Five Reasons The Kansas City Chiefs Will Win On Monday Night
Sep 14, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
1. Jamaal Charles Should Be Back In Action
As I sit writing this, Jamaal Charles has officially been labeled as “probable” for the Monday night match up with the Patriots. The Chiefs could have easily listed Charles as “questionable” if they were at all uncomfortable with Charles playing. I read this to mean that unless Charles suffers a set back in warm ups, he should indeed see action in this game. The Chiefs may not want to over work him is his first game back from an ankle injury, so I wouldn’t expect JC to have 32 carries like Knile Davis did last week against Miami. None the less, having KC’s best playmaker (and most talented player, period) available is a huge plus for the Chiefs.
Last week the Chiefs found ways to utilize three different running backs in Davis (32 carries for 132 yards and a TD), Cyrus Gray (4 carries for 18 yards and a TD), and Joe McNight (6 receptions for 64 yards and 2 TDs). Don’t be surprised if Davis leads the Chiefs in carries again but Charles is on the field on a regular basis. Charles could play a role similar to the one McNight did last week, but with a few more touches. Even if Jamaal is only 80% of his regular self he is still better than most of the RBs in the NFL.
After basically ignoring the run game all together in the season opener against the Titans, Andy Reid seems to have had a revelation that the Chiefs must run the football in order to give themselves the best chance to win. After only 11 running back carries against the Titans, they had 26 against the Broncos, and then 38 last week in the win over Miami. The Chiefs will want to continue that trend against the Patriots and having Jamaal Charles back will be a huge plus. If Andy Reid can replicate the great offensive play calling from last week with JC on the field the Chiefs offense should be hard to deal with.