Kansas City Chiefs Christmas Gifts

The Gift You Expected To Get (The Run Game)

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

This should surprise no one, but the Chiefs run game is good.

Early into the second game of the season though, it didn’t seem like that would be the case. After an uncharacteristic 2.7 yards per carry in the season opener, Jamaal Charles contributed only four yards on two attempts before being knocked out of week two’s match-up against the Broncos.

The dark cloud that descended after week one looked like it was about to get darker. And then Knile Davis proceeded to exemplify the ideal of “next man up.”  The second year running back out of Arkansas carried the ball 22 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns against Denver.

The next week, with Charles still out due to injury, Davis stepped up with a 132 yards of production and another touchdown against the Dolphins. Even when Charles returned the following week, Davis was able to contribute 107 yards on 16 carries in the Chiefs route of New England.

From that point on, Charles took over.

Though he missed what amounted to two games, and his coach has had to apologize for not utilizing him enough on multiple occasions, Charles is still set to have a 1,000+ yard season. He is currently sitting at 979 yards, leaving him in need of only 21 against the Chargers this weekend.  Charles has eclipsed that total in every game since returning from injury, including rushing for 95 yards when the Chiefs visited San Diego.

In fact, though this will not be Charles best statistical year, he is still among the top ten in the league in both total rushing yards and rushing yards per game. He is top five in the league in both yards per rush attempt and rushing touchdowns.

Both Charles and Davis have been amazing gifts this year.