Charles Still Showing He's the Best Player on the Chiefs

by Joel Thorman on Dec 13, 2009 6:06 PM CST in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign

Lost in the Kansas City Chiefs 16-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills was Jamaal Charles' incredible day, possibly his best as a Chief. Charles recorded a touchdown for the fifth consecutive game. Before he became the featured back, the Chiefs hadn't scored a rushing touchdown all season.

We asked Charles if there was any sort of silver lining in the Chiefs loss today.

"No, because we still lost the game," he said after the game. "It would've been better if we had won the game. If I had more rushing yards, maybe we could have won the game."

The Chiefs as a team ran the ball 26 times and Charles took 20 of those carries for 143 yards. On top of that, he caught seven of eight balls thrown his way for another 38 yards.

The big one, of course, was a 76 yard scamper that put six points on the board. It was the longest run by a Chief in nearly 10 years to the day (12/12/99) and the seventh longest in franchise history.

"We ran a perfect play and I just took it to the house," Charles told us.

Bills head coach Perry Fewell said, "They caught me in the blitz and it was a bad call." I had some tendencies, I thought, on them [I thought I could predict what they were going to do] and they caught me."

Charles said that he didn't know if he was going to score when he got into space because the Bills had a few fast players as well. Standing next to me, the HOFer, Len Dawson, then said, "But you raced against [Usain] Bolt."

"Yeah, I did," Charles responded. "All I wanted to do was make a play and get the team and the fans back into the game."

Charles said the coaching staff had a plan to give him plenty of carries, which is part of the reason he wasn't back there returning kicks.

"They're just trying to get me ready to run the ball more and get ready and focused on just trying to be a running back. I think it worked today, but I still would have gone in on special teams to help my team out."

While Charles said he and the rest of his teammates were "sad because it's another loss", he's glad to be given the opportunity that, frankly, he probably should have been given at the beginning of the season.

"It's another opportunity to show what kinda of player I am," he said. "I'm a physical player and I can run the ball just like Chris Johnson does."

Tweet Comment 26 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Had we committed to the run early on

I think he could have gained 175-200 yards. Unfortunately we decided to pass on nearly every down early on, losing the ball on some critical 3rd downs.

Chiefs have 99 Problems and Cassel is ONLY one.

by jk86 on Dec 13, 2009 6:13 PM CST reply actions

Give him the ball in space early next week

Then we can set up a little play action here and there. But we should stick with the run…….

by Hail2DaChiefs on Dec 13, 2009 6:15 PM CST reply actions

this is another reason I hated lj

I really really wanted charles to get some touches…finally he showed with that run that at any second he can just bust one the distance…and honestly, thats my comparison, a lil chris johnson, a lil barry sanders…pass blocks, catches passes….he had….2 or 3 plays called back, one reception, and another big run…I watched chris johnson, honestly hes amazing BUT, he has insane space…if you give charles that kind of room hes just as dominant in my opinion…or has a chance to be,

i agree with those that feel we shouldve used the run more, and earlier…it was a close game, not sure why we felt the need to throw all over the place…poor cassel got so many tip picks…oh well

by SDChief on Dec 13, 2009 7:08 PM CST reply actions

agreed

this is what i was trying to say a few weeks ago, and there were some doubters…
check it out: http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2009/11/30/1179550/jamaal-charlesa-chris-johnson

LJ is gone... Long live King Charles!!

by Vancouver Chiefs fan on Dec 13, 2009 7:19 PM CST up reply actions

I would agrue the opposite

I noticed that he wasn’t getting very good distance on many of his punts. Especially the punt of 28 yards giving the Bills excellent field position. It was a touchdown game at this point. Luckily, they missed the field goal. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. What a disappointing game.

by JayMS3 on Dec 13, 2009 8:40 PM CST up reply actions

He was lucky to get the kicks off today.

Seems like we couldn’t block even in the kicking game today. At least that’s what it sounded like to me on the radio.

by Archyrr on Dec 14, 2009 12:53 AM CST up reply actions

not today

by kcstevesportsfan on Dec 13, 2009 8:23 PM CST up reply actions

Wasnt he looking just to see whos chasing him or something?

When you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

by NJChieffan16 on Dec 13, 2009 7:26 PM CST reply actions

Yeah he was

But it’s still pretty badass if you ask me.

Arrowhead Pride

by Joel Thorman on Dec 13, 2009 8:20 PM CST up reply actions

even more so.... seeing what speed he needed to shift to to still get a TD

by kcstevesportsfan on Dec 13, 2009 8:24 PM CST up reply actions

Oh and Charles is frickin amazing. He said they coulda won if he had more rushing yards. Hes blaming himself now.

When you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

by NJChieffan16 on Dec 13, 2009 7:30 PM CST reply actions

That is one hell...

of a great team attitude! Gotta love the guy!

by 5280ChiefsFan on Dec 13, 2009 7:45 PM CST up reply actions

not a WR attitude?

by kcstevesportsfan on Dec 13, 2009 8:25 PM CST up reply actions

Nope...

WR can be hit and miss week to week. But if you feed your RB the ball more than a 1/3 of your total plays, they could have run the Bills back to Buffalo.

I like his attitude. We need some of this right now. Someone has to step up, fight for yardage and infect the rest of the team with a purpose.

by Falcon58 on Dec 14, 2009 12:59 PM CST up reply actions