KC Chiefs Week 15 Snap Counts vs. Patriots: Biding Time

Taking a closer look at how Kansas City divvied up its snaps in a Week 15 win against the Patriots.

The Kansas City Chiefs are winners again, snapping their mini-losing streak with a Week 15 victory over the New England Patriots.

Outscoring Bill Belichick's squad by 10 points and outgaining them by 120 net yards, Kansas City put together the exact type of performance it needs to run the table. Whether the Chiefs accomplish that feat is to be determined, but the blueprint is outlined for it. There's plenty of room to improve on Sunday's performance, too, especially considering how many mistakes were committed against an inferior opponent.

Kansas City entered the game a bit shorthanded, missing Isiah Pacheco and Donovan Smith on offense and Bryan Cook (injured reserve) on defense. Despite that, they overcame New England's home crowd and first-half fight to emerge victorious. All in all, it was a three-phase win for the defending Super Bowl champs.

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.

There's a very clear one-two punch atop the wide receiver rotation

Those in Chiefs circles have been clamoring for the team to trim down its wide receiver rotation throughout the season. While a full-scale retooling process or complete elimination of specific players isn't realistic, the team has made some efforts in that regard. It started with getting rookie wideout Rashee Rice more involved in the offense, which is leading to more and more success. In Week 15, Rice saw the field more than he has all season and had a clear secondary option behind him. 

Recording a new career-high total with 60 snaps, Rice was on the field for 92% of available reps on Sunday. That marked the fourth week in a row that the second-round pick has seen his snap share percentage increase. Occupying second place was Justin Watson with 44 snaps on Sunday, good for a 68% split. There's a clear drop-off after Watson, with Kadarius Toney (26 snaps), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (22), Skyy Moore (16) and Richie James (2) falling in line to round out the rotation. What many have campaigned for since the bye week appears to be finally happening, as the Chiefs are leaning more on their top two wide receivers late in the season. 

Some load management on both sides of the ball

As previously mentioned, the Chiefs weren't fully healthy entering Week 15. The war of attrition is setting in for all clubs at this point of the season, even more so for some contenders that still have plenty to play for. Already without a few key contributors for this game, Kansas City exercised some caution with others who were healthy enough to play. Running back Jerick McKinnon and linebacker Drue Tranquill are likely examples of that.

A week after setting a season-high mark with 30 snaps played, Mckinnon saw his number fall to 22 in Week 15. The veteran halfback appeared to get banged up a bit late in the first half, limiting his play and playing time in the final two frames. Tranquill's first game back from a concussion led to him logging just 20 snaps on defense. That number should increase in weeks to come, although it probably won't reach the heights it once did when Nick Bolton was out of the lineup. The Chiefs know they need leaders like McKinnon and Tranquill in good shape for the playoffs, so being careful with them is showing quality process on their end.  

The Chamarri Conner show isn't going anywhere

The production of Kansas City's rookie class is all over the place as the regular season winds down. At the top, first-round defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah sees the field sparingly. At the bottom, undrafted cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe had a key special teams play in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. Players of various draft status and pedigree are stepping up and contributing, with fourth-round defensive back Chamarri Conner coming on strong late in his debut campaign. The Chiefs displayed trust in him by allowing him to play 41 defensive snaps in Week 14, and that trust didn't go away on Sunday.

While Conner did log fewer snaps (32) on defense this week, his percentage rose from 53 to 60. He also remained a focal point on special teams, recording his fifth game of six in a row with at least 20 snaps played there. Conner didn't do anything too crazy in Week 15, but he did manage to set a career-high with four tackles. Until Cook comes off the injured reserve list (if he comes off the injured reserve list) Conner will slot in as the team's de facto third safety behind Mike Edwards. The first-year man's heavy workload is now a trend instead of a one-off development. 

Winners and Losers From Chiefs' Week 15 Game vs. Patriots