ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Alex Smith has done some good things for the Kansas City Chiefs when running the ball in his four years with the team. But it usually isn’t a positive for the Chiefs when the veteran quarterback is their leading rusher in a game.
Smith was the Chiefs’ top runner in Friday’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers. To accomplish that, Smith needed just one carry for 10 yards.
Otherwise, the Chiefs’ running game was morbid in their first try of 2017. Removing Smith’s scramble from the equation, the Chiefs rushed 13 times for 21 yards.
The Chiefs didn’t put a great effort into it. They threw 30 times, revealing a greater emphasis on the passing game.
The lack of running success didn’t escape coach Andy Reid, who indicated the Chiefs would work harder to establish the run in their next preseason game on Saturday night against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
“We came in with the thought we wanted to throw the ball and get the quarterbacks some work in there since all four were going to play in this game,’’ Reid said of the 49ers game. “We got that part accomplished, but it took away from the run game a little bit. We saw enough from [Spencer] Ware and his ability to catch the football and run the football. We probably need to see a little more from [Kareem] Hunt and [Charcandrick] West and [C.J.] Spiller and [Devine] Redding down the way here.
“We’ll get that taken care of.’’
A lack of emphasis on the running game against the 49ers doesn’t change the fact that even when they tried to run, the Chiefs mostly just headed into a wall. Ware, the starting running back, did score on a 2-yard run but two of his other three carries went nowhere.
"Got to get in sync with the [offensive] line now,'' Ware said. "There is still work to be done. A lot of work to be done.”
He wasn't the only runner who struggled. Rookie Hunt has been getting some work with the starters but got just one handoff and gained nothing. The Chiefs had to settle for a field goal when West, twice needing one yard for a first down in the third quarter, had carries for no gain and minus-1 yard.
“We need to get bodies on bodies is what we’ve got to do, just identify the direction in which we’re going,’’ Reid said. “You’re always talking about identifying where the [middle linebacker] is and you kind of work to that person. We’ve got to do a better job of that and getting bodies on bodies, sustaining blocks.
“Some of those plays, we wouldn’t even run against [the 49ers] if you had time to game plan for them. We’re just kind of throwing our base stuff out there, so sometimes we ran into an overload, which we normally don’t do.’’
