Kansas City Chiefs Run Game Continues To Impress

As the NFL slowly evolves into a passing league the Kansas City Chiefs continue to rush the ball at a high rate. Entering last week, the Chiefs were tops in the NFL (ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers) rushing the ball 57.2 percent of the time. They bumped their average slightly on Sunday rushing the ball on 45 of their 74 total plays.

Chiefs QB Matt Cassel is a beneficiary of that running game making his life a little easier. "Hopefully," Cassel said after Sunday's game, "as we move forward, these guys will continue to step up and play well for us. Jamaal is just an exceptional athlete and an exceptional player and we’re happy to have him on our team."

Chiefs G Ryan Lilja was spotted in the locker room after the game with his hand wrapped. He was inactive for the Bills game because of that injury but the Chiefs offensive line didn't miss a beat.

"Our offensive linemen are doing a great job of coming off the ball," Chiefs RB Thomas Jones said. "Our coaching staff was calling the plays that were working consistently. They weren't afraid to run the same play again and again."

That last line is really cool to hear. Calling the same play again and again is basically saying, 'You know what we're going to do but we're going to do it better than you.' No reason to get fancy with a group that has 738 rushing yards over the last three games.

The real star of the show slipped out of the locker room without talking to reporters. Jamaal Charles had a heck of a day rushing for 177 yards on 22 carries. His longest rush was just 32 yards so he was consistently beating the Bills with 5, 10 and 15 yard rushes.

"Jamaal Charles is a great running back," Jones told reporters after the game. "He's a great back. He's one of those kinds of guys that has great speed, but he has deceptive power and can break tackles. For me, it's just a pleasure to watch him. Sometimes when I'm on on the sidelines I'm kind of watching like a fan because of some of the things he does. He has a god-given ability. He had a great game. I was really happy and proud for him."

Jones says of course the Chiefs would have liked to see more touchdowns in this one but they were still able to control the game through their running attack.

It was a good day to be a Chiefs running back.