Here’s what we gleaned from Kansas City Chiefs’ snap counts in Sunday’s win over Browns
The Chiefs kicked off the 2021 NFL regular season with a bang in a highly entertaining 32-29 win over the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium.
And two of the lessons learned from Sunday are the Chiefs will keep a game interesting regardless of deficit and never count them out.
The Chiefs overcame an early 15-3 deficit and utilized a quick-strike 13-point attack in the fourth quarter to take the lead en route to the win.
Virtually every player on the active game-day roster contributed to the team win, and the snap counts reflect that aspect:
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (69), Chad Henne (none)
Chalk up more records for Mahomes, who passed for 337 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for a 131.4 passer rating in his 47th career start.
Mahomes has 14,489 career passing yards over that span, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner’s 14,372 benchmark for the most passing yards by a player in his first 50 career starts in NFL history.
The Chiefs’ superstar quarterback also has 117 touchdown passes in 47 starts, which leapfrogs Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino’s 116 touchdown passes for the most touchdown passes by a player in his first 50 career starts in league history.
Mahomes, who also scored on a 5-yard run against the Browns, is now 11-0 in September since becoming a fulltime starter in 2018.
RUNNING BACKS: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (47), Darrel Williams (15, 5 on special teams), Jerick McKinnon (4, 12 on ST), fullback Michael Burton (5, 14 on ST)
Edwards-Helaire paced the position group with 72 total yards (43 rushing) against a stout Cleveland front.
Williams and Burton combined for 8 yards rushing on two attempts, while McKinnon didn’t log a carry.
As a team, the Chiefs rushed for 73 yards on 23 carries, averaging just 3.2 yards per attempt.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Tyreek Hill (57), Demarcus Robinson (48), Mecole Hardman (45, 2 on ST), Byron Pringle (11, 5 on ST), Marcus Kemp (5, 19 on ST)
Hill blew up the Browns’ secondary with 11 catches for 197 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, on 15 targets. The yardage marked the 16th time in Hill’s career that he topped 100 yards receiving in the regular season.
With Hill going off, the rest of the wide receivers assumed a complementary role. Hardman, Robinson and Pringle combined for five catches and 34 yards.
Pringle also had two kickoff returns for 44 yards.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (55), Blake Bell (19, 10 on ST), Noah Gray (7, 14 on ST), Jody Fortson (7, 2 on ST)
Kelce notched six catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, on seven targets. He also scored his 50th career touchdown grab in his 112th career game to surpass former NFL tight end Vernon Davis’s 115 and become the fifth-fastest tight end to reach 50 touchdown receptions in league annals.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Orlando Brown Jr. (65, 5 on ST), Joe Thuney (65, 5 on ST), Creed Humphrey (65, 5 on ST), Trey Smith (65, 5 on ST), Lucas Niang (65, 5 on ST), Mike Remmers (1), Nick Allegretti (5 on ST), Andrew Wylie (did not play)
The new-look starting five allowed two sacks on the game, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid was complimentary of the group after the game.
“I thought they held their own and really did a nice job,” Reid said. “To get the run game going like that against that crew I thought was big.
“We had the one sack at the end, but that shouldn’t ruin the rest of what they did. I was pretty impressed. Niang had probably the toughest job of all of them and he beared down and pushed through. These are young, young guys in there and a veteran group of defensive linemen.”
Remmers’ lone snap came on a trick play at the goal line. He checked in as an eligible receiver and caught a Mahomes’ underhand pass before being dropped for a 2-yard loss.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Chris Jones (47, 3 on ST), Mike Danna (46, 3 on ST), Jarran Reed (40, 3 on ST), Tershawn Wharton (36), Alex Okafor (27, 3 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (19, 3 on ST), Joshua Kaindoh (12), Khalen Saunders (11)
Jones anchored the group with three tackles, two sacks and two quarterback hits, and helped turn the tide in the second half.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen a defensive lineman take over like Chris Jones did that second half,” Reid said. “I mean, he was possessed there and just an unreal job he did.”
With Frank Clark (hamstring) inactive, Danna stepped in the starting lineup at right defensive end and totaled two tackles and a quarterback hit.
LINEBACKERS: Anthony Hitchens (47, 3 on ST), Nick Bolton (45, 7 on ST), Ben Niemann (40, 10 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (19 on ST), Darius Harris (9 on ST)
Bolton, the Chiefs’ second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, started the game and saw action in the 4-3 base and nickel packages. He didn’t disappoint with seven tackles, which tied for the team lead, and a tackle for a loss.
Hitchens briefly left the game in the second half with a right elbow injury before returning to action.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Daniel Sorensen (59, 2 on ST), L’Jarius Sneed (59, 2 on ST), Charvarius Ward (58), Juan Thornhill (56, 2 on ST), Mike Hughes (33, 11 on ST), Armani Watts (14, 19 on ST), Zayne Anderson (7 on ST), Rashad Fenton (5 on ST)
With Tyrann Mathieu inactive, Sorensen and Sneed played all defensive snaps to pace the group.
Thornhill and Sneed tied with Bolton for a team-high seven tackles, while Thornhill produced a key pass breakup in the second half.
Hughes produced an interception to kill a Browns’ drive with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (12), Tommy Townsend (7), James Winchester (7)
Butker was perfect in the game and connected on field goals from 28 and 43 yards, while Townsend boomed two punts for 91 yards, averaging 45.5 yards per attempt.
INACTIVES (6): Safety Tyrann Mathieu, defensive end Frank Clark (hamstring), center Austin Blythe (sports hernia), guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (hand), cornerback Deandre Baker, wide receiver Daurice Fountain.
A change to the collective-bargaining agreement in 2020 affected game-day rosters. In the past, teams were only allowed to dress 46 from their 53-player roster, leaving seven inactive players for kickoff. The new rule allows up to 48 players on game day if eight of the dressed participants are offensive linemen.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 10:50 AM.
