Yahoo Movies Kansas City Chiefs’ snap counts from Washington game illustrate a defensive shakeup
The Chiefs overcame a sluggish first half and overwhelmed the Washington Football Team on Sunday at FedEx Field. After being down 13-10 through three quarters, the Chiefs scored 21 straight points to win 31-13.
The Chiefs shook up their starting rotation on defense, benching linebacker Ben Niemann and safety Daniel Sorensen in favor of linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and safety Juan Thornhill. The formula appeared to work, as Kansas City snapped four-game streak of allowing an opponent to score 30 or more points with a shutout in the second half.
Turnovers remained a problem, though. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw two more interceptions, bringing his season total to eight, while wide receiver Mecole Hardman lost a fumble.
Here’s how the Chiefs’ snap counts worked out Sunday.
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (82), Chad Henne (did not play)
Mahomes completed 32 of 47 passes for 397 yards and two touchdowns (with those two aforementioned picks) for a 90.5 passer rating, adding 31 yards rushing. Six of Mahomes’ completions went for 20 yards or more.
While Mahomes’ first interception wasn’t his fault, he took responsibility for the second pick, which killed a potential scoring drive deep in Washington territory.
RUNNING BACKS: Darrel Williams (59, 4 on special teams), Jerick McKinnon (23, 4 on ST), Derrick Gore (10 on ST), fullback Michael Burton (6, 13 on ST)
Williams drew his first career regular-season start in place of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who’s on injured reserve with a sprained MCL (knee). Williams paced the Chiefs’ ground attack with 62 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, adding 27 yards on three catches.
McKinnon ran for 10 yards on three carries and had one catch for 5 yards, while Gore contributed on special teams. Burton suffered a left pectoral injury in the game.
As a team, the Chiefs rushed for 109 yards on 28 carries, averaging 3.9 yards per attempt.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Demarcus Robinson (57), Mecole Hardman (49, 4 on ST), Tyreek Hill (47), Byron Pringle (32, 8 on ST), Josh Gordon (11), Marcus Kemp (6, 20 on ST)
Hill was in and out of the lineup — he was dealing with a quad injury — but collected 76 receiving yards on a team-high nine receptions. The speedy receiver was targeted a team-high 12 times.
The rest of the receivers group stepped up, too. Hardman grabbed four catches for 62 yards, including a 49-yard reception, and contributed on special teams with two punt returns for 56 yards; Robinson hauled in three catches for 46 yards and a touchdown, and Pringle had three catches for 55 yards and a kickoff return for 23 yards.
The Chiefs continued to ease Gordon in sparingly. He saw action on 11 offensive snaps a week after playing in nine.
“I think he’s just starting to get comfortable with this whole thing,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday. “We had him in for a couple few plays — I don’t know what it totaled — but he’ll be fine. We’ll just keep working though everything.”
Kemp had a team-high two tackles on special teams.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (67), Noah Gray (38, 17 on ST) Jody Fortson (10, 13 on ST)
Kelce, who was dealing a stinger he’d suffered in Week 5, battled through the injury for eight catches on 11 targets for 99 yards. The All-Pro tight end has now caught at least one ball in 116 straight games, the second-longest stretch in franchise history and the fourth-longest active streak in the NFL.
Fortson snared a 27-yard catch in the first quarter but suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in the third. Gray wasn’t targeted, but he should see an uptick in playing time with Fortson out and Blake Bell, who was inactive Sunday, dealing with a back injury.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Orlando Brown Jr. (82, 4 on ST), Joe Thuney (82), Creed Humphrey (82, 5 on ST), Trey Smith (82, 5 on ST), Mike Remmers (82), Andrew Wylie (4, 5 on ST), Lucas Niang (1, 5 on ST), Nick Allegretti (5 on ST)
Remmers started at right tackle in place of Niang, who had started the previous five games. Remmers and the Chiefs held their own against a stout Washington defensive line, and Remmers’ play in particular impressed his head coach.
“He was solid in there and I thought he really held his own,” Reid said. “That defensive line, I have a lot of respect for (Washington). There are a lot of first-round picks on that defensive line and they can rev it up and play pretty good. ...
“For his first outing, I thought Mike did a real nice job.”
Thuney had fractured his right hand in Week 5 but played the entire game with his hand in a brace.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Frank Clark (48), Jarran Reed (27), Mike Danna (35, 4 on ST), Tershawn Wharton (32, 4 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (31, 4 on ST), Alex Okafor (29, 4 on ST), Khalen Saunders (14), Demone Harris (7)
The Chiefs’ defensive line consistently harassed Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke. While their front four didn’t record a sack, they recorded seven quarterback hits: two each by Clark and Reed, one apiece by Okafor, Nnadi and Harris.
Danna, who started in place of Chris Jones Sunday, forced a fumble and Wharton intercepted a pass.
LINEBACKERS: Ben Niemann (43, 13 on ST), Nick Bolton (39, 5 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (18, 4 on ST), Anthony Hitchens (11, 1 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (20 on ST)
Bolton recorded a team-high nine tackles, including one tackle for a loss. Hitchens suffered an elbow injury, opening the door for Niemann to see more action as the game progressed. Gay started but saw the field on just 18 of the Chiefs’ 59 total defensive snaps. He made one tackle.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Tyrann Mathieu (59), L’Jarius Sneed (59, 4 on ST), Juan Thornhill (59), Rashad Fenton (59), Mike Hughes (47, 14 on ST), Daniel Sorensen (19, 8 on ST), Deandre Baker (6 on ST), Chris Lammons (20 on ST), Armani Watts (16 on ST)
Arguably the biggest change on defense occurred at the safety position, with Thornhill starting in place of Sorensen. The latter saw most of his action when the Chiefs were in dime personnel.
Thornhill played every defensive snap and made three tackles, one for a loss. More importantly, he helped limit WFT’s big plays.
A week after allowing seven plays of 20-plus yards against the Bills, the Chiefs limited Washington to just two. One went for a 39-yard touchdown catch by former Chiefs tight end Ricky Seals-Jones. The busted coverage there appeared to fall on Niemann.
Fenton drew another start at left cornerback in place of Charvarius Ward (quad), who hasn’t played since Week 2. Fenton recorded seven tackles and a team-high two passes defensed.
Mathieu had four tackles, while Sneed totaled four and a fumble recovery.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (11), Tommy Townsend (7), James Winchester (7)
Butker drilled a 52-yard field goal and converted four extra points. Townsend punted twice for 53 yards, averaging 26.5.
