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Chiefs snap counts: Darrel Williams takes lead role

Charles Goldman
·2 min read

The defense saw nine more snaps compared to the offense this week. It came down to the final minutes of the game and an extended goal-line stand for that to happen for Kansas City.

What else can we learn from this week’s snap counts? Here’s a look at how the snaps played out in Week 17:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations

  • Lucas Niang played just six offensive snaps before suffering his knee injury. Joe Thuney played 55 snaps at left tackle and Nick Allegretti 55 snaps at left guard as a result of that injury.

  • Darrel Williams saw the overwhelming majority of running back snaps for the Chiefs in Week 17. He was on the field 80% of the time, with the third-most snaps for him in a single game this season. Meanwhile, Jerick McKinnon and Derrick Gore were on the field just over 20% of the time. Williams turned in over 100 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on the day.

  • After Byron Pringle had a big game in Week 16, you’d expect him to see an uptick in snaps behind Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. This week, however, it was Demarcus Robinson who saw the big uptick in snaps.

  • Tyrann Mathieu was the only defensive player to be on the field for 100% of the defensive snaps on Sunday. L’Jarius Sneed and Charvarius Ward were close with 96% of the defensive snaps against the Bengals.

  • In his first game back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Rashad Fenton played 76% of the defensive snaps for Kansas City. He had a tough game and was flagged multiple times.

  • With Nick Bolton back in the mix this week, Ben Niemann’s snap count went down significantly on defense. Anthony Hitchens led the way in terms of linebacker snaps, though.

  • Mike Hughes played just one defensive snap in Week 17. He’s only a few weeks removed from a performance that earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. It seems like it would have been wise to use him against a team with such offensive firepower as the Bengals.

  • Armani Watts, Dorian O’Daniel and Zayne Anderson played only special teams snaps on Sunday. Anderson and O’Daniel were both flagged for penalties. Anderson’s was especially costly, erasing a kick return touchdown from WR Byron Pringle.

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