Charles Suffers Major Injury; Time To Look Toward Next Year

What’s worse than losing to the lowly Chicago Bears on your home field?

Losing your best offensive player for the season in the process.

That’s likely what happened to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday as running back Jamaal Charles left with an apparent knee injury that will likely cost him his season.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that the preliminary reports show Charles has a torn ACL.

Kansas City folded their proverbial tents after Charles’ injury as they turned a 17-3 advantage into an 18-17 loss to Jay Cutler and the Bears.

“From there, production quit,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “I don’t know if that was it or what. Offensively, we went into a shell there for a little while, you know, and just didn’t get anything done. Had some decent field position, really had a chance to really put that game away with some first downs and just three and out, three and out. It didn’t help the defense at all.”

At 1-4, the Chiefs have turned into a chic AFC West champion pick to a potential champion of the first pick in the draft.

At this point Kansas City needs to embrace that and start preparing for the future.

One suggestion would be to trade off some veteran assets if possible, namely quarterback Alex Smith.  Smith is a solid quarterback who can help a veteran team if they’re missing an experienced signal caller, i.e., the Buffalo Bills.

At the very least the Chiefs need to take a hard look at backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who has performed well in the limited opportunities he’s received.  The 29-year old has played sparingly, backing up Drew Brees for the first three years of his career and then Smith for the past two.  He’s mobile, a 64 percent passer and generally makes good decisions.

At this point the Chiefs know what they have in Smith.  He’s a guy who can succeed if everything else around him is perfect.  He’s not a game-changer and he can’t lead Kansas City to where they want to go.

When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose, right?

Bengals Trending Up, Seahawks Trending Down

Everyone in Cincinnati is fully aware that nobody outside of the Queen City is going to believe in an Andy Dalton-led Bengals team until they stop self-destructing in the postseason.

There’s no way to win a playoff game in October, but beating the two-time defending NFC champs after being down 17 points is certainly a confidence builder.

“For us to come back against a really, really good team is huge,” Dalton said.

The Bengals improved to 5-0 in possibly the most improbable fashion, coming from behind against the Legion of Doom.

“In our minds, as bad as it looked and as good as Seattle is, we never stopped playing” said tight end Tyler Eifert. “This is what we expect to do. We expect to win.”

It certainly seems like a new Bengals team and a new attitude come to fruition.  Quarterback Andy Dalton is playing like a legitimate Pro Bowler and with all of the weapons at his disposal, the Bengals are as balanced as any team in football.

Meanwhile on the opposite sideline, the Seattle Seahawks have major issues.  The loss drops them to 2-3, and they should be fortunate to have that record after last Monday’s missed call by the officials in the Lions game.

“I’m baffled a little bit,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “We’re very clear on what we want to do and how to get it done. What’s startling is that it’s not happening.”

The Seahawks appear to be suffering from somewhat of a Super Bowl hangover.  Much of the offseason was spent deliberating on what could have been after New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson at the goal line.  After that, contracts were the main issue as Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner were given new deals, while defensive end Michael Bennett and safety Kam Chancellor publicly voiced their displeasure about not being taken care of.

The Seahawks offensive line has been terrible and Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham has just 18 catches in five games.

Seattle has lost their identity and with their 2-3 start, the thoughts of home-field advantage in the postseason is a slim proposition.  It’s difficult to believe that Seattle can go on the road and win three straight games in the playoffs.

Game Balls

It was another exciting Sunday across the NFL and it’s time for certain players and coaches to be recognized for their superlative efforts.

• Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown threw for a career-high and team record 457 yards in Sunday’s 33-30 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.  Not bad for a guy that most of Cleveland would like to see benched.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin looked like a rookie again, as he had 158 yards from scrimmage including three touchdowns in the team’s 38-31 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Martin is running for a new contract and making the most of his opportunity.
• Lovie Smith may be in over his head in Tampa, but offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter called a nearly perfect game in the Bucs win.  Koetter simplified the game plan for rookie quarterback Jameis Winston by giving him predetermined reads and lots of screens.  Koetter was simply brilliant.
• Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman continued his recent stretch of dominance as he gained 153 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown in the Falcons 25-19 come-from-behind victory over the Washington Redskins.  Freeman is turning into an every week fantasy start.
• Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is doing a masterful job with his plethora of weapons.  The team held the Oakland Raiders to just 10 points, forced three turnovers and sacked Derek Carr four times all the while being on the field for more than 34 minutes.  Denver continues to win with Peyton Manning in major decline.
• Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson had a pair of interceptions in the team’s 42-17 victory over the Detroit Lions, and also recovered a fumble.  Johnson is most remembered for cutting off the tip of his finger to return quicker from injury, and now he’s becoming one of the best safeties in football.