Probably about six or seven weeks into the 2010 season, Kansas City Chiefs fans started talking about Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones both rushing for over 1,000 yards on the season. Our man Jamaal has already done that. He's got 1,177 rushing yards on the season. That breaks down to 90.5 yards rushing per game.
Thomas Jones, even though he hasn't hit 1,000 yards, is having an excellent season as well. He's got 766 rushing yards on the year, which breaks down to 59 yard average per game. He needs 234 yards to get to 1,000 yards.
Jones will need to average 78 yards per game for the rest of the season to get there. Will he make it?
Reasons why and why not are after the jump.
As much as I'd love to see it, I don't think that's going to happen for a few reasons. First, that's just a lot of yards for an older running back to gain in any three game stretch, let alone the last three games of a long season. Second, Dexter McCluster appears to be fully healthy, which means more touches for him. That probably translates into fewer touches for Thomas Jones instead of taking carries away from Jamaal Charles.
One more obstacle is that the last game of the season is against the Oakland Raiders. Last time the Chiefs played the Raiders, Thomas Jones carried the ball 19 times. For 32 yards. That puts even more emphasis on the Rams and Titans games.
Finally, getting two backs to 1,000 yards in the same season is rare. Only six teams in NFL history have accomplished this feat. If the Chiefs did it, that would be pretty freakin' amazing.
I do have one positive for Jones in his quest for 1,000 yards - He had 302 yards in Weeks 6, 7 and 8. That is well above the 234 yards he needs to hit 1,000 over the next three games. He's definitely capable of hitting the 234 number.
So Chiefs fans, will we end up with two 1,000 yard rushers on the team?