Quote:
Originally Posted by gblowfish
Jamaal Charles may be the best running back in Chiefs history. But he is not a big game player, and is not a clutch player. He is injury prone, and he is mistake prone. He does not shine when most needed. Today he fumbled at a critical point in a 10-6 game, bringing about a potential 14-point swing; killing a Chiefs drive at the Pittsburgh 25. Then Pittsburgh marches the ball right down the field for seven and moves to a 17-6 lead, and game over. Charles could only manage 29 yards on nine carries, that's less than three yards a carry. Meanwhile, Bell runs for 63 yards and a TD. That's not great production, but he did score a TD in a critical game at a critical time. Charles has to prove to me he can be a difference maker in a game that means something important. He's never done that. Unfortunately, he's been beat up, or had a concussion, or for whatever reason couldn't rise to the occasion. His inability to stay healthy was a major reason we lost the Colts playoff game last year. Wasn't his fault he got hurt, but I'm just saying, the great ones rise to the occasion. Charles has never done that as a Chief. The NFL is a cruel, results oriented business. So by the standards of measurement in the NFL, it makes him a very good player. Not a great player compared to other backs in clutch situation. He may be in the Hall of Fame someday, but his lack of post season production will temper the discussion.
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THIS X 1,000,000.
Charles as the closest player the Chiefs have on their roster to a franchise player, deserves the high expectations that come with that.
Charles was awful today.
The fumble was a killer (Charles 5th fumble of the season, and 3rd lost fumble), the key drop on the final drive and a play early in the game when Charles got the ball (from a screen pass) in open space with the opportunity to make a huge play, only needing to make one defender miss. Of course Charles gets ankle tackled by the Steelers defender which minimized a potential huge play.