Damien Williams was forced from the game with a ribs injury before halftime against the Chargers on Monday Night Football. He did not return to the game, while LeSean McCoy and Darrell Williams took over in his place. McCoy had already scored a touchdown from six yards out midway through the second quarter with Williams healthy, so a running back committee had already returned to Kansas City.
With Williams out, McCoy took over as the lead back, but Darrel Williams saw work as well. In the third quarter, Williams capped a 75-yard drive with his own six-yard touchdown run. Williams touchdown came after a great McCoy run, but one in which he needed to recover his own fumble. His fumbling issues continue to be a problem. Unfortunately, McCoy was forced from the game for a possible concussion in the fourth quarter. That gave Williams even more run late in the game.
The bye week comes at an excellent time for Kansas City with these two injuries and also complicates fantasy football rosters as we near the fantasy playoffs. McCoy is available in 62.5 percent and Darrel Williams in 4.6 percent of ESPN leagues. McCoy is still the best runner on the team, but his latest almost fumble only reinforces the idea that he could be benched at any time, which would leave us with Darrell Williams and possibly Darwin Thompson if Damien Williams misses time.
Ribs injuries don’t go away quickly, and we already saw that McCoy was back in a committee with Damien Williams before his injury. This backfield looks like it may continue to be a headache, but if Damien Williams misses time, both McCoy and the other Williams need to be rostered on such a dynamic and high scoring offense as the Chiefs.