Will Browns rediscover Hunt in K.C.?

Kareem Hunt did not have a carry nor a catch in the first half of a divisional playoff game with the Chiefs last year.

Maybe Kevin Stefanski was just looking eight months into the future and saving Kareem Hunt to spring him on the Chiefs in the 2021 season opener.

Hunt carried 198 times and caught 38 passes in the 2020 regular season. He had eight carries for 48 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the thrilling 4837 wild-card playoff win over the Steelers last Jan. 10.

Strangely, Hunt did not have a single carry nor a catch in the first half of a divisional playoff game with the Chiefs a week after beating the Steelers. The Browns headed to the visitor’s locker room in Arrowhead Stadium trailing the Chiefs, 19-3, at halftime.

Hunt had six carries for 32 yards and a touchdown plus one catch for two yards in the second half.

The Browns closed the gap in the final 30 minutes, but lost the game, 22-17.

Of course, when the Browns and Chiefs played for the right to move on to the AFC championship game, no one knew what the 2021 schedule would look like, but the two teams are so loaded with talent that a rematch in the Sept. 12 opener was made to order for the NFL and FOX Television. Kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium is 4:25 p.m.

“We get to play the team that put us out last year, and we get to come up with a big-time opponent,” Hunt said after practice Sept. 10.

“It’ll show us where we are early, so I can’t wait.”

Hunt, the former star running back at Willoughby South High School, led the NFL with 1,327 rushing yards as a rookie with the Chiefs in 2017.

He signed with the Browns as a free agent in February 2019.

This is the second season Stefanski plus offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt are scheming to get the most out of Hunt and Nick Chubb — the best pair of running backs in the league. But will Stefanski and Van Pelt rely on a ground game in Kansas City, or do they plan to have Baker Mayfield match Patrick Mahomes pass for pass? That’s for them to know and everyone else to find out.

“That (the Chiefs) is a very explosive offense,” Van Pelt said. “They have a lot of weapons, obviously, and they have a great quarterback. We’re not playing that offense, though. That’s our mindset coming in. We have to take care of our drives. We have to take care of the football, and we have to end with drives in the end zone. That’s preferable.

“If we end with a kick, that’s not bad, whether it’s a field goal or a punt. We just have to protect that football, not turn it over and not worry about their offense and just worry about our execution.”

Worrying about the Chiefs’ offense is defensive coordinator Joe Woods’ headache.

As for protecting the

ball — Hunt is as reliable as they come. He has 694 career carries and 154 career catches — 848 touches and only four fumbles. That works out to one fumble every 212 touches.

And as for Hunt being extra motivated to play his former team — that is a non-story. If it were motivation, Stefanski would have used Hunt in the first half in the playoff game.

“I would not say personal, but yeah, I definitely want to be able to knock these guys off the first game and the first week,” Hunt said. “It’s always like that, but it’s another game.

“I want to win every game we play. They’re just in the way and no hard feelings, but I’m going to try to win.”