Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Packers: Mecole Hardman makes most of limited action
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Moore did his best in place of Patrick Mahomes during Sunday night’s 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Moore shook off a shaky start and completed 24 of 36 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns on 59 snaps, which came on the Chiefs’ nine offensive possessions. The veteran signal-caller spread the ball around to eight different receivers while completing an efficient 66.7% of his passes to finish with a 107.1 passer rating.
Rookie quarterback Kyle Shurmur was the only Chief who didn’t get in the game.
Here’s how the individual snaps counts break down from Week 8, which has the Chiefs at 5-3 following a 4-0 start to the regular season:
Running backs
Damien Williams (25), LeSean McCoy (23), Darrel Williams (9, 11 on special teams), Anthony Sherman (8, 19 on ST), Darwin Thompson (2, 6 on ST)
As a group, the Chiefs’ backfield combined for 88 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries. Damien Williams accounted for the score on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.
McCoy led the way with 40 yards rushing on nine carries, adding 23 yards receiving on four catches. But McCoy also lost a fumble late in the third quarter that the Packers capitalized on with a touchdown.
Wide receivers
Tyreek Hill (53), Sammy Watkins (51), Demarcus Robinson (38, 3 on ST), Mecole Hardman (9, 13 on ST), Byron Pringle (17 on ST)
Hill, Watkins and Robinson dominated the playing time, while Hardman made the most of his nine offensive snaps with two catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Hardman’s usage might perplex when considering he produced two of the Chiefs’ explosive plays in the first half. The nine offensive snaps marked the first time this season that Hardman didn’t record 20 or more snaps in a game.
Hill led the group with six catches for 76 yards on nine targets, while Watkins totaled five catches for 45 yards on eight targets. Robinson caught two passes for 6 yards on two targets.
Pringle didn’t see a play on offense for the first time this season.
Tight ends
Travis Kelce (59), Blake Bell (18, 16 on ST), Deon Yelder (1 on ST)
Kelce played every offensive snap and totaled four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. The touchdown marked Kelce’s 450th career reception, making him the fastest tight end in league history to reach that milestone in just 88 games.
The previous mark was held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr., who did it in 89 games.
Offensive line
Mitchell Schwartz (59, 5 on ST), Austin Reiter (59, 5 on ST), Martinas Rankin (59, 5 on ST), Cam Erving (59, 1 on ST), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (48, 4 on ST), Stefen Wisniewski (11, 5 on ST), Nick Allegretti (5 on ST)
Already down two starters, the offensive line suffered another blow when Duvernay-Tardif exited the game in the second half with an ankle injury. Wisniewski filled in at the right guard spot.
Rankin drew a third consecutive start at left guard in place of Andrew Wylie, who continues to miss time since suffering an ankle injury in Week 5.
Defensive line
Emmanuel Ogbah (62, 5 on ST), Tanoh Kpassagnon (51, 8 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (48, 5 on ST), Khalen Saunders (46), Alex Okafor (35, 2 on ST), Mike Pennel (24, 3 on ST)
The Chiefs had to get creative with the rotation given the absences of Frank Clark and Chris Jones, but the pass rush proved effective by totaling five sacks and 12 quarterback hits.
Kpassagnon paced the defense with two sacks, two tackles for a loss and three quarterback hits. Recently-signed Pennel saw action on a rotational basis and recorded two tackles.
Okafor injured his ankle and did not finish the game.
Linebackers
Damien Wilson (57), Anthony Hitchens (56, 5 on ST), Reggie Ragland (33), Ben Niemann (13, 14 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (22), Darron Lee (16 on ST),
For a second straight game, the Chiefs opened the game with Wilson, Hitchens and Ragland as the starting group in the 4-3 base defense.
Hitchens paced the defense with a team-high seven tackles, while Wilson produced six tackles, a sack and three quarterback hits. Ragland finished with four tackles.
The linebacker group, though, had trouble defending Packers running back Aaron Jones, who gashed the Chiefs with 226 total yards (159 receiving) and two touchdowns.
Defensive backs
Charvarius Ward (69, 7 on ST), Tryann Mathieu (69), Juan Thornhill (68), Bashaud Breeland (42), Daniel Sorensen (38, 17 on ST), Morris Claiborne (27), Rashad Fenton (20, 9 on ST), Jordan Lucas (1, 22 on ST), Armani Watts (17 on ST)
The Chiefs were momentarily down to three cornerbacks after Breeland exited the game in the second quarter with a sternum injury. Breeland was able to return to start the second half and finished the game with three tackles.
Ward, Mathieu and Thornhill continue to dominate the snaps among the defensive secondary.
Specialists
Harrison Butker (10), Dustin Colquitt (8), James Winchester (8)
Inactives
Patrick Mahomes (knee), Eric Fisher (groin), Frank Clark (neck), Chris Jones (groin), Kendall Fuller (thumb), Andrew Wylie (ankle), Greg Senat
