Star power in the backfield with Todd Gurley, Kareem Hunt when Chiefs, Rams battle
Chiefs offensive coordinator and former NFL running back Eric Bieniemy was playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Detroit Lions were the opponent on this 1998 game in Pontiac, Mich., and Barry Sanders was having one of those games.
The Lions had the ball and, as Bieniemy remembered, Sanders “was putting on a show.”
On one play, Sanders appeared poised for a big gain, but the Bengals stopped him after 5 yards.
“I was (ticked) off, ‘Oh, they got him!’ I had to catch myself,” Bieniemy said.
But that’s how things work in the mutual admiration society, when players of the same position on different teams can applaud each other’s work.
So it could be on Monday Night Football at the running back position when the Chiefs meet the Los Angeles Rams. Opponents that share 9-1 records are bound to be loaded with star power, and no position may be more dynamic than running back.
Todd Gurley of the Rams and the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt are centerpiece players. Gurley tops the NFL with 988 rushing yards, 1,390 yards from scrimmage, 13 rushing touchdowns and 17 overall touchdowns.
Hunt, with 754 rushing yards, 1,091 overall yards, seven rushing and 13 overall touchdowns, ranks in the top five all those categories.
Here’s another one: Gurley leads the NFL in rushing yards after contact with 616. Hunt is second at 516.
Gurley and Hunt are similarly utilized but Gurley owns a bigger percentage of his team’s production.
He’s also the player most mentioned, along with Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, as the primary MVP candidate.
“Todd is the glue to this offense, and in a lot of ways the glue to his team,” said ESPN color commentator Jason Witten, the former Cowboys’ tight end. “You see him put the team on his back and he’s just as good as receiver and as a pass protector.”
This is the first regular-season meeting between Gurley and Hunt, but they competed for the NFL rushing title last year. Gurley went into the final weekend leading the league, but with the Rams’ playoff seed secure, he didn’t play.
Hunt played one snap in the Chiefs’ finale, scored a touchdown on a 35-yard run, and wound up with the top spot at 1,327. But it was Gurley, in his third NFL season, who was chosen All-Pro and AP Offensive Player of the Year.
In a game that matches the 22nd- (Chiefs) and 23rd-ranked rushing defenses, a mega statistical game could be there for both backs. It’s happened with both this season.
Gurley rushed for 208 yards in a victory at Denver. At New England, Hunt totaled 80 rushing and 105 receiving yards.
ESPN analyst Booger McFarland sees the possibility of a productive game for Hunt.
“When you have Kareem Hunt against a defensive front like (Ndamukong) Suh and Aaron Donald that want to get to the quarterback, the running game might be your best friend,” McFarland said.
The backs entered the NFL with a different set of expectations. Gurley, who had amassed 3,285 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns in three seasons at Georgia, was taken in the first round, No. 10 overall and the first running back, by the St. Louis Rams in 2015. Because of an injury, Gurley didn’t make his NFL debut until the third week but finished as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Hunt rushed for nearly 5,000 yards at Toledo and was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft and was the sixth running back selected. He was slated to open last season as a backup to Spencer Ware, until Ware went down with a season-ending knee injury in the preseason.
Gurley and Hunt stand among the best in the NFL, and if Bieniemy is right, they’ll keep an eye on each other on Monday.
“You can’t help but be a fan of one and other,” Bieniemy said. “That’s the unique aspect of being in this fraternity together. All these guys, they’re NFL players and they battle each other each and every week.
“When it’s all said and done these guys have a great deal of respect and admiration for each other.”
Blair Kerkhoff
Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.
