From Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati
Larry Johnson will get to join the AFC playoffs with the Bengals. Jamaal Charles is a week away from a vacation, one badly needed for his battered and bruised body.
But Charles would trade places for more games and carries immediately, if it meant the Chiefs were part of the post-season tournament.
They are not, but the absence can’t be laid at the feet of Charles. In fact, his feet will go down as one of the few highlights of this 2009 Chiefs season. In the 17-10 loss to the Bengals, Charles had his third consecutive 100-yard plus game, as he finished with 102 yards on 24 carries.
“The Bengals have a good defense and we played well against a defense that is going to the playoffs,” said Charles. “If we could have made some plays, we could have taken over the game and won today.”
Cincinnati’s defense may have given up the 100-yard game to Charles, but the longest run he had 14 yards and they kept him out of the end zone. That ended a streak of six consecutive games where Charles scored on either a run, catch or kick return.
“I think the guy is trying to make a case to be talked about as one of the good backs in the league,” said Todd Haley. “He has come a long way and I think that is encouraging for us and for him.”
It was a special kind of day for Charles. He got the 100-yard game. He celebrated his 23rd birthday. He got a chance to see a couple of old friends in Johnson and Cedric Benson, another Texas running back.
“I’m happy to see him get another chance with another team,” Charles said of Johnson. “They are a good team that might need him as they got to the playoffs. They have two good backs on their team.”
As for Benson, Charles said: “I wanted to compete against Ced. I know he wanted to do the same thing, because he saw the young Longhorn on the other sideline before the game. I wanted to go out there and shine.”
Charles streak of three games with 100 rushing yards or more is the longest streak for the Chiefs since Johnson put together four straight 100-yard games in November and December of 2006.
On the season, Charles is 139 yards away from reaching the 1,000-yard mark.
And what of Johnson? He carried the ball four times for 11 yards, all in the first half. Johnson did not get on the field in the second half.
CASTILLE COMES THROUGH THIS TIME
Last week, FB Tim Castille put himself in Haley’s doghouse when he fumbled on the Chiefs first offensive possession of the game against the Browns.
He got himself out with an outstanding touchdown catch against the Bengals. Castille caught Matt Cassel’s 20-yard pass in the end zone and got blasted by Cincinnati safeties Tom Nelson and Chinedum Ndukwe.
“I don’t get many opportunities and when I do, I try to make the most of them,” said Castille. “That’s Coach Haley’s motto. It was in the back of my head, ‘If Matt throws this ball to me, I have to catch it’.”
It was Castille’s first NFL touchdowns.
SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT
It was a mixed bag for the Chiefs kicking game against the Bengals. Snapper Thomas Gafford’s blunder cost the team three points. But the Chiefs punt return team was able to deflect a Cincinnati punt and the play set up a Chiefs touchdown.
K Ryan Succop had a 30-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and that was his 22nd of the season, establishing a new rookie record for the franchise. The old mark was 21 made FGs by Jan Stenerud in 1967. Succop now has 90 points, which is the third highest total for a rookie kicker behind Stenerud (108) and Jack Spikes in 1960 (104).
P Dustin Colquitt had a 47-yard gross average on six punts, with three downed inside the 20-yard line. One of those was in the fourth quarter, and WR Quinten Lawrence downed the punt at the Bengals two-yard line. Colquitt had a 40-yard net average.
This season, Colquitt has 39 punts inside the 20-yard line, that’s the third highest total in NFL history. The record is held San Francisco punter Andy Lee with 42 in 2007.
On coverage, the Chiefs held punt returner Quan Cosby to an 11-yard average. On kickoff returns, the Bengals averaged 22.3 yards on three returns.
In the return game, the Chiefs came up dry again. WR Bobby Wade had one punt return for four yards. Lawrence had two kickoff returns for a 17.5-yard average.
UPDATE ON THE ZEBRAS
“Mr. Muscles” Ed Hochuli and his crew worked the game and for the most part, stayed out of the way, dropping 12 flags that were walked off, six against each team.
LT Branden Albert remained the favorite target of the zebras, as he was hit with a false start on the second offensive play of the game. Later in the first quarter he was flagged for holding, a call that wiped out a 42-yard run by Charles. WR Chris Chambers was hit with a false-start call and CB Brandon Carr was flagged for illegal contact.
On special teams, Gafford was hit with a holding call on a punt play, costing the Chiefs 10 yards in field position. Colquitt was hit with the illegal kick call when he booted the wayward snap out of bounds.
There was one review and instant replay got it right, correcting a bad call on the field. Cincinnati had a touchdown on a throw from Palmer to Ochocinco, inside two minutes left in the first half. The replay booth called down for a review and it showed that before making the catch, Ochocinco had stepped out of bounds. Rather than a touchdown, the Bengals were penalized five yards.
PERSONNEL MATTERS
No surprises on the list of inactive players turned in by the Chiefs. The list had veteran TE Sean Ryan, first-year WR Lance Long and rookies CB Donald Washington, S Reshard Langford, G Darryl Harris, DE Alex Magee and LB Pierre Walters. As usual, the third inactive quarterback was Matt Gutierrez.
Rookie S Ricky Price was dressed and got his first taste of NFL action, after being promoted on Saturday from the practice squad. Also dressed and active was DT Derek Lokey, playing in his first game this season.
The inactive players for the Bengals were FB Fui Vakapuna, S Chris Crocker, C Jonathan Luigs, OT Anthony Collins, WR Jerome Simpson, DT Domata Peko and DT Orien Harris. The inactive third quarterback was Jordan Palmer.
Starting for Crocker at free safety was Tom Nelson and Pat Sims opened at defensive tackle for Peko.
OTHER EXTRA STUFF
The Chiefs were wearing white-on-white for the first time since the game against Indianapolis in the post-season in January 2007. Earlier this year, they wore white-on-white in the throwback uniforms of the Dallas Texans … the Chiefs again failed to produce a touchdown with their first possession of the game. They’ve been able to put only a FG on the scoreboard with their first chance with the ball.
