Charlie Weis' Approach To The Kansas City Chiefs Running Backs

Clearly the two dominate story lines surround Matt Cassel and the Thomas Jones/Jamaal Charles setup. As for the latter, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Charlie Weis offered up a couple of interesting points when speaking to the media this afternoon.

On a couple of occasions, Weis referenced the grind of a 16-game season when talking about the running backs.

"When it's all said and done, a season is 16 games. It's not two games. So you have to plan for a marathon and not just that one game you're playing. Your ultimate goal is to win that game, that week but you have to look at the big picture as well and make sure you have all your guys thinking as front-line players."

And again later....

"You have to think of the big picture, the length of the season. You have to think about Week 7, 8, 12 and 14. You can't be just thinking about one game and one game only."

Perhaps this is a clue into the Chiefs thinking. Keeping a back like Charles fresh for the second half of the season. Or keeping them both fresher-than-normal all the way to the end. Going with a two-back system is definitely popular right now, likely because of that very reason.

Weis confirmed that Charles' offseason shoulder surgery isn't hampering him and said that he has evidence of each back running well to the inside and the outside. He said they're basically interchangeable from his perspective as the offensive coordinator.

Weis' words make sense in that the Chiefs want to be able to pound it out in those November and December games when weather really is an issue for the passing game. If this is the case, we can expect them to be splitting carries for the rest of the season (as if there were any doubt absent injury).