Kansas City Chiefs: Kareem Hunt was underused in loss to Titans

The Kansas City Chiefs underused Kareem Hunt on Sunday and have nobody but themselves to blame for their Wild Card Round loss.

The Kansas City Chiefs collapsed, there is no nice way of putting it. Blowing an 18-point lead should not be considered anything other than this. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media on Sunday and expressed regret for not getting running back Kareem Hunt more involved in the gameplan.

"“So we have those RPOs [run-pass options] in there and some of what they were doing dictated a little bit more throws than the runs,” Reid said, via the team’s official website. “We started off with a nice little run there in the second half and then it tailed off there a little bit. Could we have called him more? Yeah, we look back at it and maybe we could have, maybe we could have handed it to him more. The three-and-outs were hurting us a little bit.”"

Hunt was a non-factor in the second half of the game. Kansas City ran 20 plays in the second half, with Hunt getting five carries. On three of those plays, Hunt struggled to find the open holes, gaining a yard or fewer.

For the game, he finished with 11 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. He also managed to catch three passes for five yards.

Chiefs’ fans have every right to be upset about Hunt’s lack of production. While watching the game, I was wondering the same thing myself. The NFL’s leading rusher was barely used at all in a crucial playoff game. The fact that they barely used him at all in the passing game was puzzling as well.

I can understand why they would be hesitant to go back to him on the ground. The Titans did a nice job of containing him. In that case, they should have used him more in the passing game. Whether it be a screen pass or a dump out to the flats, they could have used a variety of things to get him going.

Instead, they let him get cold and abandoned him in the gameplan. The Chiefs could have used him more especially considering the amount of decoys they possess. In Sunday’s case, the Titans had to worry about tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

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If I was Andy Reid, I would have used that to my advantage and seen if I could have gotten Hunt going. That could have opened up other possibilities on the field, as the defense would have had to worry about the threat of the running game.

Kareem Hunt was underused against the Titans Sunday, something that may have cost Kansas City a victory. The good news for Chiefs fans is that the future is still very bright.