Three Thoughts on the Chiefs’ Week 14 Snap Counts

Kansas City's snap counts against the Broncos in Week 14 told stories of how the action unfolded.

The Kansas City Chiefs' Sunday afternoon win over the Denver Broncos was anything but impressive, with plenty of bad being mixed in with the good that Andy Reid's team displayed on the field.

Scoring 27 offensive points against one of the top defenses in all of football is impressive, as is being able to generate six sacks and force a pair of turnovers that included a pick-six. On the other hand, surrendering 28 points to one of the worst offenses in the sport and also turning the ball over three times through the air is well below what Kansas City should expect of itself. Another addition to the win column is the most important part, though, and all active players contributed to the victory. 

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

Good morning, all

Here are #Chiefs snap counts from yesterday's victory over the Broncos: pic.twitter.com/YJMjOhOVM9

— Jordan Foote (@footenoted) December 12, 2022

1. Fewer snaps to go around for Marquez Valdes-Scantling?  

With Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman being out for the past three games, one would anticipate that Marquez Valdes-Scantling may see an uptick in snaps due to his dynamic playmaking abilities on offense. On the contrary, the veteran wideout has witnessed his snap share percentages decrease from 71%, 84% and 71% in Weeks 9-11 to 58%, 56% and 51% in Weeks 12-14. Despite there being fewer speedy receivers to compete with, Valdes-Scantling isn't seeing the field as often as he was earlier in the season.

Two players can immediately be looked at in relation to this: Justin Watson and Skyy Moore. The former seems to have Patrick Mahomes's complete trust, playing no less than 62% of available snaps in each of the past five weeks and topping out at 88% back in Week 11. The latter got off to a slow start in terms of playing time in his rookie campaign but has logged at least a 40% share of reps in four consecutive games. Consequently, Valdes-Scantling simply doesn't have a ton left to work with. That isn't an indictment on him (he's the team's third-leading receiver), but rather a testament to how Kansas City views its depth at the wide receiver position. 

2. Brandon Williams makes an impact in his debut

Once he got signed to the active roster from the practice squad last week, I wrote about defensive lineman Brandon Williams and asked whether it was his time to shine for the Chiefs. The 33-year-old hadn't played a single snap this year prior to Week 14, although the pairing of Taylor Stallworth being waived and Derrick Nnadi struggling as of late helped make a case for potential playing time for Williams. In his first game on the job, he got an opportunity and seized it.

Playing 15 defensive snaps against the Broncos, Williams's 21% mark was higher than every single one of Stallworth's totals as a Chief. Getting work on seven different drives, Williams finished the game with two quarterback hits, one total tackle and was credited with half a sack in the process. It remains to be seen what Steve Spagnuolo's plans for Williams moving forward will be, but there's reason to believe that he'll only grow more and more comfortable with the scheme as time passes by. If he makes plays down the stretch for Kansas City, that playing time should either remain consistent or potentially even tick up a bit. 

3. Interesting substitutions at linebacker and cornerback

In last week's analysis on snap counts, I noted that linebacker Willie Gay Jr.'s 72% mark was worth keeping an eye on. Now, the same thing happened again. Gay's 62% share in Week 14 was his lowest since Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers (his first game back from serving an early-season suspension). He was off the field in favor of other players such as Darius Harris on three separate drives and almost all of another one, which left the team without a high-level athlete at the position. Gay's interception return for a touchdown may have played a small role in him possibly being tired, but he still wasn't on the field enough.

At cornerback, another interesting development unfolded. After logging snap percentages of 66, 100 and 92 in the three games heading into the Broncos matchup, rookie Joshua Williams was on the field for just half of the available reps this past week. In his place, partially, fellow first-year defensive back Jaylen Watson saw his most snaps (26) since Week 7. As Spagnuolo fine-tunes his rotations in the secondary and figures out who will and won't be a major contributor come playoff time, perhaps Watson has found new life. His playing time is something to watch over the next four weeks.

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