On Week 14’s “Sunday Night Football,” the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 19-17. Let’s see how Kansas City used its players as it clinched the AFC West.
Starters (offensive): WR DeAndre Hopkins, TE Noah Gray, LT D.J. Humphries, LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Jawaan Taylor, TE Travis Kelce, WR Xavier Worthy, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Isiah Pacheco.
Starters (defensive): DE George Karlaftis, DT Chris Jones, DT Mike Pennel, DE Michael Danna, LB Nick Bolton, LB Drue Tranquill, LB Leo Chenal, CB Trent McDuffie, CB Joshua Williams, S Justin Reid and S Bryan Cook.
Did not play: QB Carson Wentz.
Inactive: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, LB Joshua Uche, OL C.J. Hanson, OT Ethan Driskell, T Kingsley Suamataia, DT Marlon Tuipulotu and DE Malik Herring.
The big takeaway
Following Isiah Pacheco’s second game back from injury, let’s consider how the Chiefs have used their running backs this season.
This data shows that Samaje Perine has been used primarily on passing plays throughout 2024. Except for the first two games, he’s been on the field for 20-40% of the offensive snaps. This is similar to what we saw in 2023, when Pacheco was primarily on the field for running plays and Jerrick McKinnon was typically used on passing plays.
That’s what we’ve seen since Pacheco has returned from injury, too. But in the season’s first two games, there was a smaller difference between his snap percentages on running and passing plays.
As you see here, pretty much the same thing happened when Carson Steele and Kareem Hunt were the starting running backs in Pacheco’s absence; they tended to be used mostly on running plays while Perine was emphasized on passing downs.
But take note: as Hunt’s total use naturally decreased upon Pacheco’s return, his tendency toward running plays has also decreased.
Does this reveal a plan? It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from differences we saw in Weeks 1-2 and Weeks 13-14; we’ll have to see if these trends continue. But it appears that as the season began, the Chiefs wanted to use Pacheco in more of an every-down role. After his injury, however, Steele and Hunt went back to the pattern we saw with Pacheco in 2023. Now that all three backs are healthy. the team appears to be using Hunt in the role it originally planned for Pacheco.
We’ll see how it plays out.
Offensive takeaways
While most of the Chiefs’ and Chargers’ statistics were remarkably similar on Sunday, Kansas City held the ball in 53% of the game’s plays — even though Los Angeles had a slight edge in time of possession. The Chiefs have held the ball for at least 50% of the plays in all but one of its 2024 wins.
After passing on 76% of its plays against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13, Kansas City returned to more familiar territory against the Chargers. The Chiefs were more or less back to the norm, passing on 65% of its offensive plays.
Left tackle D.J. Humphries ended up with 86% of the offensive snaps after being injured with a little less than four minutes remaining in the game. Wanya Morris took his place for all but 9 snaps of Kansas City’s 14-play, 4:35 drive. The rest of the starting offensive linemen — Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Jawaan Taylor — were on the field for every offensive play. Mike Caliendo (2%) played a single snap — an important one — reporting as eligible for Isiah Pacheco’s successful third-and-1 carry during the final drive.
At tight end, it was business as usual for Travis Kelce (82%) and Noah Gray (63%). If he ends up having a long NFL career, we’ll always remember that Baylor Cupp got a target on his first offensive snap — and dropped it. He was in for 9% of the offensive plays.
Among the wideouts, Xavier Worthy (83%) had his highest use of the season, while Justin Watson (49%) had another week with fewer than half the offensive snaps. DeAndre Hopkins (52%) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (51%) were both in their normal ranges. Nikko Remigio was in for 35% of the special teams plays, but did get on the field with the offense.
Defensive takeaways
Among the safeties, Justin Reid (100%) was in for every defensive snap. But Bryan Cook (79%) had his lowest defensive usage of the season while setting a second-high (35%) for special teams plays. That was way above his previous high of 8%. Jaden Hicks (42%) took his place on those snaps — and more — recording his highest use of the season on defense and a seasonal-low on special teams; it looks very much as if Cook took Hicks’ snaps on coordinator Dave Toub’s units. Chamarri Conner (74%) played his usual role — primarily as a slot cornerback.
Among the actual cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie (100%) was in for every defensive play. Joshua Williams (63%), Nazeeh Johnson (23%) and Keith Taylor (14%) divvied up the work playing across from McDuffie. Most of Taylor’s defensive snaps came after Williams was injured early in the fourth quarter.
At linebacker, Nick Bolton (91%), Drue Tranquill (88%) and Leo Chenal (40%) were in their normal ranges of use.
On the outside of the defensive line, there was little change with George Karlaftis (86%), Michael Danna (61%), Charles Omenihu (39%) and Felix Anudike-Uzomah (21%). Malik Herring and Joshua Uche were both inactive for this game.
On the inside, Chris Jones (79%), Mike Pennel (39%) and Derrick Nnadi (19%) were all used in typical ways. But Tershawn Wharton (42%) saw his use continue to slide. For the second straight game, it was a season-low.
Data
Offense
Offense All Pass Run
--- --- --- ---
Total 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
Creed Humphrey 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
Patrick Mahomes 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
Trey Smith 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
Jawaan Taylor 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
Joe Thuney 65(100%) 40(100%) 25(100%)
D.J. Humphries 56(86%) 39(98%) 17(68%)
Xavier Worthy 54(83%) 32(80%) 22(88%)
Travis Kelce 53(82%) 36(90%) 17(68%)
Noah Gray 41(63%) 22(55%) 19(76%)
DeAndre Hopkins 34(52%) 27(68%) 7(28%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 33(51%) 20(50%) 13(52%)
Justin Watson 32(49%) 18(45%) 14(56%)
Isiah Pacheco 31(48%) 14(35%) 17(68%)
Kareem Hunt 20(31%) 13(33%) 7(28%)
Samaje Perine 14(22%) 13(33%) 1(4%)
Wanya Morris 9(14%) 1(3%) 8(32%)
Carson Steele 6(9%) 2(5%) 4(16%)
Baylor Cupp 6(9%) 3(8%) 3(12%)
Mike Caliendo 1(2%) 0(0%) 1(4%)
Defense
Defense All Pass Run
--- --- --- ---
Total 57(100%) 33(100%) 24(100%)
Trent McDuffie 57(100%) 33(100%) 24(100%)
Justin Reid 57(100%) 33(100%) 24(100%)
Nick Bolton 52(91%) 29(88%) 23(96%)
Drue Tranquill 50(88%) 28(85%) 22(92%)
George Karlaftis 49(86%) 27(82%) 22(92%)
Bryan Cook 45(79%) 26(79%) 19(79%)
Chris Jones 45(79%) 28(85%) 17(71%)
Chamarri Conner 42(74%) 29(88%) 13(54%)
Joshua Williams 36(63%) 23(70%) 13(54%)
Michael Danna 35(61%) 19(58%) 16(67%)
Jaden Hicks 24(42%) 16(48%) 8(33%)
Tershawn Wharton 24(42%) 17(52%) 7(29%)
Leo Chenal 23(40%) 12(36%) 11(46%)
Charles Omenihu 22(39%) 14(42%) 8(33%)
Mike Pennel 22(39%) 7(21%) 15(63%)
Nazeeh Johnson 13(23%) 7(21%) 6(25%)
Felix Anudike-Uzomah 12(21%) 6(18%) 6(25%)
Derrick Nnadi 11(19%) 6(18%) 5(21%)
Keith Taylor 8(14%) 3(9%) 5(21%)
Special Teams
Special Teams Snaps
--- ---
Total 26(100%)
Leo Chenal 21(81%)
Jack Cochrane 21(81%)
Cam Jones 18(69%)
Christian Roland-Wallace 18(69%)
Swayze Bozeman 18(69%)
Nazeeh Johnson 17(65%)
Carson Steele 14(54%)
Jaden Hicks 12(46%)
Chamarri Conner 10(38%)
Matt Araiza 9(35%)
Bryan Cook 9(35%)
Nikko Remigio 9(35%)
Keith Taylor 9(35%)
James Winchester 9(35%)
Samaje Perine 8(31%)
Justin Reid 8(31%)
Mike Caliendo 5(19%)
Noah Gray 5(19%)
Creed Humphrey 5(19%)
Wanya Morris 5(19%)
Hunter Nourzad 5(19%)
Trey Smith 5(19%)
Jawaan Taylor 5(19%)
Joe Thuney 5(19%)
Matthew Wright 5(19%)
Justin Watson 4(15%)
Joshua Williams 4(15%)
Baylor Cupp 4(15%)
Nick Bolton 3(12%)
Michael Danna 3(12%)
George Karlaftis 3(12%)
Derrick Nnadi 3(12%)
Mike Pennel 3(12%)
Tershawn Wharton 3(12%)
All Snaps
All Snaps Off Def ST Total
--- --- --- --- ---
Total 65(100%) 57(100%) 26(100%) 148(100%)
Felix Anudike-Uzomah 0(0%) 12(21%) 0(0%) 12(8%)
Matt Araiza 0(0%) 0(0%) 9(35%) 9(6%)
Nick Bolton 0(0%) 52(91%) 3(12%) 55(37%)
Mike Caliendo 1(2%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 6(4%)
Leo Chenal 0(0%) 23(40%) 21(81%) 44(30%)
Jack Cochrane 0(0%) 0(0%) 21(81%) 21(14%)
Chamarri Conner 0(0%) 42(74%) 10(38%) 52(35%)
Bryan Cook 0(0%) 45(79%) 9(35%) 54(36%)
Michael Danna 0(0%) 35(61%) 3(12%) 38(26%)
Noah Gray 41(63%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 46(31%)
Jaden Hicks 0(0%) 24(42%) 12(46%) 36(24%)
DeAndre Hopkins 34(52%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 34(23%)
Creed Humphrey 65(100%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 70(47%)
D.J. Humphries 56(86%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 56(38%)
Kareem Hunt 20(31%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 20(14%)
Nazeeh Johnson 0(0%) 13(23%) 17(65%) 30(20%)
Cam Jones 0(0%) 0(0%) 18(69%) 18(12%)
Chris Jones 0(0%) 45(79%) 0(0%) 45(30%)
George Karlaftis 0(0%) 49(86%) 3(12%) 52(35%)
Travis Kelce 53(82%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 53(36%)
Patrick Mahomes 65(100%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 65(44%)
Trent McDuffie 0(0%) 57(100%) 0(0%) 57(39%)
Wanya Morris 9(14%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 14(9%)
Derrick Nnadi 0(0%) 11(19%) 3(12%) 14(9%)
Hunter Nourzad 0(0%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 5(3%)
Charles Omenihu 0(0%) 22(39%) 0(0%) 22(15%)
Isiah Pacheco 31(48%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 31(21%)
Mike Pennel 0(0%) 22(39%) 3(12%) 25(17%)
Samaje Perine 14(22%) 0(0%) 8(31%) 22(15%)
Justin Reid 0(0%) 57(100%) 8(31%) 65(44%)
Nikko Remigio 0(0%) 0(0%) 9(35%) 9(6%)
Christian Roland-Wallace 0(0%) 0(0%) 18(69%) 18(12%)
Trey Smith 65(100%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 70(47%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 33(51%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 33(22%)
Carson Steele 6(9%) 0(0%) 14(54%) 20(14%)
Jawaan Taylor 65(100%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 70(47%)
Keith Taylor 0(0%) 8(14%) 9(35%) 17(11%)
Joe Thuney 65(100%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 70(47%)
Drue Tranquill 0(0%) 50(88%) 0(0%) 50(34%)
Justin Watson 32(49%) 0(0%) 4(15%) 36(24%)
Tershawn Wharton 0(0%) 24(42%) 3(12%) 27(18%)
Joshua Williams 0(0%) 36(63%) 4(15%) 40(27%)
James Winchester 0(0%) 0(0%) 9(35%) 9(6%)
Xavier Worthy 54(83%) 0(0%) 0(0%) 54(36%)
Matthew Wright 0(0%) 0(0%) 5(19%) 5(3%)
Swayze Bozeman 0(0%) 0(0%) 18(69%) 18(12%)
Baylor Cupp 6(9%) 0(0%) 4(15%) 10(7%)
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