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Chiefs-Chargers snap counts: Bolton and Gay take over the middle – Arrowhead Pride

The Kansas City Chiefs came back to win 27-24 over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

Let’s see how the Chiefs used their players in this AFC West showdown.


Starters (offensive): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, TE Travis Kelce, LT Orlando Brown Jr., LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Andrew Wylie, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, QB Patrick Mahomes, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and WR Mecole Hardman.

Starters (defensive): DE George Karlaftis, DT Derrick Nnadi, DT Chris Jones, DE Frank Clark, LB Nick Bolton, LB Willie Gay Jr., CB Jaylen Watson, CB L’Jarius Sneed, CB Rashad Fenton, S Juan Thornhill and S Justin Reid.

Did not play: QB Chad Henne.

Inactive: RB Ronald Jones, K Harrison Butker, QB Shane Buechele, LB Jack Cochrane, DE Joshua Kaindoh, T Darian Kinnard and DE Malik Herring.

Offense All Pass Run
Total 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Orlando Brown Jr. 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Creed Humphrey 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Patrick Mahomes 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Trey Smith 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Joe Thuney 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Andrew Wylie 54
(100%)
36
(100%)
18
(100%)
Travis Kelce 48
(89%)
35
(97%)
13
(72%)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 42
(78%)
31
(86%)
11
(61%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 40
(74%)
29
(81%)
11
(61%)
Mecole Hardman 28
(52%)
19
(53%)
9
(50%)
Noah Gray 27
(50%)
17
(47%)
10
(56%)
Jerick McKinnon 26
(48%)
19
(53%)
7
(39%)
Clyde Edwards-Helaire 23
(43%)
14
(39%)
9
(50%)
Justin Watson 14
(26%)
8
(22%)
6
(33%)
Michael Burton 7
(13%)
1
(3%)
6
(33%)
Jody Fortson 6
(11%)
4
(11%)
2
(11%)
Isiah Pacheco 5
(9%)
3
(8%)
2
(11%)
Nick Allegretti 2
(4%)
0
(0%)
2
(11%)
Skyy Moore 2
(4%)
0
(0%)
2
(11%)

Offensive takeaways

  • As usual, starting offensive linemen Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Andrew Wylie were in for all of the offensive snaps. Nick Allegretti came on as a sixth lineman for a couple of plays.
  • The Chiefs continued to operate their running backs as a group; none of them had a majority of the snaps. Jerick McKinnon was favored more on passing plays than Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Without a big fourth-quarter lead, Isiah Pacheco’s use fell below 10%.
  • That figured into the tight end usage, too. Tight end Travis Kelce was back to his usual use: around 90% of the snaps, while Jody Fortson’s reps were also around 10%.
  • The team clearly sees wide receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster as the core players in the group, followed by Mecole Hardman and Justin Watson. Rookie Skyy Moore had only two offensive snaps.
  • In Week 1, Kansas City emphasized running plays a bit more than we typically see. But in this game, they were back to a more familiar ratio: 67% pass and 33% run.

Defense All Pass Run
Total 74
(100%)
50
(100%)
24
(100%)
Justin Reid 74
(100%)
50
(100%)
24
(100%)
L’Jarius Sneed 74
(100%)
50
(100%)
24
(100%)
Rashad Fenton 72
(97%)
49
(98%)
23
(96%)
Juan Thornhill 72
(97%)
48
(96%)
24
(100%)
Nick Bolton 71
(96%)
49
(98%)
22
(92%)
Willie Gay Jr. 68
(92%)
44
(88%)
24
(100%)
George Karlaftis 58
(78%)
41
(82%)
17
(71%)
Chris Jones 55
(74%)
40
(80%)
15
(63%)
Jaylen Watson 50
(68%)
39
(78%)
11
(46%)
Frank Clark 48
(65%)
37
(74%)
11
(46%)
Michael Danna 35
(47%)
21
(42%)
14
(58%)
Derrick Nnadi 35
(47%)
21
(42%)
14
(58%)
Tershawn Wharton 32
(43%)
22
(44%)
10
(42%)
Leo Chenal 22
(30%)
10
(20%)
12
(50%)
Khalen Saunders 21
(28%)
11
(22%)
10
(42%)
Carlos Dunlap 16
(22%)
9
(18%)
7
(29%)
Bryan Cook 6
(8%)
6
(12%)
0
(0%)
Darius Harris 3
(4%)
1
(2%)
2
(8%)
Deon Bush 2
(3%)
2
(4%)
0
(0%)

Defensive takeaways

  • With a competitive game until the end, we saw what we normally see: L’Jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton, Justin Reid and Juan Thornhill were in for virtually every defensive snap. Jaylen Watson was the fifth cornerback for 68% of the snaps. Just as in Week 1, there were only a handful of plays with a third safety; Bryan Cook and Deon Bush combined for about 10% of the snaps.
  • Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr. were each in for more than 90% of the defensive snaps, while Leo Chenal had 30% — mostly against the run — and Darius Harris had 4%. Elijah Lee played exclusively on special teams. So it appears that Kansas City is leaning into a 4-2-5 alignment as its true base defense.
  • Rookie defensive end George Karlaftis and defensive tackle Chris Jones again led the defense in snaps. The numbers suggest that in general, Carlos Dunlap is subbing in for Karlaftis and Khalen Saunders is coming in for Jones on running downs. But as always, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s constant shifts on the line keep us — and opposing offenses — guessing.
  • Along those lines, Pro Football Focus reports that against the Chargers, Jones continued to line up on the edge for some snaps. On Thursday, it was around one in five plays. This is well below the outside usage we saw before 2021’s EDGE experiment; these days, Spagnuolo is mostly keeping Jones at home. But defensive Tershawn Wharton is starting to see significant use on the outside. PFF says that in about one in three of Thursday’s snaps, Wharton was on the edge.

Special Teams Snaps
Total 32
(100%)
Deon Bush 27
(84%)
Elijah Lee 27
(84%)
Chris Lammons 25
(78%)
Bryan Cook 21
(66%)
Michael Burton 17
(53%)
Darius Harris 17
(53%)
Noah Gray 16
(50%)
Leo Chenal 15
(47%)
Jody Fortson 15
(47%)
Joshua Williams 12
(38%)
Tommy Townsend 11
(34%)
James Winchester 11
(34%)
Matt Ammendola 11
(34%)
Dicaprio Bootle 11
(34%)
Isiah Pacheco 10
(31%)
Justin Watson 10
(31%)
Skyy Moore 7
(22%)
Nick Bolton 6
(19%)
George Karlaftis 6
(19%)
Jerick McKinnon 6
(19%)
L’Jarius Sneed 6
(19%)
Tershawn Wharton 6
(19%)
Nick Allegretti 5
(16%)
Orlando Brown Jr. 5
(16%)
Geron Christian 5
(16%)
Michael Danna 5
(16%)
Creed Humphrey 5
(16%)
Trey Smith 5
(16%)
Prince Tega Wanogho 5
(16%)
Andrew Wylie 5
(16%)
Derrick Nnadi 4
(13%)
Justin Reid 4
(13%)
Jaylen Watson 4
(13%)
Rashad Fenton 2
(6%)
Willie Gay Jr. 2
(6%)
Juan Thornhill 2
(6%)
Khalen Saunders 1
(3%)

All Snaps Off Def ST Total
Total 54
(100%)
74
(100%)
32
(100%)
160
(100%)
Nick Allegretti 2
(4%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
7
(4%)
Nick Bolton 0
(0%)
71
(96%)
6
(19%)
77
(48%)
Orlando Brown Jr. 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
59
(37%)
Michael Burton 7
(13%)
0
(0%)
17
(53%)
24
(15%)
Deon Bush 0
(0%)
2
(3%)
27
(84%)
29
(18%)
Leo Chenal 0
(0%)
22
(30%)
15
(47%)
37
(23%)
Geron Christian 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
5
(3%)
Frank Clark 0
(0%)
48
(65%)
0
(0%)
48
(30%)
Bryan Cook 0
(0%)
6
(8%)
21
(66%)
27
(17%)
Michael Danna 0
(0%)
35
(47%)
5
(16%)
40
(25%)
Carlos Dunlap 0
(0%)
16
(22%)
0
(0%)
16
(10%)
Clyde Edwards-Helaire 23
(43%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
23
(14%)
Rashad Fenton 0
(0%)
72
(97%)
2
(6%)
74
(46%)
Jody Fortson 6
(11%)
0
(0%)
15
(47%)
21
(13%)
Willie Gay Jr. 0
(0%)
68
(92%)
2
(6%)
70
(44%)
Noah Gray 27
(50%)
0
(0%)
16
(50%)
43
(27%)
Mecole Hardman 28
(52%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
28
(18%)
Darius Harris 0
(0%)
3
(4%)
17
(53%)
20
(13%)
Creed Humphrey 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
59
(37%)
Chris Jones 0
(0%)
55
(74%)
0
(0%)
55
(34%)
George Karlaftis 0
(0%)
58
(78%)
6
(19%)
64
(40%)
Travis Kelce 48
(89%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
48
(30%)
Chris Lammons 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
25
(78%)
25
(16%)
Elijah Lee 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
27
(84%)
27
(17%)
Patrick Mahomes 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
54
(34%)
Jerick McKinnon 26
(48%)
0
(0%)
6
(19%)
32
(20%)
Skyy Moore 2
(4%)
0
(0%)
7
(22%)
9
(6%)
Derrick Nnadi 0
(0%)
35
(47%)
4
(13%)
39
(24%)
Isiah Pacheco 5
(9%)
0
(0%)
10
(31%)
15
(9%)
Justin Reid 0
(0%)
74
(100%)
4
(13%)
78
(49%)
Khalen Saunders 0
(0%)
21
(28%)
1
(3%)
22
(14%)
Trey Smith 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
59
(37%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 40
(74%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
40
(25%)
L’Jarius Sneed 0
(0%)
74
(100%)
6
(19%)
80
(50%)
Juan Thornhill 0
(0%)
72
(97%)
2
(6%)
74
(46%)
Joe Thuney 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
54
(34%)
Tommy Townsend 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
11
(34%)
11
(7%)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling 42
(78%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
42
(26%)
Prince Tega Wanogho 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
5
(3%)
Jaylen Watson 0
(0%)
50
(68%)
4
(13%)
54
(34%)
Justin Watson 14
(26%)
0
(0%)
10
(31%)
24
(15%)
Tershawn Wharton 0
(0%)
32
(43%)
6
(19%)
38
(24%)
Joshua Williams 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
12
(38%)
12
(8%)
James Winchester 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
11
(34%)
11
(7%)
Andrew Wylie 54
(100%)
0
(0%)
5
(16%)
59
(37%)
Matt Ammendola 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
11
(34%)
11
(7%)
Dicaprio Bootle 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
11
(34%)
11
(7%)

Editor’s Note: Arrowhead Pride obtains snap count data from the NFL’s game stats and information system, which allows us to break out snap counts by run or pass on offensive and defensive plays. Because GSIS data ignores plays that were nullified by penalties, total offensive and defensive snap counts will vary from other sources, which get their data from NFL Gamebooks