Chiefs-Panthers: Making sense of snap counts

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Carolina Panthers 33-31 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Let’s take a look at how the team used its players in Week 9:

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Starters (offensive): WR Tyreek Hill, LT Eric Fisher, LG Nick Allegretti, C Austin Reiter, RG Andrew Wylie, RT Mike Remmers, WR Mecole Hardman, WR Demarcus Robinson, TE Travis Kelce, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Starters (defensive): LDE Tanoh Kpassagnon, RDT Derrick Nnadi, LDT Chris Jones, RDE Frank Clark, LB Anthony Hitchens, LB Damien Wilson, LCB Charvarius Ward, RCB Bashaud Breeland, SS Daniel Sorensen, FS Juan Thornhill and CB Tyrann Mathieu.

Did not play: QB Chad Henne.

Inactive: WR Sammy Watkins, S Tedric Thompson, LB Darius Harris, DE Demone Harris, T Mitchell Schwartz, TE Ricky Seals-Jones and DT Khalen Saunders

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

Offensive takeaways

After being injured, right tackle Mike Remmers — himself filling in for Mitchell Schwartz — was out for 11 offensive plays. Undrafted rookie Yasir Durant stepped in for those snaps. Otherwise, the line was intact for all of the offensive plays.

For the first time this season, it was a real running back by committee — but Darwin Thompson wasn’t invited to the meeting. Clyde Edwards-Helaire still had the most snaps, but Le’Veon Bell and Darrel Williams were right behind him. Thompson was used only on special teams.

Tight end Travis Kelce was on the field for the greatest percentage of snaps he’s had since Week 1.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill also saw his highest use since the first week of the season. Mecole Hardman was steady, Demarcus Robinson was used a bit more and Byron Pringle’s use declined. Gehrig Dieter — elevated from the practice squad for this game — saw his first snaps of the season, but they were all on special teams.

Defensive takeaways

As usual, Tyrann Mathieu, Daniel Sorensen, Charvarius Ward and Bashaud Breeland were on the field for nearly every defensive snap. Just as in last week’s game against the New York Jets, Juan Thornhill came in as a third safety on 84% of the snaps — mostly on pass plays.

Once again, Frank Clark and Tanoh Kpassagnon were the mainstays at defensive end. Rookie Michael Danna continued to get work — but not as much as you might expect, considering that Taco Charlton missed most of the game after being injured.

Without Charlton, the Chiefs simply got put their defensive tackles on the field a bit more often. Rookie Tershawn Wharton continued to get plenty of snaps, while Mike Pennel’s use declined in Week 9.

Linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson were both used less often than we usually see. Meanwhile, rookie Willie Gay Jr.’s snaps remained steady, while Ben Niemann was used more than he had been for a number of games.