Jamaal Charles rushed for a pair of touchdowns to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 34-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Our takeaways:
- Charles' 25 touchdowns since the start of the 2013 season are the most in the league. Sunday's win was reminiscent of the Chiefs' 8-0 start last season, with Charles carrying Alex Smith's dink-and-dunk, ball-control offense. The Chiefs held a two-to-one advantage in time of possession. Smith's 85.7 completion percentage was the second-highest mark of his career.
- Justin Houston is going to land a huge contract. With three more sacks on Sunday, he has passed Von Miller for the NFL lead (10). Houston is averaging over one sack per game the last two campaigns.
- Robert Quinn is back. He thwarted a late second-quarter red-zone trip with a pair of sacks and added another forced fumble. Quinn has three sacks in the past two games and is starting to disrupt quarterbacks at the same rate as last season.
- There's no clarity or consistency in the St. Louis backfield. Outside of 18- and 14-yard runs by Benny Cunningham and Tre Mason, the Rams were limited to 3.0 yards per carry. Splitting the workload three ways, they couldn't move the chains or sustain long drives. We believe they should put the ball in Mason's hands.
- This was a costly loss for the Rams' offense. Left tackle Jake Long (knee), right guard Rodger Saffold (shoulder) and wide receiver Brian Quick (arm) were all ruled out after leaving with injuries. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported after the game that the team is preparing for an ACL tear for the offensive lineman, per a source informed of Long's situation.
- The bloom is coming off the Austin Davis rose. He's averaging just 184 yards per game over the last three games after exploding for 312 in his first three starts. His offense has been stymied for multiple quarters at a time of late.
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