Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Broncos: Record night for Kelce, and what Bell did with start
The Chiefs improved to 11-1 with Sunday night’s 22-16 win over the Denver Broncos. More important, the victory clinched a playoff spot, marking the seventh in eight seasons under head coach Andy Reid.
While the game proved far from easy, Kansas City has now won 11 straight games over the Broncos and is a remarkable 31-4 in the AFC West since 2015.
A fifth straight division title, however, will need to wait at least another week because the Las Vegas Raiders (7-5) won Sunday to stay within four games of the division lead. The chase for the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed also remained in play with the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-0) still to play on Monday Night Football.
Here’s how the snap counts worked out Sunday night.
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (64)
Mahomes completed 25 of 40 passes for 318 yards with a touchdown, extending his streak of a game with a passing score to 22 games, while adding 26 yards rushing on four carries.
He now owns 25 career games with 300-plus yards passing, including eight in the 2020 campaign alone. Mahomes’ 25 300-yard passing performances are the second-most by any quarterback in their first four seasons in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (26).
RUNNING BACKS: Le’Veon Bell (33), Darrel Williams (31), Darwin Thompson (10 on special teams), Anthony Sherman (2, 19 on ST)
Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire battled a stomach illness in the week leading to the game and missed two days of practice. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game that Edwards-Helaire, who was dressed for the game, lost weight during the illness.
With Edwards-Helaire relegated to the sideline, Bell drew the start and totaled 40 yards on 11 carries, averaging 3.6 yards per attempt while getting stuffed twice inside the 5-yard line on the same drive. He added two catches for 15 yards.
Williams totaled 38 yards rushing on 11 carries as the Chiefs’ third-down back.
As a team, the Chiefs gained 134 yards on 22 carries.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Tyreek Hill (61), Sammy Watkins (48), Demarcus Robinson (37), Mecole Hardman (21, 5 on ST), Marcus Kemp (2, 16 on ST)
Hill had a relatively ho-hum stat line, with six catches for 58 yards, but Sunday night will be remembered for two long touchdowns that didn’t count.
The speedy wide receiver appeared to haul in a 40-yard touchdown pass. It was ruled incomplete on the field, but replay clearly showed a catch. The Chiefs didn’t challenge the ruling and sent out their punting unit. Then, Hill snared a 48-yard pass for an apparent touchdown, but it was wiped out by an holding penalty.
Watkins totaled four catches for 35 yards on six targets, while Robinson had two catches for 39 yards on two targets. Hardman chipped in with a catch for 15 yards on three targets.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (57), Deon Yelder (15, 6 on ST), Nick Keizer (13, 10 on ST)
With 136 yards and a touchdown on eight catches, Kelce topped 1,000-yard receiving in a single season for the fifth consecutive year. He became the first tight end in league history last season to record four straight 1,000-yard receiving campaigns.
Kelce also recorded his fifth game of the season with 100 or more yards receiving, tied for the second-most in franchise history.
Keizer had one catch for 15 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Eric Fisher (64, 6 on ST), Austin Reiter (64, 6 on ST), Andrew Wylie (64, 6 on ST), Nick Allegretti (64, 6 on ST), Mike Remmers (64, 6 on ST), Yasir Durant (6 on ST)
The Chiefs didn’t suffer any injuries to their starting front five and each starter played all offensive snaps.
Allegretti’s holding penalty wiped out what would have been Hill’s 48-yard touchdown catch.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Frank Clark (52), Chris Jones (48, 1 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (35, 3 on ST), Alex Okafor (32), Tanoh Kpassagnon (27, 3 on ST), Tershawn Wharton (26, 2 on ST), Mike Pennel (9, 4 on ST), Mike Danna (21, 3 on ST)
For the second time in three games, the Chiefs’ defensive front didn’t record a sack.
But the group was effective in harassing Broncos quarterback Drew Lock throughout. Clark recorded a quarterback hit and a tipped pass to go with three tackles, while Jones notched three tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass defensed.
Nnadi and Danna each totaled three tackles, while Okafor recorded two.
LINEBACKERS: Anthony Hitchens (47, 3 on ST), Damien Wilson (46, 6 on ST), Ben Niemann (19, 19 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (17, 10 on ST)
Hitchens’ seven tackles tied for the team lead for a second straight week and Wilson contributed five tackles.
Gay drew the start and recorded two tackles, but ended up playing the least amount of defensive snaps among the group. His pass rush in the first quarter forced Lock out of the pocket and the play resulted in an interception.
The Chiefs elected to go with just four dressed linebackers in the game after placing Dorian O’Daniel (ankle) on injured reserve the day before the contest.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Tryann Mathieu (66), Daniel Sorensen (66), Charvarius Ward (65), Bashaud Breeland (65), L’Jarius Sneed (48, 3 on ST), Juan Thornhill (20, 13 on ST), Armani Watts (1, 19 on ST), Chris Lammons (19 on ST), Antonio Hamilton (19 on ST), Rashad Fenton (10 on ST)
Mathieu paced the secondary with two interceptions, giving him a team-high five picks on the season. He also recorded seven tackles and two passes defensed.
Sorensen recorded five tackles and two quarterback hits, while Sneed totaled six tackles.
Thornhill made the most of 20 snaps and recorded four tackles.
Lammons picked up the slack on special teams in O’Daniel’s absence.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (12), Tommy Townsend (9), James Winchester (9)
Butker connected on five field goals and an extra point in the game (16 points), giving him 102 points through Week 13 and the fourth straight season in which he topped the 100-point mark. His four seasons with 100 or more points ties him with kicker Ryan Succop for the third-most in franchise history.
Townsend totaled 112 yards on three punts, averaging 37.3 yards per attempt.
DID NOT PLAY: QB Chad Henne, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, C Daniel Kilgore, G Stefen Wisniewski
The Chiefs elevated Wisniewski from the practice squad a day before the game, but he didn’t see action.
INACTIVES: LB Darius Harris, TE Ricky Seals-Jones, DT Khalen Saunders, CB BoPete Keyes, DE Tim Ward, OL Martinas Rankin
Seals-Jones, who signed a free-agent deal during the offseason, has now been inactive in 11 of the Chiefs’ 12 games in 2020.
