Will Kareem Hunt return to form after the Chiefs bye week?

Since we have already established that the rush defenses that the Chiefs faced during their hot start and recent slump were relatively consistent, I’m simply going to combine their stats to give you the averages for the run defenses that the Chiefs faced in their first nine games. Those numbers are as follows.

104.7 yards per game allowed
4.2 yards per carry allowed

When I averaged together the rush defenses of the seven teams remaining on their schedule I got the following:

110.8 yards per game allowed
4.0 yards per carry allowed

So once again we aren’t looking at a big difference in the quality of rush defenses that the Chiefs will be facing. The defenses remaining on their schedule are allowing a few MORE yards per game but are actually giving up slightly LESS yards per carry. That means that if the Chiefs want to get back to bigger rushing totals it is up to them to make that happen. Now, the Chiefs do face a couple of bad rush defenses in the New York Giants (who they play next) and the Los Angeles Chargers (who Hunt gashed for 172 yards in their first meeting). Those two defenses both rank near the bottom of the league in rushing yards allowed. If the Chiefs and Kareem Hunt can’t put up decent numbers against those teams then the overall numbers probably aren’t going to be pretty.

On the other hand, the Chiefs have three top ten rush defenses remaining on their schedule in the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and the Denver Broncos (again). The other two teams on their schedule the rest of the way, the Jets and Raiders would probably be best described as slightly below average. The real difference down the stretch may be that the Chiefs are facing more teams with losing records. If the Chiefs are the overall better team and can establish a lead early on it may allow them to run the ball late in the game and add to their rushing totals but I still stand by my assessment that the Chiefs must figure out their own solution to getting the running game back on track.

Kareem Hunt was one of the most electrifying players in the NFL over the first five games of the season. Over the past month he’s been Terrance West. Along with tightening up the much discussed defense, the Chiefs HAVE to make getting Hunt and the running game back on track one of the top priorities during their bye week. As the weather gets colder and it gets harder to put up huge passing numbers through the air it becomes all the more vital to have a good rushing attack. The Chiefs had the best in the NFL early in the season and they will need it again if they hope to do any damage late in the season as well.

Here’s to hoping they make that happen this week against a bad Giants rush defense.

As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!