Jamaal Charles and the Chiefs rewrite the record book while thumping the Raiders
December 16
BY RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Franchise, and even some league records, fell fast and furious during the Chiefs’ wild 56-31 victory over the Raiders on Sunday.
The victory, which clinched a playoff spot for the Chiefs, 11-3, extended the largest single-season turnaround in franchise history, an improvement of nine wins over the 2-14 debacle of 2012.
Here are some of the record-breakers:
Charles in charge
• Running back Jamaal Charles, with five touchdowns (one rushing, four receiving), became the first player in NFL history with at least four touchdown receptions and one touchdown run in a single game.
• Charles’ four receiving touchdowns were the most by a running back in a single game in NFL history.
• His five total touchdowns tied for the fourth most in a single game in NFL history and fell just one shy of the league record. Three players have scored six touchdowns in a game: Ernie Nevers (Nov. 28, 1929), Dub Jones (Nov. 25, 1951) and Gale Sayers (Dec. 12, 1965).
• Charles’ five total touchdowns tied Chiefs Hall of Famer Abner Haynes’ 52-year-old club record for most touchdowns in a single game, set in 1961 when Haynes rushed for four and caught one touchdown pass against the Raiders on Nov. 26, 1961, when the franchise was still the Dallas Texans.
• Charles recorded four of his five touchdowns in the first half, becoming only the 10th player since 1940 to score four touchdowns in the opening half of a contest. He is the fourth player to accomplish the feat since 1991. The league record is five, set by Seattle’s Shaun Alexander in 2002.
The others to score four touchdowns in a half are New England’s Randy Moss in 2007 and the Chiefs’ Priest Holmes in 2004.
Charles became the second player in franchise history with four receiving touchdowns in a single game, joining wide receiver Frank Jackson, who caught four touchdown passes on Dec. 13, 1964. Charles’ previous single-game high for receiving touchdowns was two, coming vs. Tennessee on Dec. 26, 2010.
• Charles became the 11th player in NFL history to record five scrimmage touchdowns, an NFL single-game high. The last time this was accomplished was Sept. 29, 2002, by Alexander.
• Charles’ 195 receiving yards rank as the fifth-best mark in NFL history by a running back and is the second-best single-game total by a running back in team history to Chiefs Hall of Famer Curtis McClinton’s 213 yards, which is the NFL record for a running back.
• Charles had 16 total touches in the game (eight rushing, eight receiving) and scored five touchdowns, or on 31.3 percent of his touches.
Alex Smith’s career day
Quarterback Alex Smith completed 17 of 20 passes for 287 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions, good for a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
He is the second Kansas City quarterback to record a perfect passer rating, joining Trent Green, who achieved the feat on Sept. 29, 2002, as he completed 20 of 25 passes for 342 yards and three TDs.
• Smith’s five touchdown passes were career best and tied for the second-highest single-game total in franchise history to Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson’s six against Denver in 1961.
• Smith’s completions on 20 attempts were good for an 85.0 completion percentage, marking the highest single-game completion percentage in franchise history (minimum of 20 attempts).
• Smith averaged 14.35 yards per pass attempt in the game, marking the second-best single-game passing average in franchise history to Steve DeBerg’s 15.76 (21 completions, 331 yards) at New England in 1990.
Happy returns
Eric Berry’s 47-yard interception return for a touchdown was the club’s 11th touchdown return by the Chiefs defense/special teams, which leads the NFL. The 11 miscellaneous scores tied the franchise record set in 1992 and 1999.
The Chiefs are the eighth team in NFL history to record 11 or more miscellaneous touchdowns in a single season and have accomplished the feat three times in franchise history (1992, 1999, 2013). The only teams with more are Seattle, with 13 in 1998 and Arizona, with 12 in 2010.
And there are still two games to play.
First-half success
The Chiefs scored 35 first-half points at Oakland, a week after rolling up 38 first-half points at Washington.
The Chiefs are the only team in NFL history to score at least 35 points in the first half of consecutive games, and this is the second time that the team has accomplished the feat, having done it on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, 2002.