The Kansas City Chiefs came back from 21 to beat the San Diego Chargers, 33-27. I didn’t expect Week 1 to go into overtime but here we are.
Let’s take a look at the offensive and defensive snaps for the Chiefs. Note that these don’t include special teams snaps. These counts are from the NFL.
QB Alex Smith: 71
Nick Foles dressed but Tyler Bray did not.
OT Mitch Schwartz: 71
OT Eric Fisher: 71
G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif: 71
G Parker Ehinger: 71
C Mitch Morse: 71
71 plays is a nice offensive day. Alex Smith was sacked three times but I couldn’t tell if those were coverage sacks or Alex was holding onto the ball too long. The interior line had some issues now and again so there is something to work on but when the Chiefs needed it down the stretch the pocket was clean.
WR Jeremy Maclin: 65
WR Chris Conley: 61
WR Albert Wilson: 49
WR Tyreek Hill: 10
Maclin may not have missed any snaps if not for the big hit from known head hunter Jahleel Addae. Conley is the clear No. 2 in this offense. We knew that but the snaps in a real game bear it out. Meanwhile, Tyreek gets in just 10 snaps and scores a touchdown. De’Anthony Thomas was inactive for this game. The Chiefs went just four receivers deep here while Demarcus Robinson played special teams.
RB Charcandrick West: 34
RB Spencer Ware: 34
FB Anthony Sherman: 1
Would you believe me if I told you that Ware and West played the same number of snaps? Maybe not. These NFL snap counts can include some errors sometimes and I’m pretty sure Ware played a few more snaps than West. But let’s just go with this. Ware was productive. He put 199 yards of offense - 11 carries for 70 yards and seven catches for 129 (!!) yards. Sherman played 23 special teams snaps.
TE Travis Kelce: 62
TE Demetrius Harris: 28
TE Ross Travis: 11
Maclin and Kelce had the most snaps for skill position players. Makes sense, right? They’re your two best receivers. Demetrius Harris had two catches for 20 yards. He’s obviously been getting better. His progression has been cool to see because he came in so raw. Then to the third tight end, Ross Travis, who had 11 snaps. There were some three tight end sets. Fourth tight end James O’Shaughnessy saw special teams snaps.
S Eric Berry: 73
S Ron Parker: 72
S Daniel Sorensen: 18
Eric Berry played ever snap. I’m a little surprised at that considering he missed all of the preseason. Ron Parker was close with 72 of 73 snaps. Daniel Sorensen is your Tyvon Branch / Husain Abdullah this year as the third safety on subpackages. Rookie Eric Murray played a ton of special teams but no defensive snaps according to these snap counts.
CB Marcus Peters: 72
CB Steven Nelson: 70
CB Phillip Gaines: 51
CB DJ White: 1
Did Steven Nelson really play that many snaps? Geez. It didn’t seem like that many. I remember DJ White’s one snap. It was a pass to his side and he demolished his man for the tackle. Note that DJ White was active over third round pick KeiVarae Russell. That’s impressive.
LB Derrick Johnson: 73
LB Dee Ford: 54
LB Frank Zombo: 50
LB Tamba Hali: 42
LB Justin March: 41
DJ is the other one to play every snap. Dee Ford added a sack in this game. Tamba Hali was playing mostly on passing downs that I saw. Are they just working him back slowly? Or is this the Tamba we’re going to see this year?
NT Dontari Poe: 55
DE Allen Bailey: 52
DE Jaye Howard: 48
DE Chris Jones: 12
DE Nick Williams: 8
Another interesting one: Chris Jones. I thought he might have a bigger role but there are only so many chances when you’re playing with two down linemen so often. I’m not totally sure how they get him a lot of snaps this year.