Chiefs’ snaps vs. Broncos: Ware leads backfield again; Demone Harris thrust into action
A winter storm arrived Sunday morning in the Kansas City metro area, but the snow didn’t affect how the Chiefs went about their business in a 23-3 dismantling of the Denver Broncos.
Outside of injuries, the Chiefs stuck with their primary base personnel and didn’t hold back on offensive or defensive play calls.
Here are the individual snap counts from Week 15, which saw the Chiefs improve to 10-4, marking the fifth consecutive 10-win season under head coach Andy Reid:
QUARTERBACKS
Patrick Mahomes (68), Matt Moore (did not play)
What hand issue? Mahomes completed 27 of 34 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns with an interception for a 115.7 passer rating.
Making the production even more impressive was Mahomes’ ability to sling the ball in blizzard-like conditions.
Mahomes logged his 17th career 300-yard game, tying Hall of Famer Kurt Warner for second-most in a quarterback’s first three seasons.
RUNNING BACKS
Spencer Ware (27, 2 on special teams), Darwin Thompson (24, 2 on special teams), LeSean McCoy (17), Anthony Sherman (13, 13 on ST)
For a second straight week, Ware led the backfield in total offensive snaps. The veteran running back, who returned to the team two weeks ago, totaled 26 yards rushing on seven carries and produced a highlight-worthy block.
Thompson led the team in rushing with 38 yards on eight carries, while McCoy chipped in with 16 yards on six carries.
As a team, the Chiefs produced 92 yards on 25 attempts, averaging 3.7 yards per carry.
Damien Williams (rib, illness) missed a third straight game.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Tyreek Hill (57), Sammy Watkins (52), Demarcus Robinson (38, 5 on ST), Mecole Hardman (14, 7 on ST), Byron Pringle (6, 13 on ST)
Hill paced the group with five catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets. Snow also didn’t slow down Hill, who got behind Broncos cornerback Chris Harris on a corner route in the first quarter for a 41-yard touchdown.
Hardman continues to see limited time on offense, as he’s behind Hill, Watkins and Robinson in the receiver rotation.
TIGHT ENDS
Travis Kelce (62), Blake Bell (30, 15 on ST)
Kelce entered Sunday needing just 11 yards to become the first tight end in NFL history to record four straight 1,000-yard seasons and he accomplished the feat in grand fashion with 11 catches for 142 yards on 13 targets.
Bell totaled 30 snaps on the game in the Chiefs’ “Tiger Personnel” package and recorded two catches for 41 yards on two targets.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Mitchell Schwartz (68, 4 on ST), Eric Fisher (68, 4 on ST), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (68, 4 on ST), Austin Reiter (68, 4 on ST), Andrew Wylie (64), Stefen Wisniewski (4, 4 on ST), Cam Erving (4 on ST)
With Wylie briefly exiting with an ankle injury, Wisniewski stepped in and played four snaps.
The rest of the front five came out unscathed and played all offensive snaps.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Chris Jones (48, 1 on ST), Frank Clark (46), Tanoh Kpassagnon (45, 1 on ST), Demone Harris (41, 1 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (22, 1 on ST), Mike Pennel (17), Khalen Saunders (12), Alex Okafor (5)
The Chiefs entered Sunday likely hoping to keep Clark in a rotational role, but Okafor’s chest injury in the first quarter prompted some shuffling at the right defensive end spot.
Clark, who has been dealing with a stomach illness, played 46 defensive snaps and totaled two tackles and two quarterback hits. Harris was thrust into action and totaled 41 snaps as part of the rotation and totaled two tackles, both for a loss.
Jones totaled a tackle, but made his presence felt in the Broncos’ backfield with three quarterback hits.
LINEBACKERS
Anthony Hitchens (33, 1 on ST), Damien Wilson (26), Ben Niemann (26, 14 on ST), Reggie Ragland (15), Dorian O’Daniel (14 on ST), Darron Lee (13 on ST)
Of the team’s 44 total tackles, Hitchens, Wilson, Ragland and Niemann combined for 11.
With the linebackers playing well, the Chiefs defense as a group did an effective job against the Broncos’ ground game, limited Denver to 52 yards rushing on 15 carries (3.5 yards per carry).
O’Daniel and Lee continued in their roles as strictly core special team contributors.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Juan Thornhill (59, 3 on ST), Charvarius Ward (59, 3 on ST), Tyrann Mathieu (59), Bashaud Breeland (59), Daniel Sorensen (44, 9 on ST), Kendall Fuller (33), Jordan Lucas (14 on ST), Armani Watts (13 on ST), Alex Brown (8 on ST)
Thornhill, Ward, Mathieu and Breeland once again dominated the secondary snaps, seeing action on all defensive snaps.
Ward led the charge with a team-high seven tackles, while Thornhill totaled four tackles, an interception and a pass defensed.
Mathieu once again turned in a complete game, totaling five tackles, a sack, a quarterback hit and two passes defensed.
SPECIALISTS
Harrison Butker (8), Dustin Colquitt (6), James Winchester (6)
Butker’s three field goals accounted for nine points in Sunday’s win, giving the third-year kicker 411 career points, the most of any player in league history in their first three seasons.
Butker passed New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz’s previous mark of 409 points.
INACTIVES
Damien Williams (rib, illness), Morris Claiborne (shoulder), Rashad Fenton (hamstring), Chad Henne, Jackson Barton, Nick Allegretti, Deon Yelder
