Jamaal Charles Injury Could Signal End of an Era for Kansas City Chiefs
 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...as-city-chiefs


The Kansas City Chiefs didn't just lose a battle with the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, but with star running back Jamaal Charles suffering what appears to be a season-ending knee injury, the Chiefs might also have lost the war.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the team announced following the heartbreaking 18-17 loss that initial reports indicate Charles tore his right ACL in the third quarter, which would almost certainly spell an early end to the perennial Pro Bowler's eighth NFL season.

And considering Charles is by far the most electric player on an offense that lacks electricity, that would also spoil any hope the Chiefs might be able to fight back from a 1-4 start in the tough AFC West.

Charles wasn't just the best thing the Chiefs had going on offense, but he was pretty close to the only thing they had going for them on that side of the ball.

Checkdown-happy quarterback Alex Smith, who completed just 16-of-30 passes for 181 yards in Sunday's loss, has clear limitations, and top receiving options Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce are supposed to be key cogs but aren't the types of players who can carry an offense.

And while these types of situations can sometimes give life to backup running backs who shock the world, the Chiefs might not want to get their hopes up on Charcandrick West and Knile Davis, who had just 33 yards on nine carries in relief of the star on Sunday. West was undrafted out of Abilene Christian last year, while Davis has averaged just 3.4 yards per carry three years into his career.

Meanwhile, Charles entered Sunday's game averaging 5.2 yards per rushing attempt, which ranked second in football among 21 backs with at least 50 carries in the first four weeks.

More at the link talk's about a rebuild and if the chiefs should keep Reid.

the golden era

Let it die I'm glad the chiefs won't have a RB to lean on.

fyp

If you don't have a QB nothing matters. Until the Chiefs have a GM that tells Clark to sell out and get a QB nothing will change.

Draft one in the first round and the 3rd round. Sign a vet for back up duty. If said QB's suck, then do it again 3 years later. I don't care if the next Reggie White and Randy Moss are on the board. In the NFL QB IS ALL THAT MATTERS!

It affects both sides of the ball. Offense, its obvious, but the defense needs to believe in the QB as well, If they don't you get shit play like we have seen.

We are going to see Alex Smith start slinging it downfield next week. He no longer has Charles to bail him out on the dump offs. Here comes the Tom Brady version of Alex Smith!

The QB affects the defense directly - sometimes, the defense needs the offense to string a few 1st downs together just to get some rest.

You wanna know the biggest reason for this 'defensive collapse'??

How many 3 and outs has our offense had??

What's our total TOP for the season??

Those are directly attributable to the QB.

ROFL

Is the offensive line going to suddenly learn how to pass block too??

If they want to avoid doing a full rebuild, they need to fire the head coach and change over offensive personnel this offseason, rather than wait until the defense ages out.

But I don't expect Clark to do anything so aggressive.

One would hope a losing season of this magnitude should trigger an end of an era. One would hope.

If I'm JC, I'm sick of getting hurt for this team.

This is BS. They certainly CAN be the types if the QB could get them the ball on a regular basis.

Not sure I believe this. How was West in relief? Haven't heard many accolades for him today. I might be wrong

Yeah, but JC just doesn't strike me as that type of person.

Yep.

They can be superstars with a good QB.

I completely disagree-Jamaal Charles is a RARE bread of running back, very hard to replace. He also has turned into quite a pass receiver

However i do agree that we ALL worry every time he gets a handoff of getting hurt and that's because we know we have no other weapons and he is our ONLY saviour.

I don't believe he's done. He can come back next year and won't have to be the feature back when West is the man.

Yup.

Jamaal Charles is a surefire 1st ballot HOFer, not only the best RB in Chiefs history, but one of the best in NFL history.

He is the most complete RB in the NFL today.

I say "Bring it on"

Love Jamaal, but this era has SUCKED.

I'm not sure about that. If it were up to Chiefs fans, sure, he'd be a first ballot. If you look across the NFL, the only thing Charles gets a lot of notoriety for is his YPC, which is among the best in the history of the NFL among RBs. However, the naysayers will mention his lack of TDs and the fact that he's been injury prone and doesn't get a full work-load.

Oh and that obvious lack of a Super Bowl win is another thing that holds a lot of deserving players out.

Sooo...aaron Murray or chase Daniel?

That YPC avg isn't 'among' the best - it IS the best. By almost a half yard.

He did that over 8 years. And he caught a lot of TDs. And turned into a vicious blocker.

Not his fault he played the last 3 years under a moron coach who doesn't understand the role of the running game in football, in an era where players make more money than ever but don't feel like they should practice during the offseason or training camp, which causes more injuries on the whole.

And Barry Sanders never won a Super Bowl either.

Murray.

Daniel could **** around and win a few games.

If he played for a bigger market team, or one of the "Have's" instead of for a "Have -Not," none of that would matter. He doesn't, so it just might.

I heard an interview with Dick Vermeil once where he spoke about his plan to rebuild a team. He said you have to start with an elite LT and a solid QB. Then you build OLine and fill in the pieces. Hence his acquiring of Willie Roaf, Trent Green, Priest Holmes, and Eddie Kennison pretty quickly. This team sucks. No LT, no guard play, no QB, and one WR on offense.

One CB, one DE, and two NTs and LB's on defense. Other than that, it's all JAGs. This is a monumental rebuild coming or it's gonna be many many seasons of suck.

I agree that Alex Smith should be benched, and the Chiefs at this point have everything to gain and nothing to lose by going with Daniel/Murray... but a few things to consider:

1. Andy Reid is still the HC.

2. Alex Smith has a huge contract.

3. I think Chase Daniel will be a free agent next year.

I don't think they have the gonads to bench the highest paid QB is Chiefs' history. I think personal pride is going to get in their way until fans threaten to riot like we did with Pioli.

Pride.

If he is out for the season, he'll be back next year. This I am sure of.

Nope. How can he when we can't pass block ? Attempting to sling down field is 'just that' and will be on his arse even more.:rolleyes:

A large part of the line's problem is Smith.


He doesn't make a defense guess or pay for loading up the front.



**** him.

So is Charcandric West the starter or Knile Davis?

Hopefully West. West is running at 4 YPA and Davis isn't even at 3 is he?

EDIT: Davis is at 2.5 ypa... **** Davis.

I think you are being sarcastic as the entire second half yesterday proves that your statement won't happen.

They pretty much dropped the ball on the OL three years running, AS looks like he is flustered when the ball is snapped.

Another CB, and 2 Ol, and 2 Lbs, and 2 WRs, and yea QB we are SB ready.

Suck for Luck year

Charles ability to get small in the trenches with a mediocre line at best all of his career with the biggest ypc avg is very commendable but HOF worthy ? Nah. TDs to match, staying healthy and playing big in BIG playoff games and actually winning them would seal the deal in the HOF for Charles. But that has never happened for him unfortunately.:shake:

I hope this marks the end of the era of the Chiefs being over-reliant on a star RB to carry their entire offense (and team for that matter).

During this era, which I'll define as starting with Priest Holmes (2001 season) through this season with Charles, the Chiefs collective record is 103-130, including 0-4 in the playoffs.

Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, and Jamaal Charles were all great backs, but the Chiefs were too reliant on them at the expense of developing a franchise-caliber QB and a passing game that is necessary to win a Super Bowl in today's NFL (those who point to Seattle, underestimate the value of Russell Wilson).

Even with Trent Green... who put up great #'s, he was still part of an offense that relied on Priest Holmes/Larry Johnson with a passing game that was almost exclusively based on the playaction pass.

It is time to stop over-relying on the most fragile position with the shortest shelf life in all of sports (RB), and finally make it a priority as a franchise to invest/develop in a legit franchise QB and a 21st century passing game.

Thanks for the trash 9ers

I think it would be a mistake for them to cave to fan threats. CP "fans" are like petulant children who threw a temper tantrum to get their way. Now they think they can get their way every time by throwing a new temper tantrum. Clark Hunt and the Chiefs should do what they feel is best for the team and not let temper tantrums from an internet site run the team.

Pass protection was fine yesterday. An average QB blows the Bears out yesterday.

Yeah....because they've proven that they know what's best for the team. :rolleyes:

Hey!!

They "restored the roar", didn't they??

What do you expect - a consistently competitive team or sumpin'??

ROFL

Can't wait to start seeing these comments:



Alex Smith would have turned it around this season, but Charles got injured. Alex will be awesome next year with a healthy Charles back!
#nextseason #ilovealexsmith #goreid #chiefs #ilovefrontbutt #tailgating

The second coming of Matt Casselberry. Aren't we privileged.

He is amazing and absolutely more talented than a lot of backs that are already in the Hall, but I highly doubt he gets in.

Orthopedic surgeon tweeted that the chance of tearing an ACL in football is 1 in 1750. If you've torn an ACL....you've got a 1 in 33 chance of tearing the opposite ACL.

He just doesn't have the numbers at this point.

Playing the game is overrated.

The BBQ in the parking lot is always good.

I'm still holding onto hope.

LCL sprain. Nothing major.

West averaged 4.4 yards per carry yesterday and looked good in relief.

The ground game should be the least of their worries.

I agree. West will be just fine.

I think West is gonna end up being really good.

West is shifty and patient.

He just looks right. We will see if he can handle the 8-9 man boxes throughout the game and get no help from the play calls or QB.

Think back to Thurman Thomas. Smooth hands in the passing game, knows how to cut and shift to force the defender into making a tough tackle, and good open-field speed once he gets to the 2nd level. Unlike Charles, however, the O-line will need to block for him.

Charles has now had his second injury to the same knee, and will turn 30 next year. It's probably time to consider that when this team is next ready to compete, Charles is unlikely to be the feature back.

But feature backs are getting rarer and rarer these days. If you have a quality line, RBBC isn't going to hold you back.

There's no reason to spend higher round draft picks on running backs these days. Fix the oline, plug in some UDFAs or mid/low round picks and go.

Charles tore his left ACL in 2011.

Yesterday, he likely tore his right ACL.

My mistake. In any case, two major knee injuries.

That's great and all, but spending a first on a QB in the first just to pick one in the first isn't a sure fire way to ensure that you just picked John Elway.

If you remember, Alex Smith was a first round QB. And, at the college level, he was a better QB on the field than any of the potential first round talents in the 2016 draft. Truth.

You take the best player available. You don't take a QB because the casual fan thinks you need to take a first round QB.

In fact, in the modern era (since 2000) the vast majority of first round QB's have been complete busts. Even one of the heroes of CP, Matt Stafford, just got benched this past week because he's been nothing but terrible for the majority of his career.

I have no doubt that Dorsey will pick a QB when one is there that fits his parameters and is higher on the board than other players. In the first 2+ seasons, he's completely revamped the position, bringing in Smith and Daniel, signing Bray as a rookie and drafting Murray.

No, none of them were a first round pick, but neither was Joe Montana, Tom Brady, etc. However, Brady Quinn, Tim Tebow, Jamarcus Russell, Blaine Gabbert, Josh Freeman, Vince Young, Matt Leinhart, Kyle Boller, etc., were.

This complete and utter fixation on what round a guy gets picked needs to slow it's roll.

What they do need to do is really focus on transition this off season, particularly in the draft, and make the necessary steps to get a guy who they feel will be a guy who can start progressing into a starter within a year or two. I don't know if that's Murray, who did have a stellar college career at Georgia, or if it's a player in the upcoming next two drafts.

But Dorsey hasn't shied away from the position whatsoever.

Smith was as good as it's been over the past three seasons (one can make the argument that passing on Bridgewater but he's not been overly stellar the past two years, basically averaging a pick per TD while showing average/medial level NFL game skills at best) in terms of getting a 2-14 ship righted. However, he is struggling right now and a move needs to be made in terms of moving forward at the position.

Smith is struggling during games right now and I don't think that the problems are necessarily with the offensive line versus Smith himself. You think you know what Daniel is, but he's only been given a few chances to really start in an NFL game. Give him a shot. Also, maybe, with the team at 1-4, it's time to see what they have in Murray. He's in year two and it would be a good opportunity to see if he has what it takes to be a NFL level QB. If he doesn't show the potential, they need to address the position in next several drafts each draft to make sure that they get someone in who will eventually get to the level of top 15 NFL starting QB.

But that doesn't mean blowing a first on the position just to blow a first on the position because some dipshit draftnik site lists a dude in their top 3.

We almost had Manziel. Truth is the Browns moved right in front of us to get him.

Manziel under Reid would have been majical. I know a lot don't like Manziel but he got drafted by the Browns where drafted QB's go to die.

Reid may have utilized his talents and not tried to change him and a spectacular career would have developed before our very eyes.

Hog is on a roll.

I hate to be so cynical, but CHunt sees this strictly as business. And even when they suck, business is good.

He already has your money for 2015. Plus, he gets to take his wife on that nice European Vacation he promised her, so he can do that and write it off.

They will play Alex Smith until the O-Line gets his spleen lacerated again, just like last year. When they're paying a guy that kind of $, he's going to play, no matter how much he sucks. They'll literally play him until the year is over, or he gets injured and can't go.

They'll play him again next year, because they've already committed to paying him.

They'll draft a token QB in like the 4th or 5th round just for face time, but I'd be willing to bet you their first pick will be offensive line, probably another tackle, and the other picks will be defensive backs and interior line. If they pick any skill position guys, it will be fourth round or later. They might spend a third on a running back, since Charles has had two major knee injuries now.

The Chiefs seem pretty complacent with being mediocre. And they have been for quite some time now.

If they are going to stick with Smith next year, I'd hope they draft o-line, because we sort of need to fix this aids infested dumpster fire before a new QB gets here

Fine at adding fuel to the dumpster fire!

Probably right but I won't be committed. **** that. Smith is garbage. Career ending injury would be awesome. I hate to be that guy but I'm so sick of retread garbage.

Then don't be that guy. It's not cool. Seriously. Pretty douchey to wish physical harm on anyone, and then verbalize it so everyone now knows you are that type of guy.

What you need to hope/wish for is that someone takes an objective look at the situation and sits him and plays Daniel and Murray to see what they have if anything.

I still think that this is a pretty good football team that is having some bad decisions being made by the guys who have the most affect on the game. But they need to realize that the long term solution at the position needs to be found right now and Smith is not that guy.

But you don't be a prick and wish harm on people to achieve your perceived goals for something as trivial as being a casual fan of a sports team.

Yeah, dude had a ruptured spleen last year, and that can kill you, so it wouldn't be hard to assume that is a big reason why he's tanked so bad...

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Offence on game day

Whatever I'm tired of seeing his garbage ass overthrow typical NFL throws. I'm venting. I couldn't care less anymore. He's a bum and needs taken out. Only way is injury so I hope he tears an acl this season.

As some one who lives in the Bay Area don't feel to bad about it 49er fans were calling in to radio stations all the time hoping Alex would get hurt so they could see what they had in lap and Alex was so much better with harbaugh then Reid

I hate it. The only way he's missing games is injury. It'll be Pioli-Cassel all over again. **** Alex and his "gigabytes"

Then don't say you "hate to be that guy."

You are simply that guy.

We are what the Chiefs made us

The real question is what RB do you guys expect to carry the bulk? Seems to me Davis is the better of the two backs you guys have but West is ahead on the depth chart. I got a waiver to blow in FF.

West seems to be the better back.

Fine. I'm the monster the Chiefs created. Enjoy Alex Smith and shitty Jeff Allen.

Could my entertainment levels possibly climb higher?

alex smith has nothing to lose now...he will be dangerous :hmmm:

http://cs5.pikabu.ru/images/big_size...5083629743.jpg

Dangerous to our ultimate goal