Keenan Allen suffers knee injury in Week 1: Latest updates
By Josh Hill
The San Diego Chargers suffered a huge loss in Week 1 with receiver Keenan Allen suffering what appeared to be an ACL injury.
It’s only the first week of the NFL season but already teams are getting a bad shake. The San Diego Chargers are feeling the real brunt of that, as their bloodbath in Arrowhead has turned tide on them and reversed.
While the Chargers were pounding the seemingly nonexistent Chiefs defense into the Arrowhead turf, the main guy behind that killing left the game before halftime. Wide receiver Keenan Allen suffered a non-contact injury that forced him to be carted off the field.
Allen was seen crying when CBS cameras panned to him heading to the tunnel, and it appears that his season is over. While it’s not yet official, these non-contact injuries never end well and typically result in the player being lost for the year.
If that’s the case, then the Chargers are going to be in way over their heads. Already they started the year behind the eight-ball in a division with the Chiefs and Raiders favored to win big. Then Trevor Simian and the Broncos came out and looked respectable in their first game of the year.
Without Allen, the Chargers still have receiving threats but a major cog in their offense is gone.
Travis Benjamin was signed in the offseason to help open up the offense as a deep threat, but he now becomes a primary option. Without Allen, it’s Benjamin or bust, for the most part. Antonio Gates is still there and there’s hope for Melvin Gordon opening things up with the run game. But without Allen, there’s no doubt something missing from this offense moving forward.
Beyond that, there’s the fantasy football element to ponder. Allen was a top-tier option for fantasy football players, and now he’s done. That means waiver wire pickups like Eddie Royal and others are going to be scooped up before you know it.