The Pittsburgh Steelers are out of Latrobe and back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, also referred to as the South Side Facility. We are already into the regular season, where everything is magnified and, you know, actually counts. The team is working through the highs and lows and dramas that go through a typical Steelers season.
How are the rookies performing? What about the players that the team signed in free agency? Who is missing time with injuries, and when are they going to be back? What are the coaches saying about what they are going to do this season that might be different from how it was a year ago?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: How much will the fall of Kareem Hunt hurt the Kansas City Chiefs’ ability to secure the number one seed?
I’m sure you heard what happened yesterday. Over the course of the evening, it was revealed that Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt was involved in an incident with a woman in a hotel back in February in which he kicked and shoved her. Kansas City would ultimately release him.
Hunt led the league in rushing yards last season and was among the league leaders this year as well. He had seven rushing touchdowns and seven receiving touchdowns as well with just over 1200 yards from scrimmage.
The Chiefs hadn’t really used anybody else at the running back position, with Patrick Mahomes being their second-leading rusher. Obviously Spencer Ware will become their number one back from this point forward. He has just 22 carries on the season but has rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown, adding 14 receptions for 165 yards.
Ware missed the 2017 season due to injury but was the Chiefs’ top back in 2016. He rushed for 921 yards that year and added another 447 yards receiving. For his career, he has over 2000 yards from scrimmage with 10 touchdowns.
So how much does this affect the Chiefs’ offense? Is it enough for them to worry about losing another game or two they might not have lost if they still had him? For the Steelers’ interests, for the record, they would have to lose not one but two more game for it to make a difference for them.
