Chiefs-Chargers: Five Early Thoughts Before Sunday’s Game
By Ben Nielsen
Oct 5, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Levi
MAGIC NUMBER 20
August and September were a pain for Jamaal Charles in a very literal sense. An injury to his foot while moving out of his training camp dorm room led to him receiving only nine snaps in the preseason. Nine snaps plus a battered foot limited his touches in week one (we assume that’s why anyway) before Charles sprained/bruised his ankle against the Denver Broncos is week two.
When Charles returned for the Monday night game against New England he suffered leg cramps and dealt with more soreness to his ankle. It seems Charles has had a tough time just getting to the field in one piece this season.
However, Charles did leave the San Francisco game with a clean bill of health and has had a full week to let his body heal from the random injuries he’s occurred. Knock on wood, this should be the first week Charles participates full in practice and doesn’t have to spend any time in the trainer’s room.
A fresh Charles plus a motivated Andy Reid to get him the ball should mean good things for the Chiefs offense. And when Charles gets the ball frequently good things generally happen. In the Andy Reid era, the Chiefs are 9-1 when Jamaal Charles touches the ball at least 20 times. In that same span, the Chiefs are 11-3 in games when at least 20 plays (pass targets plus rushing attempts) go towards Charles. Get the ball to Charles at least 20 times and the Chiefs are going to win almost every time.
Given Charles has the chance to break the franchise’s all-time rushing yards for a career record this week, one would hope he gets plenty of opportunities to make that happen. And given that he’s fresh, that should mean bad things for the Chargers.