Following the Kansas City Chiefs' 18-point collapse Saturday to the Tennessee Titans, the outcry from observers rang clear: Why in the name of St. Pete didn't Kareem Hunt get more carries?
The Chiefs built a 21-3 halftime lead that dwindled away in the final two quarters, yet Hunt toted the rock just 11 times on the day for 42 yards. The NFL's leading rusher was handed just five carries in the second half.
On Sunday, Reid explained the factors that led to his top back not seeing a boatload of totes with a big lead.
"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."
The Chiefs' offense ran just 20 plays in the second half, with Hunt seeing carries on 25 percent of those snaps. Of his five second-half carries, the rookie runner earned one or fewer yard on three.
A confluence of factors led to the K.C. not giving Hunt the ball more. One was the lack of positive plays. A second was the Titans solid front seven stacking the line once tight end Travis Kelce exited with a concussion. A third was the inability of the Chiefs' defense to stop the Titans' offense (converted 7 of 8 on third down in the second half).
It's easy in hindsight to scream about the NFL's leading rusher only seeing 11 carries on the day. The reasons it happened tell the tale of another major let-down for Reid's team.