Chiefs-Falcons snap counts: Darrel Williams is top back; Gay gets a lot of work

The Kansas City Chiefs clinched the single AFC postseason bye — and guaranteed the best record in franchise history — by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 17-14 on Sunday afternoon.

Let’s see how the Chiefs used their players in this important win:

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Starters (offensive): WR Tyreek Hill, LT Eric Fisher, LG Nick Allegretti, C Austin Reiter, RG Andrew Wylie, RT Mike Remmers, TE Travis Kelce, TE Mecole Hardman, WR Sammy Watkins, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Le’Veon Bell.

Starters (defensive): LDE Tanoh Kpassagnon, LDT Chris Jones, RDT Derrick Nnadi, RDE Frank Clark, LB Ben Niemann, LB Willie Gay Jr., LB Darius Harris, LCB Charvarius Ward, RCB Bashaud Breeland, FS Daniel Sorensen and SS Tyrann Mathieu.

Did not play: QB Chad Henne.

Inactive: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, CB BoPete Keyes, CB Deandre Baker, LB Damien Wilson, T Martinas Rankin, DE Tim Ward and DT Khalen Saunders.

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Offensive takeaways

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After the Week 16 game against the New Orleans Saints — for which backup right tackle Mike Remmers wasn’t available — the Chiefs opted to return to the previous normal, starting Eric Fisher, Nick Allegretti, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wyile and Remmers on the offensive line. After suffering an injury late in the game, Reiter gave way to Daniel Kilgore for four plays. Otherwise — as usual — the line stayed together for every snap.

At tight end, Travis Kelce had snaps in the normal range — even after being shaken up on a play. Nick Keizer and Deon Yelder’s snaps were both down a bit from Week 16. Ricky Seals-Jones — active for the first time since Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills — took up the slack on offense and played a significant number of special teams snaps.

Among wide receivers, Tyreek Hill’s use was down a bit from normal — especially on running plays — after he spent the week nursing a hamstring injury. Sammy Watkins was used a little less than normal; he left the game in the fourth quarter with a calf injury. Mecole Hardman (and to a lesser extent Demarcus Robinson) took up most of the slack; Byron Pringle was on the field for just 11% of the offensive snaps.

We probably had our biggest surprise at running back. With starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire out, we expected that Le’Veon Bell would get the lion’s share of snaps. But after Bell was shaken up on a play early in the game, Darrel Williams came in — and took the lead. Here’s how head coach Andy Reid put it after the game: “Le’Veon got kind of banged up there for a second and [Williams] stepped in and did a heck of a job — took advantage of the opportunity — so that was a real plus for him.” Meanwhile, Darwin Thompson was used only on special teams.

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Defensive takeaways

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As we typically see, safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorensen — along with cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Bashaud Breeland — were in for every defensive snap. L’Jarius Sneed settled in for what looks like his new normal at nickel corner: something above 70% of the snaps — mostly on passing downs. Safety Juan Thornhill was used only on passing downs, while cornerback Rashad Fenton played only on special teams.

Starting linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson were both out Sunday. Then Ben Niemann left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Rookies Willie Gay Jr. and Darius Harris took the load. Gay saw his largest use on defense this season, while Harris had his first use. Omari Cobb — elevated from the practice squad on Saturday — had 15% of the defensive snaps. Most of them were on rushing downs.

Along the defensive line, there was little to raise anyone’s eyebrows. All of the defensive ends and tackles saw use that was well within their normal ranges.

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Data

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Offense

Defense

Special Teams

All Snaps

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