Jamaal Charles Injury: How Can Chiefs Survive Injury to Star RB?

Jamaal Charles was injured early in the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Early reports are that it is a knee injury. He was carted from the field, and you'd have to think it's a serious long shot that he'll return today.

Charles was running full speed toward the sideline, then pulled up awkwardly before ramming straight into the Lions mascot. He was clearly in pain as he was carted off. No official word has come down yet.

The Chiefs inked Charles to a six-year, $27.97 million contract in December based on what was a stellar third professional campaign. Last season he rushed 230 times for 1,467 yards and five touchdowns, while catching 45 passes for 468 yards and three touchdowns. Clearly he is a huge part of their current and future plans.

Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster will step in for Charles and take over today. While McCluster has the potential to be a big-play guy, and Jones has been a solid NFL running back for a long time, neither has the consistent upside that Charles brings.

Kansas City's passing attack looked awful in the team's 41-7 Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Matt Cassel finished the afternoon completing 22-of-36 passes for just 119 yards, with one touchdown and an interception. While Cassel has shown he can be a solid quarterback, averaging 3.3 yards per attempt is simply unacceptable.

With the passing attack struggling, clearly Charles was going to be the focal point of the Chiefs offense. He rushed 10 times against the Bills for 56 yards and would have certainly seen more carries had the Chiefs not been trailing by so much so early.

If Charles misses a significant period of time, the Chiefs could be in serious trouble. While Kansas City has other weapons like Dwayne Bowe and the aforementioned McCluster and Charles, none of those guys can match Charles' play-making ability.

This injury could have huge implications for the AFC West race.