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The Chiefs offense had 86 snaps while the Chiefs defense had just 49. Yet the Chiefs still lost to the Broncos, 24-17.
The Chiefs lost Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry in Sunday's game and those are reflected in the snap counts. Charles had just five snaps before heading out with is ankle sprain and was replaced by Knile Davis who ended up with 67 snaps. He ran the ball on about a third of those (22 carries, 79 yards). Meanwhile, Berry was replaced by cornerback Ron Parker, who was rushed into a role at safety. Berry played just 16 snaps before stepping out and Parker replaced him at safety for the remaining 33 snaps.
Rotoworld's Evan Silva wrote before the game that "if Kelce doesn't get 35 snaps tonight, I'm gonna lose it." So, so close. Kelce ended the Chiefs-Broncos game with 32 snaps on offense. He also added four snaps on special teams. This is a step up from his 17 snaps last week when he caught three balls for 49 yards. With 32 snaps this week, Kelce caught four passes for 81 yards. As I wrote last week, keep giving him the ball.
Also:
According to @PFF, Travis Kelce was KC's best run blocker yesterday (+1.2). On a related note, GET THIS MAN MORE SNAPS!!!
— Chris Sembower (@ChrisSembower) September 15, 2014
Here are last week's snap count observations. This week's are below. (Note: Numbers provided by the NFL.)
OFFENSE
| Position | Player | Snaps |
| QB | Alex Smith | 86 |
| OT | Eric Fisher | 86 |
| OT | Ryan Harris | 86 |
| G | Zach Fulton | 86 |
| G | Mike McGlynn | 86 |
| C | Rodney Hudson | 86 |
| TE | Anthony Fasano | 79 |
| WR | Dwayne Bowe | 72 |
| WR | Donnie Avery | 68 |
| RB | Knile Davis | 67 |
| WR | Junior Hemingway | 34 |
| TE | Travis Kelce | 32 |
| WR | AJ Jenkins | 24 |
| FB | Anthony Sherman | 24 |
| RB | Cyrus Gray | 14 |
| WR | Frankie Hammond | 8 |
| RB | Jamaal Charles | 5 |
| TE | Demetrius Harris | 3 |
- Cyrus Gray got in on 14 snaps with Jamaal Charles out of the game.
- Demetrius Harris logged his first NFL reception on his three snaps.
- Junior Hemingway settled in as the third receiver with 10 more snaps than AJ Jenkins.
- The entire offensive line played every snap.
- Frankie Hammond had 54 snaps last week (with Bowe out) compared to eight this week.
- Anthony Sherman was up from six snaps last week to 24 this week. I remember him destroying a blocker on one play.
DEFENSE
| Position | Player | Snaps |
| CB | Sean Smith | 49 |
| CB | Marcus Cooper | 49 |
| CB | Ron Parker | 33 |
| CB | Chris Owens | 22 |
| DE | Allen Bailey | 45 |
| DE | Jaye Howard | 19 |
| DE | Kevin Vickerson | 12 |
| DT | Vance Walker | 8 |
| LB | Justin Houston | 49 |
| LB | Josh Mauga | 49 |
| LB | James Michael-Johnson | 41 |
| LB | Tamba Hali | 39 |
| LB | Dee Ford | 6 |
| LB | Josh Martin | 4 |
| NT | Dontari Poe | 42 |
| S | Husain Abdullah | 49 |
| S | Eric Berry | 16 |
| S | Kurt Coleman | 6 |
| S | Kelcie McCray | 1 |
- No Phillip Gaines in this game, even with Parker playing safety and not cornerback.
- After one snap (and one sack) last week, Vance Walker gets eight snaps this week. This is a free agent with a three-year deal, by the way.
- Dee Ford: six snaps. Up from three last week.
- Tamba Hali took 10 snaps off. He entered the game with an injured knee and ankle. He was replaced by a combo of Dee Ford and Josh Martin.
- New Chief Kevin Vickerson logged 12 snaps, including blowing up the Broncos' Montee Ball in the backfield on one play. He supposedly knew that play was coming.
- Dontari Poe took seven snaps off, which is a little unusual for him.