Earlier this week I said the Thomas Jones vs. Jamaal Charles argument in Kansas City may be one of the most overhyped stories.
But I'm full of hype so we're going to talk about it.
After Thomas Jones got the start against the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first two preseason games, it was Jamaal Charles who kicked things off in the third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Charles got the start but, well, things didn't go as planned.
On the first play from scrimmage, he fumbled and the Eagles recovered. Turnover. Two plays later and the Eagles were up 7-0.
Here's where I think this gets somewhat interesting...
On the next series, Todd Haley sent Charles back out there again. In fact, he was the featured back in the next two possessions. Think back to this time last year when Charles wasn't exactly on Haley's good side because of fumbling issues.
Early in the season, Charles was actually deactivated (week two) and a big part of that was due to fumbling the football. For Haley to send him back out there after the fumble is a good sign for Charles, I think.
Charles ended with 40 yards on six carries out-playing Jones for the third consecutive week.
Jones' final tally was 30 yards on 10 carries. That included an 11-yard run so you take that out and, yeah, things don't look so hot. However, that 11-yard run was also for six points, something Charles did not do in this game.
Charles flashed some big play ability against the Eagles. He had a long rush of 20 yards and a pass reception for 20 yards as well. He was close to breaking a 70+ yard run at one point but was brought down hard on the play and exited the game.
The Chiefs haven't said anything on Charles (I didn't see him after the game).
Here's the bottomline in all of this: For three straight preseason games, Charles has outplayed Jones. It's not even really close. Haley says he has to "to go by what I see" so maybe that's why Charles got the start.