KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The contact initially arrived about half a yard behind the line of scrimmage on a must-have-it play, and make no mistake, Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt instigated it.

He didn’t have much of a choice — on fourth-and-1, his running lane disappeared before his quarterback even gave him the football.

That’s the backdrop for a 3-yard gain.

And yet the backdrop to one of the most important plays of the Chiefs’ playoff win Saturday against the Houston Texans.

Oh, and the backdrop for what Hunt has made look routine: short-yardage conversions.

There was a time when one yard seemed more like a mile for a team that refuses to run a quarterback sneak or its new-era version, the Tush Push. But on third- or fourth-and-short this season, Hunt has converted 16 of his 19 attempts, a rate of 84.3%.

Who needs the Tush Push? Hunt’s conversion rate is actually better than the Eagles’ form of quarterback sneak, and the Eagles run that so successfully than some once called for its ban.

“He’s got a low center of gravity, and he’s got great vision and lateral cutting ability, so that fits in well with your short-yardage game,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said.

A pretty good fit for any run on Saturday.

In his first playoff game in Kansas City in seven years — and I’d encourage you to read Jesse Newell’s story on the emotions of those seven years — Hunt carried the ball eight times for 44 yards and a touchdown.

But there is some particular context to those numbers worth noting. He had all of two carries (for five yards) through three quarters. Nearly non-existent in the game plan.

Then, the plan. Hunt all but iced the game with back-to-back runs of 11 and 12 yards deep into the fourth quarter.

It’s prompted a natural question these last couple of days: Why wait until the fourth quarter? Why not just allow Hunt to reclaim the bell-cow role he enjoyed when starter Isiah Pacheco was sidelined with a leg injury?

Well, it’s just really not that simple.

Pacheco has indeed struggled since returning from that leg injury that kept him out for two months. He has rushed 54 times for 193 yards (3.6 per attempt), and 34 of those yards came on one carry.

But it’s not as though Hunt has been a revelation. His numbers, in fact, have been worse over the same time frame: 45 carries for 151 yards (3.4 per attempt).

There is a very specific role in which Hunt has to play. It’s the role we already mentioned. He excels in short yardage, and that includes goal-to-go spots.

But should he be the guy all the time?

It’s a misconception to believe that switch will solve a Chiefs running game that has vanished over the last month — a misconception to believe the crux of their running game is debate between which runner.

It’s a debate between which left tackle.

See, there’s a consequence of feeling as though the Chiefs have solidified the passing pocket by moving Joe Thuney to left tackle. The run game, the early-season strength of a grind-it-out offense, has taken a severe hit.

In more than half of their initial 13 games — during which Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith comprised a wall along the interior of the line — the Chiefs posted rush success rates of at least 45%.

That’s a measure of the frequency of the running plays that keep an offense on schedule — so at least 40% of the required yardage on first down, half on second down and moving the chains on third-or fourth-down rush attempts. Through 13 games, the Chiefs rated as one of the best five teams in football in rush success rate.

Since moving Thuney to left tackle, that’s changed, even if on the margins, and even if the change might still be worth cementing the pass protection. But they haven’t topped 45% once in four tries. They still didn’t get there Saturday, even with Hunt’s final-quarter surge.

It was 7 for 13.

Then 0 for 4.

It turns out that when you ask an All-Pro guard to move out of his position, the production there can shift too — and, again, that’s still while believing that move is still that best one. It just has its reverberations.

The job got harder for Hunt and Pacheco both.

Hunt was really good late Saturday anyway. He certainly did look more reliable than Pacheco. The calls for a reversal of roles isn’t without reason. But to think one quarter of football provides enough proof that his presence in the backfield alone can be a solution is missing the bigger picture.

And some added context, for that matter.

For all the talk of Travis Kelce benefiting from some rest — accurate, by the way — Hunt is on the same list. He was fresh. It doesn’t require deep analysis to access why he looked a bit faster. It’s not just that he hadn’t played in 24 days — but the light workload for the three quarters has to factor into what we saw late. A contact-seeking halfback running on fresh legs against a tired defense in the fourth quarter is an attractive formula.

Hunt needs to continue to be part of the formula. A major part, in some cases.

But part.

Not all.

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