The Kansas City Chiefs pulled out a much needed overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and kept their playoff hopes alive for another week. Things were looking bleak for a while, but the Chiefs were able to eek out the win thanks to a strong second half defensive performance, some big plays from Rashee Rice, and a bigger commitment to the run than we've seen from an Andy Reid offense in ages.
With Isiah Pacheco out another week recovering from an injury, Elijah Mitchell being held hostage on the inactive list, Clyde Edwards-Helaire not being any good, and Brashard Smith being used primarily as a pass catching back that left this new-found reliance on the run game squarely on the shoulders of 30-year old Kareem Hunt.
Can Kareem Hunt's body hold up to the kind of work load that KC's offense needs?
The Chiefs handed the ball to Kareem Hunt 30 times on Sunday. Those 30 carries went for 104 yards and a mediocre 3.5 yards per carry, but it still helped keep the offense grinding out drives. The yards per carry did see a significant drop off after Trey Smith left the game, so in addition to hoping that Hunt holds up, they need to hope that Smith can bounce back quickly. Regardless, the Chiefs commitment to the run game forced the Colts defense to not just focus on the passing game and kept the Chiefs in more managable third down situations.
It would be great for the Chiefs and specifically Patrick Mahomes, if the Chiefs could continue to be more balanced on offense. KC's attempt to keep defenses honest with RPOs clearly wasn't working (as was evident when it led to an interception on Mahomes first throw of the game) because no team was going to respect the "run" portion of the run/pass option when KC wouldn't really run the ball.
So the Chiefs need to continue to run the ball consistently to make things easier for Patrick Mahomes and the passing game. The problem is that Kareem Hunt is 30 years old and already showing signs of feeling the effects of his workload. He was frequently slow to get up or limping off to the sideline throughout the game. It makes his performance all that much more impressive and appreciated, but KC can't expect to give him 30 carries per game for six more regular season games.
Hunt averaged 8.6 carries per game in KC's first 10 games of the season. KC can't realistically plan to triple that workload and think that will work out. Even if Hunt somehow managed to make it through the regular season, he would likely have nothing left for the playoffs. It's almost like KC should have committed some resources to adding another running back at the trade deadline.
So if continuing to give Hunt 30 carries isn't realistic, but it would be good to continue to make the run game a consistent part of the offense it means that one of three things has to happen. One, Isiah Pacheco has to get healthy and take over a sizable share of the workload. Two, the Chiefs have to get over whatever hesitations they have with Elijah Mitchell and let him have some carries. Three, they take the "passing game only" label off of Brashard Smith and let him get some carries.
The Chiefs are going to have to get on board with one of those three options quickly because they have a game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving with only three days rest. There is no way Hunt is going to be physically ready to handle 20+ carries again on that short of turnaround. Pacheco being healthy would be the best option to hope for.
The good news is that the Chiefs finally committed to the run game and Kareem Hunt stepped up and helped the Chiefs pull out what could be a season saving win over the Colts. They need to keep that momentum going against the Cowboys and while Hunt can be a part of that they have to find a way to have a consistent run game without overworking him.