Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Chargers: Thornhill’s injury increases Watts’ playing time
The Kansas City Chiefs closed out the regular season with a 31-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in a perfect tune-up before the postseason.
The Chiefs, though, didn’t come out of the game unscathed as standout rookie safety Juan Thornhill tore an ACL.
Here’s how the individual snaps counts break down from Week 17, which saw the Chiefs finish with a 12-4 record and the No. 2 seed for the AFC playoffs:
QUARTERBACKS
Patrick Mahomes (50), Matt Moore (did not play)
There’s something about the Chargers this season that seems to have some form of kryptonite against Mahomes, who finished the game completing 16 of 25 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown with an interception for an 81.1 passer rating.
In two games against the Chargers this season, Mahomes failed to top 200 yards passing and has totaled two touchdowns with two interceptions. Two of Mahomes’ lowest passer ratings in 2019 are against Los Angeles.
Whatever the Chargers are doing, they haven’t figured out how to stop the rest of the team when considering the Chiefs swept them this year.
RUNNING BACKS
Damien Williams (35), Darwin Thompson (12, 9 on special teams), Anthony Sherman (9, 17 on ST), LeSean McCoy (did not play)
There’s little doubt that Williams is effectively back as the lead running back after a 124-yard and two-touchdown performance, adding 30 yards receiving on four catches. Williams dominated the snap counts and over the past two games since his return from a rib injury, he has totaled 246 yards (189 rushing) and three touchdowns.
Thompson filled in as William’s primary backup and produced 17 yards rushing on four carries.
McCoy, a healthy scratch in Week 16, dressed for Sunday’s game but did not see action.
As a team, the Chiefs produced 162 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts, averaging a healthy 7 yards per carry.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Tyreek Hill (43), Sammy Watkins (36), Demarcus Robinson (21, 4 on ST), Mecole Hardman (17, 10 on ST), Byron Pringle (7, 15 on ST)
Hill once again paced the group with four catches for 61 yards on five targets, and came up big with a 47-yard catch in the second half.
Robinson made the most of his one catch by turning it into a 24-yard touchdown, while Watkins totaled one catch for 8 yards.
Hardman chipped in with a catch for 30 yards, but made the biggest impact in the third quarter with a game-changing 104-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The play energized the Chiefs to outscore the Chargers 21-7 down the stretch.
TIGHT ENDS
Travis Kelce (47), Blake Bell (21, 10 on ST)
Kelce was on the field a lot, but came away with just three catches for 24 yards on five targets. Bell contributed one catch for 1 yard on two targets.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Mitchell Schwartz (50, 5 on ST), Eric Fisher (50, 5 on ST), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (50, 5 on ST), Austin Reiter (50, 5 on ST), Stefen Wisniewski (50, 5 on ST), Nick Allegretti (2, 5 on ST), Cam Erving (1 on ST)
With Andrew Wylie missing a second straight game with an ankle injury, Wisniewski once again drew the start at left guard and played all offensive snaps.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Chris Jones (61, 3 on ST), Frank Clark (60), Demone Harris (41, 3 on ST), Tanoh Kpassagnon (38, 3 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (37, 3 on ST), Terrell Suggs (35), Mike Pennel (14), Khalen Saunders (13)
The Chiefs got plenty of production out of the defensive line, as Jones, Clark and Suggs each recorded a sack on Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
The Chiefs also totaled eight quarterback hits, with Jones, Clark and Suggs combining for seven.
LINEBACKERS
Anthony Hitchens (51, 3 on ST), Ben Niemann (26, 18 on ST), Damien Wilson (21), Reggie Ragland (8), Dorian O’Daniel (5, 18 on ST), Darron Lee (15 on ST)
Hitchens was all over the field against the Chargers and paced the Chiefs defense with a team-high 10 tackles, which included a team-high two tackles for a loss.
For a second straight game, Niemann played more defensive snaps than Wilson. Both linebackers produced four tackles.
O’Daniel logged his first defensive snaps of the season, a year removed from when the second-year pro logged 302 snaps on the 2018 campaign.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Charvarius Ward (77, 6 on ST), Tyrann Mathieu (77), Daniel Sorensen (76, 18 on ST), Kendall Fuller (64), Armani Watts (48, 15 on ST), Bashaud Breeland (40), Rashad Fenton (37, 8 on ST), Juan Thornhill (18), Jordan Lucas (18 on ST)
Thornhill’s knee injury early in the second quarter prompted shuffling in the defensive secondary.
Seond-year pro Watts, who mostly contributes on special teams, stepped up and played a career-high 48 defensive snaps and finished the game with three tackles. The Chiefs also moved Fuller around from cornerback to safety in specific personnel packages.
The Chiefs are likely to lean on either Watts or Fuller to fill the void of Thornhill’s absence.
Sorensen was once again heavily involved in the Chiefs three-safety package against the Chargers three-wide receiver sets.
Ward and Mathieu each recorded seven tackles, while Mathieu notched an interception to give him a team-high four picks on the season.
SPECIALISTS
Harrison Butker (11), Dustin Colquitt (7), James Winchester (7)
Butker was good from 40 yards out and totaled seven points on the game. Butker finished the 2019 campaign with 147 points, which established a record for the most points by a kicker in a single season in Chiefs’ history.
INACTIVES
Andrew Wylie (ankle), Morris Claiborne (shoulder), Xavier Williams (ankle), Chad Henne, Jackson Barton, Deon Yelder, Alex Brown
