Kansas City Chiefs' misuse of Jamaal Charles may have cost them a victory against the Raiders
On a day when the division leading Kansas City Chiefs lost 23-20 in overtime to the surging Oakland Raiders, Chiefs head coach Todd Haley's decision to give the ball to running back Thomas Jones twice as much as to Jamaal Charles is drawing scrutiny from
observers around the league.
Jones had 19 carries on the day for 32 yards – an average of just 1.7 yards per carry – while Charles had only 10 carries but marched for 53 yards averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
Charles' 6.4 yards per carry is better than any other rusher in the NFL in the top 30 in rushing this season, and Charles is considered a major threat to go for long gains any time he touches the ball leading many to believe he would have given the Chiefs
the best chance to win the game. But Haley points out that statistics aren't the only factor in determining who gets the ball, when he told reporters "He had more yards per carry. But that being said, it is an 11-man effort."
Without delving into specifics, Haley also suggested that Charles was dealing with some physical issues that were instrumental in determining which personnel was on the field and who was getting the ball. "He had to come out of the game multiple times yesterday
for different physical reasons," Haley added. "That's just the way of life for a running back. In addition, like I said, we have multiple audible calls that can go different ways and you don't exactly know what the play is going to be, whether it will be run
or pass, especially when you're playing a team like Oakland that will show their hand. And you're able to do some of that, change the play. Sometimes you're not going to be able to control that."
"It's just one of those things you can't entirely control other than just putting somebody in the game and leaving them in the game. And even that you can't control because Jamaal's been fighting through a couple of different issues. I've got to take my
hat off to Jamaal. He's shown a lot of toughness and fighting to get back on the field. But there are times he has to come off. And that's as much his decision as anybody else's."
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