The Kansas City Chiefs have pulled quite the u-turn since the loss in their first game of the season against the now (2-5) Tennessee Titans, only having two close losses against the Brocos, and 49ers; as well as a big win against the Chargers. I remember watching the first game with my dad and thinking, “Wow, we may be in for a rough season.” The offense couldn’t get anything going and the Titans (no, not the Broncos) were cutting through our defense like a warm knife through butter.
To put things in perspective, Dexter McCluster (formerly a Chief) had better stats than Jamaal Charles, and Alex Smith was our leading rusher. Yea, I said it was hard to watch didn’t I? The good news is, even with all the injuries suffered throughout the season so far, many new faces on the team have stepped up to fill those gaps and help to erase that awful start. I wanted to take a minute to introduce a couple of the lesser known players who have really stood out to me this season and played a key role in the success the team has had so far.
Knile Davis
Okay, now most of us have heard of Knile Davis at this point. The Chiefs drafted him a couple years ago out of the University of Arkansas, and he has obviously played a huge role in the wins the Chiefs have had this season. Also if you have read my other articles, you probably have realized by now that i’m a pretty big Knile Davis enthusiast. I have to keep giving the guy props though, stepping into a starting position anywhere in the NFL is really, really hard. Nevertheless stepping into a starting role in the NFL to fill in for arguably the greatest running-back in your franchise’s history while he’s out with a bum ankle.
Oct 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Knile Davis (34) returns a kick off in the third quarter of the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Chiefs won 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
For most teams, if this were to happen they would have to rely on a variety of backs to add up to the workload of their injured star. As well as having to change the playbook around some to adjust to the skills of their other backs. With Davis, the Chiefs didn’t really have to change much of anything. He’s a big guy at 6 feet 225 pounds, so he has no problem running up the middle. However, he’s fast too so he can bounce things to the outside if needed, and on top of that he can catch.
I’m sure the Chiefs made minor adjustments with plays but they didn’t have to do anything drastic. They ran what looked like their normal playbook, and they actually seemed to run the ball more with Davis than they had with Charles. At the end of the day, throughout three games as a starter, Davis tallied up eighty carries for 343 yards and three touchdowns and is currently leading the team in rushing ( probably not for too much longer though). In my opinion, Knile Davis is batting 1.000.