Jamaal Charles

[eraser 722]

The Kansas City Chiefs had relinquished their lead as Denver marched down the throat of a porous defense, that could not stop the Broncos. Seconds remained, and Reid (handcuffed by himself, and his poor offensive line), gave the ball to Jamaal for one try for field position. If Jamaal Charles was able to break something, then he would have given the team a shot at winning the game in regulation. He had already wasted all his timeouts on a futile effort to stop Denver's offensive plunder. Instead, he may have been wiser to exchange defensive backs as Fleming was getting abused by Peyton Manning.

 

Fleming was considered one of the best corners in the 2012 draft. He went in round 3 to Arizona, but was released two weeks into his second season. It takes a lot of effort to be fired so soon after being a second day draft selection. He went to Jacksonville, who was in desperate need of defensive backs. They let him go after one season. He then took his game to Baltimore, who put him on their practice team. Kansas City signed Fleming off Baltimore's practice team one week later. If not for the poor decisions made by Sean Smith, Fleming would not have played in this game. Had Steve Nelson done better, he may have played, but there he was. Fleming has 4.53 speed, and measurables that seem good enough. What he lacks is discipline, and technique. That is why he dropped to round 3, why Arizona let hims, why he went from team to team, and why the Chiefs were able to pick him up off the practice team heaps. He could become good enough, but the guy is a project. 

 

Peyton Manning lost much of his ability to move, and throw the ball. He is has not lost his ability to exploit matchups. He misfired on quite a few plays, but when it came time to win the game, Manning located the soft spot, and beat the Chiefs with their sole weakness on defense.

 

Jamaal had a bad play that fundamentally ended the game. Had the Chiefs gone to overtime, I had very little confidence they would win anyway. Their offense had been stymied, and Denver carved through Fleming like a hot knife through butter. Perhaps that perception had entered Jamaal's mind. He knew he had one shot. He worked like heck to stretch the play. He forgot to hang onto the ball. Game over. 

 

The game was not lost by one fumble with 36 seconds remaining. It was lost by 5 turnovers compared to 1. It was lost by a secondary that could not contain Denver. It was lost by a head coach, who probably will soon turn over his offensive coordinating duties. 

 

Jamaal took the blame on his shoulders. In the era of its everyone else's fault, but my own, Jamaal is a rarity. He took the blame, and did not blame anyone else. Too bad this does not translate to others on the team, and across this land, which was once free. We can use that kind of integrity today. 

[DieHard 2,061]

Agreed. He gets a big part of the blame.