The timing of Thursday night&#8217;s rainstorm was perfect for the Chiefs&#8217; Kolby Smith.</p><p>The storm, which delayed the start of the game about an hour and a half, made the Arrowhead Stadium playing field soggy. The footing was uncertain enough that coach Herm Edwards made the snap decision not to play starting running back Larry Johnson.</p><p>That decision made Smith the featured back, and he took advantage of the chance to play with the rest of the Kansas City starters and against the St. Louis backups.</p><p>Smith rushed six times for 38 yards and two touchdowns as the Chiefs beat the Rams 21-17.</p><p>Rookie Jamaal Charles and Jackie Battle also had big games. Battle led the Chiefs with 55 rushing yards, while Charles had 43 yards in six carries.</p><p>The Chiefs, who also have rookie Dantrell Savage, face a difficult decision as they ponder their roster cuts.</p><p>&#8220;There are five of them, and you can&#8217;t keep five,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;But I think we&#8217;re in a little bit of a different situation with what we&#8217;re trying to do here, building a football team. The thing you don&#8217;t want to do is cut good football players because the numbers don&#8217;t add up at that position and keep a player maybe not as worthy because he plays a certain position.</p><p>&#8220;You want to keep your best football players.&#8221;</p><p>The Chiefs intended to give Johnson some work in their final preseason game but decided against it at the last moment, literally. Johnson was headed out to the field for the first possession when he was called back.</p><p>&#8220;He was supposed to be in there, but as (the rain) kept coming, I got nervous,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;He wanted to play. He tried to sneak out for the first series. He was looking at me with his helmet on. I said, &#8216;No, no.&#8217; &#8221;</p><p>Smith is in no danger of being released, but his playing time could get squeezed. Johnson will get his carries, and the Chiefs will also use Charles, whose speed gives them a dimension they otherwise lack.</p><p>&#8220;Larry is the main guy,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;Jamaal is fast. He can make runs that I can&#8217;t. Each one of us is different. I&#8217;m the cutback guy. You can&#8217;t compare this one to that one.&#8221;</p><p>Charles missed the last two preseason games because of a sore shoulder, so Thursday night&#8217;s game was his most extensive work since joining the Chiefs as a third-round draft pick.</p><p>&#8220;He might be one of the fastest running backs I&#8217;ve ever been around,&#8221; quarterback Brodie Croyle said. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to be a huge help for us this year.&#8221;</p><p>To Charles, it was long overdue.</p><p>&#8220;I just wanted to get on the field these last two games,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I could have played. They told me they knew what I could do, so I didn&#8217;t need to play, but I still really wanted to show everybody what I could do.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody on the team thought I was weak. I told them it was the trainer&#8217;s fault that I didn&#8217;t play, not my fault.&#8221;