During this evening's broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs 16-10 triumph over the Oakland Raiders, CBS announcer Gus Johnson reported that he and his partner Steve Tasker visited with Jamaal Charles the night before.
Per Johnson, Charles told them, "I wanna be the first one that scores first."
As fate would have it, Charles indeed scored first on a 44 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Also the longest run of the season for the Chiefs.
18 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. He added four receptions for 14 yards. Hate to say it, but one game past the Larry Johnson era and I'm not missing him at all.
Here are a few things Mr. Charles did today:
- Rushed for over 100 yards for the second time in his career
- Rushed more than 10 times for the second time in his career
- Scored first career rushing touchdown on the longest rush of the season
And, for many of us, he makes us wonder if he can handle 15+ carries every game. Head coach Todd Haley has said before that he doesn't necessarily want Charles taking a lot of carries but if he continues to average over five yards per carry he may not have a choice.
The other two Chiefs running backs didn't have great days. Kolby Smith rushed nine times for only 12 yards. He had a first down run negated late in the fourth quarter because of a penalty. Dantrell Savage drew the ire of Haley with a dropped pass in the flats and a fumble on a return.