Kareem Hunt stormed into the spotlight in last season’s NFL opener, with 246 total yards and three touchdowns against the Super Bowl champion Patriots on national TV. It was all gravy from there, as the Kansas City Chiefs' 2017 third-round draft pick led the league in rushing.
Hunt had been awesome again this season, with 824 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground through 11 games. He was ready to feast on the league’s worst run defense Sunday at the Coliseum, but he won’t have the chance.
The Chiefs released the running back Friday after a video of him shoving and kicking a woman during a Feb. 10 incident in a Cleveland apartment/hotel surfaced online.
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SIGN UP HERE The Chiefs’ on-field product is worse without Hunt, who also had 26 catches for 378 yards and seven more TDs. They’re still a formidable scoring machine with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce executing coach Andy Reid’s dynamic scheme.
The aforementioned players are heavily involved in the passing game. The Chiefs, however, still should be able to run.
[RATTO: Hunt story just the latest in troubling NFL series]
Backup-turned-starter Spencer Ware hasn’t seen much action -- Hunt was a true featured back -- but he has averaged 5.6 yards on his 22 carries this season. He was the team's primary back in 2016, with 921 rushing yards as a backup-turned-starter following Jamaal Charles’ knee troubles.
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So, Ware’s track record and the steadily churning Chiefs offensive machine should make this a difficult matchup for the Raiders.
Even if there’s a dark cloud over the team after all this Hunt controversy, the talent disparity between these AFC West rivals is big enough that the Chiefs still could sail to victory. The Raiders, at 2-9, are 14-point underdogs heading into this game -- it dropped one point after Friday's news hit -- and face an uphill battle to beat the 9-2 AFC powerhouse from Kansas City.