Chiefs’ Smith-Schuster soars, Pacheco, McKinnon share + more in this week’s snap counts
The Chiefs secured a 34-28 win over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High and moved one step closer to clinching the AFC West.
But the game certainly wasn’t pretty: Kansas City jumped out to a 27-0 lead, then had to hold on after the Broncos made a comeback attempt with 21 straight points.
“We got up by 27 points and then we had a couple of the interceptions take place and allowed them to get back in it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday. “We’ve got to do a better job with those. We’ve got to do a better job transitioning after those on the defensive side and not letting them score and we’ll go back and work on that.
“Again, the important thing is that we won the game and played for the four quarters and came out on top. That inevitably is what’s important here.”
The Chiefs’ effort marked a 14th straight win over their AFC West rival and improved the team to 10-3 with four games remaining the 2022 regular season.
Sunday’s win also allowed the Chiefs to keep pace with the Buffalo Bills (10-3) in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the postseason.
Here’s how the Chiefs’ snap counts worked out in Week 14:
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (68), Chad Henne (did not play)
Mahomes provided a good-bad performance in Sunday’s win.
The good: a no-look touchdown pass, a spinning move to avoid pressure in the pocket for another touchdown pass and 353 yards passing with three total touchdowns. Mahomes has now thrown for 300 or more yards in a game eight times this season.
The bad: three interceptions, two of which the Broncos turned into touchdowns to get back in the game.
RUNNING BACKS: Jerick McKinnon (39, 8 on special teams), Isiah Pacheco (29, 5 on special teams), fullback Michael Burton (4, 15 on ST), Ronald Jones (did not play)
McKinnon had himself a game, totaling six carries for 22 yards and seven catches for a team-high 112 yards and two touchdowns, one coming on a 56-yard catch on Mahomes’ no-look pass near the right sideline.
Pacheco totaled 93 yards (70 rushing) and sealed the game with a bruising 10-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Jones was dressed but didn’t record a snap.
As a team, the Chiefs rushed for 89 yards on 23 carries, averaging 3.9 yards per attempt.
WIDE RECEIVERS: JuJu Smith-Schuster (55), Justin Watson (44, 7 on ST), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (35), Skyy Moore (27), Ihmir Smith-Marsette (3)
Smith-Schuster paced the position group with a team-high nine catches for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Valdes-Scantling had one catch for 20 yards on a critical third-and-11 play to extend the game-killing drive, while Moore tallied a catch for 7 yards.
Watson was targeted twice but didn’t record a catch. He contributed four punt returns for 22 yards.
Smith-Marsette, who was elevated from the practice squad, recorded three offensive snaps and didn’t record a target.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (55), Noah Gray (39, 21 on ST), Jody Fortson (10, 19 on ST)
Kelce had four catches for 71 yards in the game and established two career milestones. He now has seven straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons and joined the NFL’s exclusive 10,000 yards receiving club.
Gray contributed three catches for 45 yards, while Fortson wasn’t targeted in the game.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Trey Smith (68, 6 on ST), Creed Humphrey (68, 6 on ST), Orlando Brown Jr. (68, 6 on ST), Andrew Wylie (68, 6 on ST), Joe Thuney (68), Nick Allegretti (6 on ST), Prince Tega Wanogho (6 on ST), Lucas Niang (6 on ST)
The protection allowed two sacks and five quarterback hits on Mahomes, but did their job, for the most part.
Smith delivered a crushing highlight-worthy block on Broncos safety Justin Simmons in the second quarter to help pave the way for McKinnon’s 10-yard touchdown catch. On the play, Smith first blocked at the line of scrimmage before peeling out in space on the screen play to lock down on Simmons.
“It was a lot of fun, man,” Smith said after the game. “That’s my type of block.”
Thuney returned to action after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Frank Clark (59), Chris Jones (50), George Karlaftis (44, 4 on ST), Mike Danna (35, 4 on ST), Khalen Saunders (34, 4 on ST), Carlos Dunlap (29), Derrick Nnadi (24, 4 on ST), Brandon Williams (15)
The defensive line led a sack party in the Broncos’ backfield, accounting for 4.5 of the Chiefs’ six sacks in the game. The six sacks represented a season high in a single game for the Chiefs’ defensive this season.
Clark, Jones, Karlaftis and Danna each recorded a quarterback takedown, while Williams, who made his debut in a Chiefs uniform, split a sack with linebacker Darius Harris.
Clark, Jones and Williams each also recorded two quarterback hits.
LINEBACKERS: Nick Bolton (72, 4 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (45), Leo Chenal (9, 26 on ST), Darius Harris (8, 14 on ST), Jack Cochrane (22 on ST)
Bolton produced a team-high nine tackles and a quarterback hit. Gay made an impressive leaping play to bat away Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass, then secured the loose ball in the air before returning it 47 yards for a defensive touchdown.
Harris split a sack with defensive tackle Brandon Williams, while Chenal notched two tackles.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: L’Jarius Sneed (72), Juan Thornhill (72), Justin Reid (71, 4 on ST), Trent McDuffie (71, 7 on ST), Joshua Williams (36, 18 on ST), Jaylen Watson (26, 12 on ST), Bryan Cook (20, 22 on ST), Chris Lammons (26 on ST), Deon Bush (26 on ST), Nazeeh Johnson (10 on ST)
Thornhill and Sneed each recorded seven tackles, and Thornhill recorded a sack. Sneed also produced an interception and two passes defensed.
Reid chipped in with four tackles, while Watson and Williams each recorded three tackles. McDuffie made the highlight reel for the wrong reason, as a Wilson pass bounced off McDuffie’s facemask down the field on what could’ve been an interception.
Johnson recorded a team-high two tackles on special teams.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (13), Tommy Townsend (9), James Winchester (9)
Butker converted two field goal attempts, the longest from 45 yards, and four extra points.
Townsend had three punts for 199 yards, including a 76-yard effort, to help flip field position. He finished the game averaging an incredible 66.3 per attempt, 52.7 net yards.
INACTIVES: Wide receiver Kadarius Toney (hamstring), quarterback Shane Buechele, offensive lineman defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, defensive end Malik Herring, tackle lineman Geron Christian, offensive lineman Darian Kinnard
