Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles Out For Year With Torn ACL
Added on Sep 18, 2011 by Jack Thurman in
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It’s been a tough start to the 2011 NFL season for the Kansas City Chiefs and things got even worse on Sunday with an apparent season ending injury to star running back Jamaal Charles. The loss is a significant blow to a Chiefs’ offense that had already been sputtering.
Charles was rushing for a first down in the early stages of the game when he fell out of bounds and began clutching his knee. He was carted off the field and initially was listed as ‘questionable to return’. He was declared out for the rest of the game early in the third quarter. After the game, the team said the preliminary diagnosis was a torn ACL. He’ll undergo an MRI on Monday but the team has already said they expect him to be lost for the rest of the season. That diagnosis was quickly confirmed by the Sports Options live lines service, which also declared Charles done for the year.
The Pro Bowl running back rushed for 1,467 yards last season and that’s obviously something that isn’t easy to replace. Kansas City has already been hit hard by the injury bug this season–in the team’s opening game loss to the Buffalo Bills the Chiefs also lost Pro Bowl defensive back Eric Berry to a season ending knee injury.
After Charles left Kansas City did get some decent work from backups Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster. Whether either or both men can step up and help replace some of Charles’ productivity remains to be seen.
The resurgent Lions went on to rout the Chiefs, winning 48-3 and easily covered the NFL betting line as an -8′ point home favorite. Even without any help from Kansas City, the final score went Over the posted total of 45. Kansas City has only scored 10 points in their first two games and a 5 PPG scoring average won’t get it done at any level of football, particularly the NFL. The struggling Chiefs offense will get a big test next week as they travel to San Diego to play the high octane Chargers. At press time, San Diego had its hands full with New England and the last thing Kansas City needs is to catch the Chargers coming off a loss.
