get one when the Raiders came to Arrowhead Stadium last November, and Oakland snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series.

So if you’re looking for crucial elements in Sunday’s Chiefs-Raiders game at Arrowhead, forget about all the normal things like running games and turnovers and focus on one thing: Is Page able to get an interception?

“I really don’t know what happens when we play the Raiders,” said Page, who grew up in San Leandro, Calif., a few miles from Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum. “It is a big game for me because I know everybody back home is watching, even if it’s out here in Kansas City. Everybody’s watching on TV. Going home, all of my friends and family are at the game.

“It’s a big game for me and for this team. I prepare like I do every other week. I’ve just been fortunate to be able to make some plays against these guys.”

In Page’s first game against the Raiders two years ago, he made an end-zone interception with 32 seconds left and preserved a 17-13 Chiefs win. Later that season, he had two end-zone interceptions against Oakland, helping the Chiefs to a 20-9 victory

Last year, his interception with 46 seconds left sealed Kansas City’s 12-10 win. The Raiders later kept his hands off the ball and wound up with a 20-17 victory.

Page has seven career interceptions, including two against Indianapolis and one against Houston. Otherwise, he’s done most of his good work against the Raiders.

“When you play against a team twice each year, you just get used to their receivers. You get used to their system and what they like to do, and that enables you to play their routes better,” Chiefs cornerback Patrick Surtain said. “Going against a team for the first time, everything is new to you.”

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, a cornerback during his playing days, usually victimized the New York Giants. Playing for Philadelphia, he pulled off one of the more famous plays in NFL history against the Giants when he recovered a fumble as New York was trying to run out the clock in the final seconds of a 1978 game and returned it for a touchdown to give the Eagles the win.

He also had seven of his 33 career interceptions against the Giants.

“I felt I was probably going to get my hands on some balls (against New York),” Edwards said. “I just had to make sure if I got them, I’d have to catch them.

“It’s a funny deal. There’s just certain teams that you feel like you’re going to have a good day (against them). When you walk out for warm-ups, you feel like you’re going to have a good day.”

So it will be on Sunday for Page, who recovered a fumble and almost made a diving interception in a 17-10 loss last week at New England .

“Somebody’s got to make a play,” he said. “If you don’t make some plays as a defense, you’re going to lose. When I’m out there, I always try to be that guy, if it’s possible. I dropped a pick against New England. I dived for it and I dropped it. That type of thing makes me mad. I leave it alone when I’m on the field because I have to continue to play, but that’s what we’re out there for, to make plays. When you get the chance like I had last week, you have to take advantage.

“I’ve been practicing for that. I hope it comes to me again this time.”

That’s what the Chiefs have come to count on when they play against the Raiders.

“It seems like all of the games with them come right down to the end,” Surtain said. “We don’t want it to come down to the fourth quarter, but if it does, we need him to make another play.”