Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Players To Watch Against The Pittsburgh Steelers

Kareem Hunt

The last two times the Kansas City Chiefs have faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Andy Reid has gone completely away from the running game. During the 2016 playoff game, starting running back, Spencer Ware was handed the ball only eight times. Last season, Kareem Hunt was barely given a chance just getting nine carries.

Not establishing the running game has hurt Kansas City. It allowed Pittsburgh to control the game with their running attack that destroyed the Chiefs defense. If the Chiefs want a good shot at winning against the Steelers, they cannot shy away from the run game.

Last week, the running game never fully got going. That wasn’t necessarily due to lack of effort as the Chiefs ran the ball 16 times with Kareem Hunt. Pittsburgh has a strong interior defensive line which will be hard to manage. It could mean more jet sweeps and outside zone runs, but getting that part of the game going could limit significantly how many snaps Orlando Scandrick is paired up with Antonio Brown.

It’s evident that the run game not being established had put too much on Alex Smith’s shoulders in previous games against the Steelers. While Patrick Mahomes proved that he could lift this offense without the running game, the Chiefs need to be in control of the clock in this matchup.