Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Titans: Chris Jones makes impact on fewer than 50% of snaps
The Kansas City Chiefs are going to Super Bowl LIV after Sunday’s 35-24 win over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game.
For a second straight week, the Chiefs overcame an early 10-0 deficit to rally in the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead at halftime. Then, the Chiefs kept their foot on the pedal and didn’t let up to secure the Lamar Hunt Trophy.
The 35 points scored on Sunday made the Chiefs the first team since the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles to score at least 35 points in multiple postseason games in a single playoff run. The Chiefs scored 51 points against the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round.
Here’s how the individual snaps counts broke down for the Chiefs, who now set their sights on Miami to play the San Francisco 49ers for the NFL championship on Feb. 2.
QUARTERBACKS
Patrick Mahomes (68), Chad Henne (did not play)
Mahomes completed 23 of 35 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns for a 120.4 passer rating. He added a team-high 53 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight carries.
The rushing touchdown, in particular, electrified Arrowhead Stadium, as Mahomes avoided five would-be tacklers down the left sideline before bulling his way into the end zone for 27-yard score.
In just his third season, Mahomes now has 11 career playoff touchdown passes, established the mark for the most in team history.
Henne was active in place of Matt Moore, who battled an illness last week leading to Sunday’s game.
RUNNING BACKS
Damien Williams (58), Darwin Thompson (11, 14 on special teams), Anthony Sherman (6, 20 on ST)
Williams continues to shine in the postseason, and his 3-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter gives him three rushing scores during this year’s playoffs. He has four total touchdowns over the past two games (three rushing, one receiving) to give him eight totals postseason scores (five rushing, three receiving), the most in team history.
Williams finished the game with 45 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, adding five catches for 44 yards.
Thompson logged one carry for 7 yards.
LeSean McCoy, who battled an illness the past week, was inactive.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Tyreek Hill (61, 1 on ST), Sammy Watkins (56), Mecole Hardman (27, 11 on ST), Demarcus Robinson (25, 5 on ST), Byron Pringle (19 on ST)
Watkins led the wide receivers with seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. His score came on a 60-yard catch and marked Watkins’ first career playoff touchdown.
Hill totaled two touchdowns in the game, his first career multi-touchdown effort in the postseason.
TIGHT ENDS
Travis Kelce (64), Blake Bell (30, 14 on ST), Deon Yelder (2, 4 on ST)
Kelce was the only tight end to record a catch in the game and finished with three receptions for 30 yards on four targets.
While Kelce didn’t have eye-popping numbers, he turned heads with a big block on Hill’s 8-yard touchdown catch. Kelce got just enough of a Titans’ defender to give Hill the edge on the left side of the field.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Mitchell Schwartz (68, 5 on ST), Eric Fisher (68, 5 on ST), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (68, 5 on ST), Austin Reiter (68, 5 on ST), Stefen Wisniewski (68, 5 on ST), Nick Allegretti (5 on ST), Cam Erving (did not play)
With Andrew Wylie inactive for a second straight playoff game, Wisniewski drew the start at left guard.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Frank Clark (55), Tanoh Kpassagnon (53, 4 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (36, 4 on ST), Terrell Suggs (34), Chris Jones (28), Mike Pennel (24, 4 on ST), Xavier Williams (17, 4 on ST), Demone Harris (14), Khalen Saunders (10)
The defensive line played a large role in limiting Titans running back Derrick Henry to 69 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries, an average of 3.6 yards per carry, by plugging gaps and allowing others to swarm to the ball. In the previous two games this postseason, Henry totaled 377 yards rushing and found the going tougher against the Chiefs defense.
Jones battled through a calf injury that held him out of the AFC Divisional Round and was used in a rotational role early in the game before seeing most of the action inside as the game progressed. He finished with two tackles and a quarterback hit.
Clark made his presence felt with four tackles, a sack and a quarterback hit.
Kpassagnon came up big with two sacks on Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Chiefs defensive end finished the game with two tackles, two sacks, two quarterback hits and a pass defensed.
Pennel made the most of his 24 snaps by totaling four tackles.
LINEBACKERS
Damien Wilson (45, 5 on ST), Anthony Hitchens (44, 3 on ST), Reggie Ragland (28), Ben Niemann (22, 23 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (23 on ST)
Wilson paced the linebackers group with 45 snaps and seven tackles in the game. Hitchens contributed four tackles, while Ragland totaled two tackles and Niemann had one tackle.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Tyrann Mathieu (66), Daniel Sorensen (66, 23 on ST), Charvarius Ward (65, 8 on ST), Bashaud Breeland (63), Kendall Fuller (36), Rashad Fenton (21, 15 on ST), Jordan Lucas (23 on ST), Armani Watts (15 on ST), Alex Brown (6 on ST)
Mathieu was all over the field and totaled a team-high nine tackles, adding a pass defensed.
For a second straight playoff game, Sorensen played all defensive snaps and special teams snaps. The versatile safety finished with eight tackles, including a bone-crushing hit on Tannehill in the open field.
Fenton contributed a team-high two tackles on special teams.
SPECIALISTS
Harrison Butker (11), Dustin Colquitt (9), James Winchester (9)
Colquitt made his 11th postseason appearance for the Chiefs to set a new franchise record for most playoff appearances by a player. The longtime Chiefs punter finished the game with three punts for 122 yards.
INACTIVES
Matt Moore, LeSean McCoy, Morris Claiborne, Darron Lee, Ryan Hunter, Jackson Barton, Andrew Wylie
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 11:52 AM.
