KC Chiefs Week 7 Snap Counts vs. LA Chargers: Stacking Wins
The Kansas City Chiefs' offense resembled an elite unit in the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 7, and Steve Spagnuolo's defense put together an excellent second half on Sunday afternoon to bring home the win.
For the sixth week in a row, Andy Reid's team has managed to secure a victory. This 14-point margin is the club's second-widest of the year, trailing only a 31-point thumping of the Chicago Bears back in Week 3. Kansas City is playing some impressive football right now, finding ways to grind out close games and now also adding another not-so-close outcome to the ledger. The result is a team that is 6-1 through seven weeks, and one that's getting contributions from just about every area of the roster.
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.
Charles Omenihu hits the ground running
The Chiefs didn't tip their hand with Charles Omenihu during the week, keeping predictions for his potential Week 7 workload pretty quiet. After all, the veteran pass rusher was coming off the reserve/suspended list in time to make his season debut on Sunday but hadn't played in an actual game since the preseason. With players like Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and Mike Danna ahead of him on the depth chart, it made sense for Kansas City to ease Omenihu back in. He ended up playing a bit more than most expected, enjoying a productive afternoon.
Omenihu logged 32 snaps against the Chargers, good for 51% of those available. Recording a pair of quarterback hits, a tackle for loss, a sack and a pass broken up, he managed to fill up the stat sheet. He also kept some of his running mates fresh. While Jones and the Chiefs' interior pair of Derrick Nnadi and Tershawn Wharton played right around their normal amount of snaps, Karlaftis and Danna got a breather of sorts. Karlaftis logged 49 reps, with his 78% mark being his third-lowest of the season. Danna was present for 46 snaps, with a 73% share being his second-lowest of 2023. An added plus of the Omenihu introduction is that he's also leaving the door open for more rest and higher-quality efforts from some of his teammates. Week 7 was the first example of that.
A new career-high snap count for Rashee Rice
With Justin Watson being out due to an elbow contusion, the Chiefs were expected to shake things up in the wide receiver room a bit. That was without even factoring in new trade acquisition Mecole Hardman, who ended up playing 11 snaps in his first game back with the team. For the past couple of weeks, Kansas City had players and coaches alike agreeing that rookie wideout Rashee Rice was deserving of more snaps. In Week 7, that's exactly what he got.
Playing 40 snaps and being on the field 59% of the time on offense, Rice topped his previous season and career-bests of 39 snaps and 51% from Week 3. He still trailed Skyy Moore (41 snaps) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (47), but the team appears to be bridging the gap near the top of the receiver room. Rice was comfortably ahead of players like Justyn Ross (17), Kadarius Toney (13) and the aforementioned Hardman, which is where he should be. Rice converted on five of his six targets on Sunday for 60 yards and a score, adding to what's already been a solid rookie campaign.
Kansas City's backup cornerback battle finding its groove?
The Chiefs have a very clear (and very potent) one-two punch of L'Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie at the cornerback position, but the No. 3 and No. 4 spots have been interesting to watch play out since the beginning of last season. In the 2022 campaign, the dynamic of Jaylen Watson versus Joshua Williams was a roller coaster throughout the year and into the postseason, and the snap splits between the two have once again been tumultuous in 2023. With Sneed and McDuffie both being on the field for every snap against Los Angeles in Week 7, Steve Spagnuolo's other two corners were used in quite different capacities.
For Williams, he's seen his snaps drop pretty consistently since logging 39 and 31 in the first two weeks of the season. His total was 28 in Week 4 and 29 in Week 5, but he's since played 10 snaps in Week 6 and just eight on Sunday afternoon. Conversely, Watson went from zero, 21 and 29 snaps in his first three weeks to 31, 25 and 41 in his three most recent outings (he was inactive for Week 4). This split very well could change in weeks to come — it has in the past — but Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt appear to be finding their preferred rotation for now.
