Chiefs’ snaps vs. Bills in AFC Championship Game: workload shows a total team effort
The Chiefs secured the Lamar Hunt Trophy at Arrowhead Stadium as the AFC champion for a second straight season following Sunday’s 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Sunday’s victory also clinched a Super Bowl berth, the fourth such occasion in Chiefs history and the organization’s first back-to-back appearances in the league-championship game.
It was a team effort across the board, as backup quarterback Chad Henne was the only active player who did not see the field.
Here’s how the snap counts worked out against the Bills.
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (65)
Mahomes showed no lingering effects from spending time on the concussion protocol in the week leading to the game, completing 29 of 38 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns en route to 127.6 passer rating.
The touchdown passes moved Mahomes, who now has 17 career postseason touchdown tosses, past Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (16) for the most postseason passing touchdowns by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history.
Mahomes also became the 12th quarterback since the 1970 merger to start in three straight conference championship games.
RUNNING BACKS: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (32), Darrel Williams (30), Anthony Sherman (7, 20 on special teams), Darwin Thompson (3, 7 on ST)
Edwards-Helaire returned to the action for the first time since suffering hip and ankle injuries in Week 15. The rookie rusher, however, didn’t duplicate a Week 6 161-yard effort against the Bills and totaled just 7 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Williams continued his strong play and paced the ground game with 52 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, adding a catch for 9 yards.
As a team, the Chiefs totaled 114 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Tyreek Hill (52), Byron Pringle (52, 7 on ST), Demarcus Robinson (42, 2 on ST), Mecole Hardman (23, 10 on ST), Marcus Kemp (4, 17 on ST)
Hill had nine catches for 172 yards on 11 targets. That yardage total, which included a 71-yard effort on a 9-yard slant pattern, represented the most receiving yards by a Chiefs player in postseason history. Hill has now produced a 100-yard receiving effort in three straight playoff games.
Pringle hauled in three catches for 22 yards, while Robinson wasn’t targeted.
Hardman shook off a muffed punt and snared a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes and recorded a 50-yard run, the longest in the Chiefs’ postseason history. And that 50-yard run helped set up Williams’ 6-yard touchdown run to complete the drive.
The Chiefs were without Sammy Watkins, who hasn’t played since suffering a calf injury in Week 16 of the regular season.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (59), Nick Keizer (14, 16 on ST), Ricky Seals-Jones (7)
Kelce had himself a game with 13 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 targets. His 13 receptions are most receptions by any player in a conference championship game in the Super Bowl era.
The superstar tight end now owns five career 100-yard receiving efforts in the postseason, the most in Chiefs history.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Mike Remmers (65), Nick Allegretti (65, 6 on ST), Austin Reiter (65, 6 on ST), Andrew Wylie (62, 5 on ST), Eric Fisher (48, 5 on ST), Stefen Wisniewski (20, 6 on ST), Daniel Kilgore (6 on ST), Martinas Rankin (6 on ST)
The Chiefs lost Fisher to a torn Achilles tendon early in the fourth quarter and were forced to shuffle the front five.
Remmers moved from right tackle to Fisher’s spot, while Wylie slid from right guard to right tackle. Wisniewski entered the game and took over at right guard.
With right tackle Mitchell Schwartz still on injured reserve with a back injury, it wouldn’t surprise if the Chiefs stick with Remmers at left tackle, Wylie at right tackle and Wisniewski at right guard alongside Allegretti at left guard and Reiter manning the center position.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Frank Clark (58), Chris Jones (54), Alex Okafor (42), Tanoh Kpassagnon (36, 8 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (33, 5 on ST), Tershawn Wharton (31, 5 on ST), Mike Danna (21), Mike Pennel (17, 5 on ST)
Of the Chiefs’ four sacks against the Bills, the defensive line accounted for three. Clark led the way with two and Kpassagnon chipped in one.
The defensive line also helped harass Bills signal-call Josh Allen with six of the Chiefs’ recorded 10 quarterback hits. Clark and Kpassagnon each had two, while Jones and Wharton each totaled one.
Clark now has seven postseason sacks in a Chiefs uniform, marking the most in team history.
LINEBACKERS: Anthony Hitchens (51, 5 on ST), Ben Niemann (27, 23 on ST), Damien Wilson (12, 6 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (23 on ST), Darius Harris (5 on ST)
Hitchens paced the defense with a team-high eight tackles. The starting linebacker also recorded a quarterback hit.
Niemann chipped in with two tackles.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Tyrann Mathieu (73), Daniel Sorensen (73, 11 on ST), Charvarius Ward (72), Bashaud Breeland (70), Juan Thornhill (56, 12 on ST), L’Jarius Sneed (48, 3 on ST), Rashad Fenton (29), Antonio Hamilton (23 on ST), Armani Watts (21 on ST), Chris Lammons (12 on ST)
The defensive backs were busy Sunday, as Breeland (7), Ward (7), Mathieu (6), Sorensen (6) and Sneed (5) combined to produce 31 of the Chiefs’ 56 tackles against the Bills.
Sneed, in particular, continued his exceptional play by recording a sack, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit before exiting in the second half and entering the NFL concussion protocol.
Watts also left the game in the concussion protocol.
Thornill produced a team-high four passes defensed and barely missed recording an interception in the first quarter.
Mathieu and Sorensen each recorded a quarterback hit.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (13), Tommy Townsend (7), James Winchester (7)
Butker’s 45-yard field goal in the third quarter gives him eight postseason field goals in his career, which is tied for the second-most in team history with kicker Nick Lowery.
Townsend punted just once and produced a 44-yard effort, which landed inside the Bills’ 20-yard line.
DID NOT PLAY: QB Chad Henne
INACTIVES: WR Sammy Watkins (calf), RB Le’Veon Bell (knee), LB Willie Gay Jr. (ankle), DT Khalen Saunders, DE Tim Ward, OL Yasir Durant, CB BoPete Keyes
Bell missed two days of practice leading to the game before being declared inactive. Gay has missed the Chiefs’ two postseason games with a high-ankle injury suffered in the regular-season finale.
