CHIEFS ROOKIE RB KAREEM HUNT MAKING AN IMPACT
Rookie RB has top all-around game
Kareem Hunt was surrounded by teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs’ sideline inside Gillette Stadium. They tried to console the rookie running back on a warm night in September, but he just kept shaking his head.
Hunt couldn’t believe he had fumbled away his first carry in the NFL. In four years at Toledo, he had never lost the ball. But on the biggest stage — the nationally televised season opener against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots — Hunt fumbled.
“I couldn’t wait to get back out there and redeem myself and make up for it,” Hunt said Wednesday in a conference call with members of the Denver media.
He has more than redeemed himself. He had a huge game in the upset of the Patriots, and he has put himself into the rookie of year discussion — heck, the MVP discussion — with how he responded to that fumble. Heading into Monday night’s game against the Broncos, Hunt leads the NFL with 717 yards rushing. He has recorded at least 100 total yards in every game and has six touchdowns. He’s averaging a staggering 5.8 yards per carry.
“He’s a special back,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “Their formula is to run the football, control the game and take play-action shots. … He’s got great balance; he can catch the ball; he can protect.
For a rookie, he’s a first-, secondand third-down back, and that’s special.”
Hunt’s emergence has allowed Kansas City to create one of the league’s most dangerous offensive duos. And the Broncos know one half of that pairing all too well.
Tyreek Hill was perhaps the biggest villain in the story of the Broncos’ 2016 season. Kansas City’s electric wide receiver/returner scored four touchdowns in two games against Denver, including a threescore performance in a 30-27 Chiefs victory at Sports Authority Field at Mile high in which he scored touchdowns on a reception, a rush and a kickoff return, becoming the first rookie since Gayle Sayers in 1965 to achieve that feat.
That loss started a slide that the Broncos were unable to stop. Denver missed the playoffs by one game.
But Hunt’s production has limited the resources defenses can apply to Hill. The rookie is averaging 11.4 yards per reception out of the backfield. The Chiefs are averaging 392.4 yards of total offense per game, third in the league, sparked by the versatility of two players who are in their first and second seasons, respectively. With the help of two speedy targets the Chiefs can use to create mismatches, quarterback Alex Smith is completing a league-leading 72.4 percent of his passes.
“The offense they run, everybody has to focus on their job and do their job,” Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett said. “That’s what makes (Hunt) a great runner, along with his skill set. The scheme has a lot to do with it. There’s nothing straightforward. They do all the motions and all the moving around, but it makes you have to focus your eyes and do your assignment.”
Even when Hunt has been shut down on the ground this season, he has still made a major impact. Though he rushed for just 21 yards on nine carries in a 19-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers two weekends ago, he caught five passes for 89 yards in that game.
Still, the Broncos leave no mystery about where the priority lies with Hunt.
“It’s difficult if you can’t stop the run. We’re the No. (2) run defense in the National Football League,” said linebacker Shane Ray, who will make his season debut Monday night and join a defense that is allowing just 71.8 rushing yards per game. “We plan on taking care of the run game, because that’s what their team thrives off of. If they can run the ball — and have over … 100 yards rushing with that guy — that’s how they’ve been able to air out the ball. We match up with this team very well with what they do well and what we do well.”
Hunt has failed to hit the 100-yard rushing mark in just three of seven games this season. Two of those performances have come in the past two weeks, both Kansas City losses.
The Broncos are eager to match strength against strength.
“They’ve got a great runstopping defense,” Hunt said. “We’ll definitely have to rely on all five offensive lineman and me being on the same page.”