Three Chiefs Week 3 Snap Count Trends That Stand Out
The Kansas City Chiefs fought hard but in the end, a multitude of mistakes at just about every level cost the team a game and the Indianapolis Colts pulled off a Week 3 upset by a final score of 20-17.
Not much was going right for the Chiefs against the Colts, and it started from the very onset of the game. Special teams errors and offensive struggles dug Kansas City into a hole early on and despite taking a lead later in the game, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Chris Jones allowed Indianapolis to continue its game-winning drive and ultimately cap things off with a touchdown. Sunday's performance was hands-down the least inspiring one from the Chiefs thus far in the 2022 campaign.
Now that snap counts have been released (courtesy of the NFL Game Statistics & Information System), what jumped off the page? Let's take a look at three notable takeaways from another week of Chiefs football.
1. Mecole Hardman's injury didn't open up anything at wide receiver
Wide receiver Mecole Hardman injured his heel against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 and while he did briefly exit the game, it didn't prove to be severe enough to hold him out of practice in the following days. The fourth-year man was a limited participant early in the week before progressing to full capacity on Friday, and his hefty dosage of 43 snaps (68%) against the Colts despite him being clearly hobbled was a testament to the Chiefs wanting to keep him involved. Even with being on the field so much, however, Hardman logged just one reception on one target for two yards.
Usually when Hardman is struggling to make an impact, someone else would be counted on to make plays behind him on the depth chart. While JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had solid games, neither rookie Skyy Moore nor veteran Justin Watson stepped up. Part of that is on Kansas City for not conceding some of Hardman's snaps (Watson played 10 snaps on offense and Moore logged eight) when he was ineffective, but it's also partially on both of them for failing to capitalize. Moving forward, especially if Hardman isn't rolling, the Chiefs will need their depth to show up. That simply wasn't the case in Indy.
2. Clyde Edwards-Helaire continues to have a limited role
In one of the weirdest statistical games for a running back in recent memory, Clyde Edwards-Helaire toted the ball seven times on the ground and scored a touchdown but came away with zero yards. He remained a threat as a receiver, hauling in five passes for 39 yards, but his lack of production on the ground was a big change from what the Chiefs had gotten out of him earlier in the year. His limited snap count continued to be a glaring development, as he logged 40% of available offensive snaps against the Colts after recording 39% in Week 1 and 44% in Week 2. This isn't a fluke anymore — it's a trend.
Edwards-Helaire is never going to live up to the workload or standard that comes with being a first-round pick at running back. The sooner people accept that, as well as the fact that Kansas City is truly going with a by-committee approach in the backfield, the better. Jerick McKinnon paced all Chiefs running backs in the snap count department with 33 (52%), with rookie Isiah Pacheco logging just five snaps on offense. How the Chiefs divvy up their reps at the position is always worth watching, but it's safe to say at this point that Edwards-Helaire's role as a featured piece from a carry-split standpoint is more of a pipe dream than anything else.
3. Khalen Saunders made the most of his playing time
Other than the negatives that came with the Chiefs losing in such a crushing fashion, the most unexpected development in Sunday's game may have been the play of defensive tackle Khalen Saunders. The 2019 third-round pick didn't see a major increase in playing time against the Colts (21 defensive snaps for the second week in a row), but he sure made the most of his opportunities in Week 3. Saunders recorded a whopping eight tackles in Indianapolis, including three solo efforts and also a pair of quarterback hits. For reference, he had eight tackles in seven games last season.
Some personnel groupings and opposing offensive lines call for different deployments of players. That much is obvious, and Saunders won't always have a 30% workload on defense with the likes of Tershawn Wharton, Derrick Nnadi and even Mike Danna (once he returns from injury) working along the interior of Steve Spagnuolo's defensive line. With that said, Saunders was able to make a significant impact in a reserve role against the Colts. That's something that hasn't been said enough about him throughout his career in Kansas City and in a contract year, he'll need more games like that in order to justify sticking around long-term. The Chiefs' defense put up one heck of an effort on Sunday, and Saunders was a serious part of that.
