Chiefs-Broncos snap counts: Playing the second and third teams against starters

How did Kansas City use its players in Sunday’s game against Denver?

In Sunday’s final game of the regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs suffered a meaningless 38-0 defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos on Empower Field at Mile High.

Let’s take a look at how Kansas City used its players in this game.

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Starters (offensive): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, LT D.J. Humphries, LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Wanya Morris, TE Peyton Hendershot, WR Nikko Remigio, WR Justin Watson, QB Carson Wentz and FB Carson Steele.

Starters (defensive): DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DT Derrick Nnadi, DT Marlon Tuipulotu, DE Charles Omenihu, LB Cam Jones, LB Leo Chenal, CB Joshua Williams, DB Chamarri Conner, DB Jaden Hicks, S Bryan Cook and S Nazeeh Johnson.

Did not play: WR Marquise Brown, WR DeAndre Hopkins, S Justin Reid, LB Drue Tranquill, RB Kareem Hunt and LB Nick Bolton.

Inactive: RB Isiah Pacheco, QB Patrick Mahomes, CB Trent McDuffie, DE George Karlaftis, T Jawaan Taylor, TE Travis Kelce and DT Chris Jones.

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The big takeaway

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Seven starters didn’t even dress for this game, which had no meaning because the team had already clinched the AFC’s No. 1 postseason seed. Six starters (and other significant contributors) dressed but didn’t play a single snap. Starting wide receiver Xavier Worthy was in for a single play.

On offense, left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith were all listed as starters, but were on the field for fewer than 10% of the snaps. Not even swing guard Mike Caliendo was given a chance to gain more experience: he appeared in just 9% of the reps. Tight end Noah Gray — who is typically on the field for about 60% of the plays — was in for just 12% on Sunday’s offensive snaps. The only significant contributors who got real playing time were wide receiver Justin Watson (97%), wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (94%) and running back Samaje Perine (39%). It appears the team really doesn’t have a player for Perine’s role in the offense.

On defense, starting safeties and outside cornerbacks — and linebacker Nick Bolton — are the only players who typically play 100% of the snaps. Among those, only safety Bryan Cook played his normal role. Starters like Michael Danna and Tershawn Wharton were on the field for less than 10% of the plays.

While head coach Andy Reid has always rested the Chiefs’ starters in meaningless regular-season finales before the playoffs, Sunday’s game was the first time since 2013 that the opposing team had not already been eliminated from the postseason. In that season, the San Diego Chargers defeated Kansas City 27-24 in overtime to earn a playoff spot.

While the 2013 team used its players in a similar way, the drop-off from Alex Smith to Chase Daniel wasn’t as great as the one from Patrick Mahomes to Carson Wentz — which says more about Mahomes than it does about the other three quarterbacks.

Here’s another difference: on Sunday, it seemed as if Denver was trying to do more than just qualify for the postseason. Broncos head coach Sean Payton appeared to have an ax to grind — which is understandable under the circumstances — but it might not be the best approach before the postseason.

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Data

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Offense

Defense

Special Teams

All Snaps

Editor’s Note: Arrowhead Pride obtains snap count data from the NFL’s game stats and information system, which allows us to break out snap counts by run or pass on offensive and defensive plays. Because GSIS data ignores plays that were nullified by penalties, total offensive and defensive snap counts will vary from other sources, which get their data from NFL Gamebooks