National Football League

Charles makes his case to be KC's running back

Published Nov. 16, 2009 11:16 p.m. ET

foxsports

One game into the post-Larry Johnson era is all it took for the Kansas City Chiefs to get their first rushing touchdown, first 100-yard rushing day and second win of the year. This week's opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, may mount more of a challenge than the mistake-prone Oakland Raiders did in Sunday's 16-10 victory. But the Steelers would be wise to prepare for Jamaal Charles as KC's featured back. It would seem a richly deserved reward for his long TD run and 103 yards rushing in the first game since former Pro Bowler Johnson was released amid a cloud of controversy. With more speed than Johnson showed in even his best years, Charles broke loose on one key play and sped 44 yards into the end zone, erasing the stigma the Chiefs had been carrying as the only NFL team without a rushing touchdown. He also picked up 26 yards on a fourth-quarter drive as the Chiefs tried desperately to run time off the clock. It seemed especially gratifying for somebody who'd spent part of the season in the coach's doghouse for fumbling. The second-year pro had gotten so crosswise with coaches, he'd even been inactive for one game. A fumble in those last minutes on Sunday could have proven fatal. "It wasn't something I was thinking about," coach Todd Haley said Monday. "He'd had a bunch of carries under his belt and he was protecting the football. None of those footballs that ended up on the ground were Jamaal's fault." Charles, drafted in the third round out of Texas two years ago, said the running backs were aware they were without a running touchdown all year. "We talked about that before the game, that one of the running backs had to go and make something happen," Charles said. "It turned out to be me, and I'm blessed to be in that position." On what was designed as a short-yardage play, he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, got a great block from wide receiver Chris Chambers and outran his pursuers into the end zone. It was something no Kansas City running back had done all year, and not done in a road game since the Chiefs were in Oakland on Nov. 30, 2008. "It was designed to get the first down but it was my will and my want and I went out there and just tried to make a play," Charles said. There seems little doubt the job that came open when Johnson was released last week now belongs to Charles. Johnson was released after serving his second suspension in 12 months, this time for making inappropriate posts on his Twitter account, including a gay slur. "It's all part of the process and Jamaal's one of those guys who's done everything asked of him, has continued to improve," said Haley. "Now he's been put in a spot where he's a bigger part of what we're doing. Though not perfect, I think you're seeing strides in Jamaal." Charles was inactive when the Chiefs hosted Oakland on Sept. 20. What could have been a negative turned out not to be. "It just (made me) want to play harder and want to go out there and help the team win," he said. "I guess coach had to do what he had to do. I came back and showed them that I wanted to play for the rest of the year. He just told me to practice hard, and I practiced hard and I've been practicing hard since that happened. It taught me a lesson. "When I was at Texas, I helped my team win and I made big runs for them and I just wanted to show the coaches I can make plays and I'm a winning running back and I love to win." Coaches and running backs were not the only members of the Chiefs who were glad to get that first rushing touchdown. "That's something I think every lineman prides himself on, the running game, and it's definitely been bothering us not having a rushing touchdown," center Rudy Niswanger said. "I wouldn't say it was a weight lifted off our shoulders exactly, because at the end of the day what really matters is getting into the end zone. But from our standpoint, there are X-number of running plays in a game, and one of them should be a touchdown occasionally."