With 7:55 remaining in Sunday's loss to the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles took a meaningless handoff to the right side of the Chiefs offensive line before being dropped by LB Rolando McClain for a one-yard loss. Charles wouldn't carry the ball again the rest of the game.
I didn't think twice about it but that carry was nearly historic.
As many of you know, Charles was chasing Jim Brown's NFL record for yards per carry in a season. In 1963, Brown ran for 1,863 yards on 291 carries. He averaged 6.402(061855670103) yards per carry. That's an NFL record and, after Charles' 14 carries for 87 yards on Sunday, it remains an NFL record.
As Josh Looney of KCChiefs.com points out, Charles held the record before that final carry. At that time, he had 229 carries for 1,468 yards on the season for an average of 6.410(480349344978) yards per carry. But that one-yard loss moved his final numbers to 230 carries for 1,467 yards for an average of 6.378(260869565217).
Incredible.
"I was just going out there trying to get a win," Charles told us after the game. "I don't worry about that. I love making history and I love going out there and doing the right thing for my team and that's what I tried to do but, hey, the Raiders came out and they won."
Houston Texans RB Arian Foster has also put up 152 yards rushing against the Indianapolis Colts so far (late in the fourth quarter) so unless he loses 120 yards or so, Charles will lose out on the rushing title as well.
"I'm disappointed we lost but, hey, we gotta bounce back," Charles said. "We have another week, and the Raiders don't. "