Three Chiefs Week 7 Snap Count Trends That Stand Out

Many things jumped off the snap count page from the Chiefs' Week 7 win over the 49ers.

As the Kansas City Chiefs head into a bye week, they can do so brimming with confidence following a Week 7 statement win over the San Francisco 49ers.

After going down 10-0 early in the game, Kansas City ended up waking up and putting together one of its best offensive stretches of play all season long. On the defensive side of the ball, numerous players stepped up to make big plays and help put the game away. Once the momentum shifted back to the Chiefs' side, the team never looked back. It was a group effort, and one that everyone involved can be proud of. 

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.

#Chiefs snap counts vs the 49ers. Offense, Defense and Special Teams pic.twitter.com/MH4hu79Kb9

— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 24, 2022

1. So much for Isiah Pacheco being the starter?

Prior to Sunday's game, much was made of the Chiefs reportedly shifting to Isiah Pacheco as their starter at running back. He and Clyde Edwards-Helaire were expected to share the bulk of the work in the backfield, with veteran Jerick McKinnon bringing up the caboose. While the seventh-round rookie did get the start, it was the elder statesman of the group of got most of the snaps against San Francisco.

All in all, McKinnon led the running back room with 28 snaps, good for 44% of available work on offense. Pacheco landed in second place with 19 (30%), and Edwards-Helaire tallied a career-low 17 (27%). On the individual stat sheet, Pacheco led all rushers with eight carries but wasn't targeted at all in the receiving game. Despite Pacheco getting the nod to open the game with the first-team offense, his workload didn't exactly match the hype. As the Chiefs come back from their bye week and play the Tennessee Titans in November, how the running backs see their snaps split up will be worth monitoring. 

2. Tight ends galore against San Francisco

Of Patrick Mahomes's 34 attempted targets on Sunday, 11 of them were to tight ends. Travis Kelce, as is usual, dominated with eight targets, but the duo of Noah Gray and Jody Fortson also got plenty of opportunities on offense. Not only did they make their presence felt as blockers on key runs that ultimately contributed to the Chiefs' win, but they also combined for three targets and two receptions for 18 yards. 

Those stats may not sound like much — they aren't — but Gray and Fortson were relied upon quite often to help the Chiefs out in Week 7. Gray matched his season-high snap share with 58% of available opportunities (37 snaps) on Sunday, and Fortson also did the same (34%, good for 22 snaps). Kansas City's bread and butter deal in the tight end room is still to get the ball to Kelce and let him do his thing, but the team clearly trusts his backups to also play significant snaps and serve as pass-catching and blocking depth. 

3. More defensive line shuffling for the Chiefs

Earlier in the season, the Chiefs were playing rookie George Karlaftis as much as 80% of the time on defense. In Week 5, that number was 86%. As recently as last week, Chris Jones was on the field for 96% of Kansas City's defensive snaps. In that same game, Frank Clark saw the field 84% of the time. Steve Spagnuolo's reliance on a small few players to dominate the snap counts up front this season has been partially due to a lack of surrounding talent, but also due to some injuries. On Sunday, however, he got just about everyone involved.

Jones played a much more manageable 75% of snaps against the 49ers, Karlaftis's total dropped to 65% and Clark's was 70%. On the edge, veteran Carlos Dunlap (58%) and youngster Malik Herring (33%) were both bigger parts of the game plan. On the interior, the duo of Khalen Saunders (43%) and Derrick Nnadi (38%) were rotated frequently with Taylor Stallworth (18%) also getting some work in. Facing one of the better offensive lines in football, Kansas City's front fielded multiple different looks with various personnel packages being mixed in. With defensive lineman Mike Danna likely coming back after the bye, Spagnuolo will have yet another name to choose from.

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