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Chiefs-Broncos: Making sense of snap counts

The Chiefs backup saw time on Thursday Night Football.

By Pete Sweeney and John Dixon
Kansas City Chiefs v Denver Broncos Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

The Kansas City Chiefs stopped a two-game losing streak in its tracks on Thursday night, defeating the Denver Broncos 30-6 and extending their record to 5-2. How did Chiefs players contribute?

Starters (offensive): WR Tyreek Hill, LT Cameron Erving, LG Martinas Rankin, C Austin Reiter, RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, RT Mitchell Schwartz, TE Travis Kelce, WR Mecole Hardman, RB LeSean McCoy, QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Blake Bell.

Starters (defensive): LDE Alex Okafor, LDT Khalen Saunders, RDT Derrick Nnadi, RDE Frank Clark, LB Anthony Hitchens, LB Damien Wilson, LB Reggie Ragland, RCB Charvarius Ward, LCB Bashaud Breeland, FS Juan Thornhill and SS Tyrann Mathieu.

Did not play: All active players appeared in the game

Inactive: WR Sammy Watkins, CB Kendall Fuller, RB Darwin Thompson, T Greg Senat, T Eric Fisher, G Andrew Wylie and DT Chris Jones.

Editor’s Note: Arrowhead Pride obtains snap count data from the NFL’s game stats and information system, which allows us to break out snap counts by run or pass on offensive and defensive plays. Because GSIS data ignores plays that were nullified by penalties, total offensive and defensive snap counts will vary from other sources, which get their data from NFL Gamebooks

Offense All Pass Run
Total 58
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 27
(100%)
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif 58
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 27
(100%)
Cameron Erving 58
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 27
(100%)
Austin Reiter 58
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 27
(100%)
Mitchell Schwartz 58
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 27
(100%)
Martinas Rankin 54
(93%)		 29
(94%)		 25
(93%)
Travis Kelce 52
(90%)		 31
(100%)		 21
(78%)
Tyreek Hill 50
(86%)		 29
(94%)		 21
(78%)
Demarcus Robinson 46
(79%)		 28
(90%)		 18
(67%)
Matt Moore 38
(66%)		 20
(65%)		 18
(67%)
Blake Bell 28
(48%)		 13
(42%)		 15
(56%)
Mecole Hardman 28
(48%)		 18
(58%)		 10
(37%)
LeSean McCoy 25
(43%)		 12
(39%)		 13
(48%)
Patrick Mahomes 20
(34%)		 11
(35%)		 9
(33%)
Damien Williams 17
(29%)		 8
(26%)		 9
(33%)
Darrel Williams 16
(28%)		 11
(35%)		 5
(19%)
Byron Pringle 13
(22%)		 4
(13%)		 9
(33%)
Anthony Sherman 12
(21%)		 1
(3%)		 11
(41%)
Stefen Wisniewski 4
(7%)		 2
(6%)		 2
(7%)
Nick Allegretti 2
(3%)		 0
(0%)		 2
(7%)
Deon Yelder 1
(2%)		 0
(0%)		 1
(4%)

Offensive takeaways

  • Because of the injury to starting QB Patrick Mahomes, backup Matt Moore ended up with about two-thirds of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps (38 for 66 percent).
  • RB LeSean McCoy led Chiefs running backs in offensive snaps (25), and the play-calling was more balanced with him on the field than it has been lately. McCoy saw 12 pass plays and 13 run plays.
  • OL Stefen Wisniewski (4) and rookie OL Nick Allegretti (2) mixed in for a few snaps.

Defense All Pass Run
Total 64
(100%)		 42
(100%)		 22
(100%)
Charvarius Ward 63
(98%)		 42
(100%)		 21
(95%)
Tyrann Mathieu 62
(97%)		 42
(100%)		 20
(91%)
Juan Thornhill 60
(94%)		 42
(100%)		 18
(82%)
Frank Clark 49
(77%)		 35
(83%)		 14
(64%)
Tanoh Kpassagnon 48
(75%)		 33
(79%)		 15
(68%)
Alex Okafor 48
(75%)		 33
(79%)		 15
(68%)
Bashaud Breeland 41
(64%)		 27
(64%)		 14
(64%)
Emmanuel Ogbah 41
(64%)		 29
(69%)		 12
(55%)
Daniel Sorensen 40
(63%)		 32
(76%)		 8
(36%)
Rashad Fenton 36
(56%)		 28
(67%)		 8
(36%)
Ben Niemann 32
(50%)		 27
(64%)		 5
(23%)
Damien Wilson 32
(50%)		 15
(36%)		 17
(77%)
Anthony Hitchens 31
(48%)		 15
(36%)		 16
(73%)
Derrick Nnadi 30
(47%)		 15
(36%)		 15
(68%)
Khalen Saunders 26
(41%)		 10
(24%)		 16
(73%)
Reggie Ragland 24
(38%)		 14
(33%)		 10
(45%)
Morris Claiborne 22
(34%)		 15
(36%)		 7
(32%)
Terrell McClain 10
(16%)		 5
(12%)		 5
(23%)
Jordan Lucas 4
(6%)		 2
(5%)		 2
(9%)
Darron Lee 2
(3%)		 0
(0%)		 2
(9%)
Armani Watts 2
(3%)		 0
(0%)		 2
(9%)

Defensive takeaways

  • No iron men on Thursday night—CB Charvarius Ward came the closest with 63 of the 64 defensive snaps.
  • S Daniel Sorensen (40) and CB Rashad Fenton (36) saw extended time. With slot CB Kendall Fuller out of the lineup, Fenton even played more than CB Mo Claiborne, who had just 22 defensive snaps.
  • LB Ben Niemman still out-snapped LB Anthony Hitchens in Hitchens’ return to the lineup, 32-31.
  • LB Reggie Ragland had by far the most defensive snaps he has seen this season — 24. LB Darron Lee was only on the field for two defensive snaps.

Special Teams Snaps
Total 31
(100%)
Jordan Lucas 25
(81%)
Dorian O'Daniel 25
(81%)
Rashad Fenton 23
(74%)
Byron Pringle 23
(74%)
Armani Watts 23
(74%)
Anthony Sherman 21
(68%)
Darron Lee 16
(52%)
Daniel Sorensen 16
(52%)
De'Anthony Thomas 16
(52%)
Blake Bell 15
(48%)
Darrel Williams 14
(45%)
Harrison Butker 13
(42%)
Dustin Colquitt 12
(39%)
James Winchester 12
(39%)
Ben Niemann 10
(32%)
Charvarius Ward 10
(32%)
Tanoh Kpassagnon 7
(23%)
Nick Allegretti 6
(19%)
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif 6
(19%)
Martinas Rankin 6
(19%)
Austin Reiter 6
(19%)
Mitchell Schwartz 6
(19%)
Stefen Wisniewski 6
(19%)
Deon Yelder 6
(19%)
Reggie Ragland 4
(13%)
Mecole Hardman 3
(10%)
Demarcus Robinson 3
(10%)
Anthony Hitchens 2
(6%)
Derrick Nnadi 2
(6%)
Emmanuel Ogbah 2
(6%)
Alex Okafor 2
(6%)

Special teams takeaways

  • The Chiefs were happy to get LB Dorian O’Daniel back in the lineup, as he shared the lead with S Jordan Lucas for special-teams snaps (25).

All Snaps Off Def ST Total
Total 58
(100%)		 64
(100%)		 31
(100%)		 153
(100%)
Nick Allegretti 2
(3%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 8
(5%)
Blake Bell 28
(48%)		 0
(0%)		 15
(48%)		 43
(28%)
Bashaud Breeland 0
(0%)		 41
(64%)		 0
(0%)		 41
(27%)
Harrison Butker 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 13
(42%)		 13
(8%)
Morris Claiborne 0
(0%)		 22
(34%)		 0
(0%)		 22
(14%)
Frank Clark 0
(0%)		 49
(77%)		 0
(0%)		 49
(32%)
Dustin Colquitt 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 12
(39%)		 12
(8%)
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif 58
(100%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 64
(42%)
Cameron Erving 58
(100%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 58
(38%)
Rashad Fenton 0
(0%)		 36
(56%)		 23
(74%)		 59
(39%)
Mecole Hardman 28
(48%)		 0
(0%)		 3
(10%)		 31
(20%)
Tyreek Hill 50
(86%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 50
(33%)
Anthony Hitchens 0
(0%)		 31
(48%)		 2
(6%)		 33
(22%)
Travis Kelce 52
(90%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 52
(34%)
Tanoh Kpassagnon 0
(0%)		 48
(75%)		 7
(23%)		 55
(36%)
Darron Lee 0
(0%)		 2
(3%)		 16
(52%)		 18
(12%)
Jordan Lucas 0
(0%)		 4
(6%)		 25
(81%)		 29
(19%)
Patrick Mahomes 20
(34%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 20
(13%)
Tyrann Mathieu 0
(0%)		 62
(97%)		 0
(0%)		 62
(41%)
Terrell McClain 0
(0%)		 10
(16%)		 0
(0%)		 10
(7%)
LeSean McCoy 25
(43%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 25
(16%)
Matt Moore 38
(66%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 38
(25%)
Ben Niemann 0
(0%)		 32
(50%)		 10
(32%)		 42
(27%)
Derrick Nnadi 0
(0%)		 30
(47%)		 2
(6%)		 32
(21%)
Dorian O'Daniel 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 25
(81%)		 25
(16%)
Emmanuel Ogbah 0
(0%)		 41
(64%)		 2
(6%)		 43
(28%)
Alex Okafor 0
(0%)		 48
(75%)		 2
(6%)		 50
(33%)
Byron Pringle 13
(22%)		 0
(0%)		 23
(74%)		 36
(24%)
Reggie Ragland 0
(0%)		 24
(38%)		 4
(13%)		 28
(18%)
Martinas Rankin 54
(93%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 60
(39%)
Austin Reiter 58
(100%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 64
(42%)
Demarcus Robinson 46
(79%)		 0
(0%)		 3
(10%)		 49
(32%)
Khalen Saunders 0
(0%)		 26
(41%)		 0
(0%)		 26
(17%)
Mitchell Schwartz 58
(100%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 64
(42%)
Anthony Sherman 12
(21%)		 0
(0%)		 21
(68%)		 33
(22%)
Daniel Sorensen 0
(0%)		 40
(63%)		 16
(52%)		 56
(37%)
De'Anthony Thomas 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 16
(52%)		 16
(10%)
Juan Thornhill 0
(0%)		 60
(94%)		 0
(0%)		 60
(39%)
Charvarius Ward 0
(0%)		 63
(98%)		 10
(32%)		 73
(48%)
Armani Watts 0
(0%)		 2
(3%)		 23
(74%)		 25
(16%)
Damien Williams 17
(29%)		 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 17
(11%)
Darrel Williams 16
(28%)		 0
(0%)		 14
(45%)		 30
(20%)
Damien Wilson 0
(0%)		 32
(50%)		 0
(0%)		 32
(21%)
James Winchester 0
(0%)		 0
(0%)		 12
(39%)		 12
(8%)
Stefen Wisniewski 4
(7%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 10
(7%)
Deon Yelder 1
(2%)		 0
(0%)		 6
(19%)		 7
(5%)

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