Chiefs Week 13 Snap Counts: Games Within the Game

Kansas City's snap counts against the Bengals told stories of how the action unfolded.

The Kansas City Chiefs came into Week 13 with an opportunity to silence anyone who doubted their ability to beat the Cincinnati Bengals but instead, they only managed to add even more fuel to that fire.

Due to some mistakes on both sides of the ball early on and a couple of late-game gaffes that put a bow on the afternoon, Cincinnati won on their home turf by three points. With the loss, Kansas City is now the second seed in the conference and is relying on help from the Buffalo Bills' upcoming opponents in order to regain that important No. 1 spot as the playoffs draw near. Sunday's outing was a team effort on the visitors' behalf, albeit one that ended in defeat.

Now that snap counts have been released, what jumped off the page? Let's take a look at three notable takeaways from another week of Chiefs football. 

Good morning, friends

Here are #Chiefs snap counts from Sunday's loss to the Bengals: pic.twitter.com/OmvEM4em7W

— Jordan Foote (@footenoted) December 5, 2022

1. Observations on Derrick Nnadi and Willie Gay Jr.

When the Chiefs re-signed Derrick Nnadi to a one-year deal for this season, many expected Kansas City to be getting its true run-stuffing nose tackle back. While Nnadi still brings value in that role when he's at his best, he's done nothing more than flash that level of play a few times in 2022. After logging snap percentages of 54%, 46% and 40% over the last three seasons, Nnadi has been on the field for just 34% of the Chiefs' defensive snaps this year and has gone under the 30% mark in three of his last four games. The emergence of Khalen Saunders and the ability of Mike Danna to be kicked to the interior helped offset Nnadi's regression, but it's a very clear trend now.

Elsewhere, the Chiefs' supporting linebackers saw their snaps divvied up in an interesting way. Willie Gay Jr. didn't make a huge impact, and it reflected in him playing just 72% of the Chiefs' snaps after being on the field for 82% in Week 11 and 87% in Week 13. After logging three, five, four and five defensive snaps in Weeks 9-12, Darius Harris saw his total spike to 17 on Sunday. There are games in which Gay's athleticism seems to be a necessity alongside MIKE linebacker Nick Bolton, and this outing was one of them. Despite that, Gay and Harris saw some tweaks to their percentages and the Chiefs' second level as a whole got shredded over the middle of the field. 

2. Noah Gray is a legitimate part of the Chiefs' offense

Kansas City's proficiency in multiple tight end sets has been well-documented in articles similar to this one. When healthy, the trio of Travis Kelce, Noah Gray and Jody Fortson is perhaps the most dangerous in the NFL at that position. While Fortson gets a lot of love for being a threat in the red zone and having an intriguing athletic profile as a former wide receiver, Gray has emerged as a legitimate backup receiving option and also a better-than-advertised blocker.

With his 58% snap share against the Bengals, Gray secured his third straight game with at least half of the team's offensive snaps. For the eighth game in a row, the second-year man and former fifth-round pick was targeted and had at least one catch. Gray may not be Blake Bell in the run game and he doesn't have quite the profile Fortson does in the passing game, but he's a well-rounded Robin to Kelce's Batman and should continue to be at least a minor element in the Chiefs' offense every week. He's mostly matchup-proof, intelligent and dynamic enough to make a small difference. 

3. A near-perfect symphony in the backfield

After Ronald Jones got introduced to the Chiefs' in-game offense a week ago, the fifth-year running back saw the field just three times on offense in Week 13. Instead of allowing him to pick up a few carries on the ground or some targets through the air, Kansas City opted to fully lean into the Isiah Pacheco-Jerick McKinnon duo in the backfield. With the former logging 25 snaps and the latter being on for 26, the results were impressive.

On 14 carries, Pacheco recorded 66 yards and a touchdown. McKinnon toted the ball eight times, averaging 6.4 yards per carry and also having a pair of receptions and a touchdown in the process. Per Nate Tice of The Athletic, the Chiefs' run success rate of 60.9% was also their best of the season. Without Clyde Edwards-Helaire, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy continue to lean on their two best running backs to get the job done. On Sunday, their efforts combined to produce a balanced attack and one that helped the offense despite the final outcome for the team being a loss.

Read More: Loss to Bengals Reiterated That Chiefs Have Company in AFC