Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Vikings: Hill plays all offensive snaps, Jones makes return
Chiefs quarterback Matt Moore proved efficient in his second start by helping lead the team to a thrilling 26-23 win Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings.
Starting a second straight game in place Patrick Mahomes (knee), Moore completed 25 of 35 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown to post a 103.9 passer rating on 60 offensive snaps.
Quarterback Chad Henne, who was activated from injured reserve on Saturday, served in a backup role and did not record a snap.
Here’s how the individual snaps counts break down from Week 9 action, which saw the Chiefs improve to 6-3 entering the second half of the regular season:
Running backs
Damien Williams (43, 5 on special teams), Darrel Williams (11, 14 on ST), LeSean McCoy (6), Anthony Sherman (2, 22 on ST)
Damien Williams was hot and the Chiefs rode him, as evidenced by his snap counts. The last time Williams played 40 or more snaps came in Week 1, where he totaled 45. On the tame, Williams produced 125 yards and an electrifying 91-yard touchdown on 12 carries and two catches for 3 yards on two targets.
McCoy, who started the game, totaled just six snaps and produced 9 yards on three carries.
As a group, the Chiefs produced 147 yards rushing and a score on 18 carries, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
Wide receivers
Tyreek Hill (60, 2 on ST), Sammy Watkins (54), Demarcus Robinson (24, 7 on ST), Mecole Hardman (11, 15 on ST), Byron Pringle (23 on ST)
Hill played all offensive snaps for the first time this season, and saw action at punt returner for the first time since returning in Week 6 from a shoulder injury. He made a large impact on offense with six catches for 140 yards and a touchdown on eight targets, averaging a healthy 23.3 yards per catch.
Hill also affected the Vikings kicking game, as punter Britton Colquitt kicked the ball out of bounds twice to avoid the game-changer. Colquitt’s last punt went for just 27 yards and provided the Chiefs excellent field position to set up kicker Harrison Butker’s game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.
The fourth-year pro, one of the league’s top dynamic playmakers, became the sixth player in NFL history to record at least 20 touchdowns of at least 40 yards in his first four seasons.
For a second straight game, Pringle didn’t see action on offense. His contributions on offense have taken a backseat since the return of Watkins, who totaled 63 yards receiving on seven catches.
Tight ends
Travis Kelce (58), Blake Bell (31, 17 on ST), Deon Yelder (7 on ST)
Bell totaled 31 snaps on the game, marking the third time this season he recorded 30 or more snaps. The Chiefs, though, utilized a 12 personnel package (one running back, two tight ends) on numerous downs with Bell and Kelce against the Vikings, so Bell got on the field a lot.
Offensive line
Mitchell Schwartz (60, 6 on ST), Austin Reiter (60, 6 on ST), Martinas Rankin (60, 6 on ST), Andrew Wylie (60, 6 on ST) Cam Erving (60), Stefen Wisniewski (6 on ST), Nick Allegretti (6 on ST)
The Chiefs shuffled the interior of the front five with the return of Wylie, who missed the previous three games because of an ankle sprain. Wylie didn’t return to left guard, though, and moved to right guard in place of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who was inactive with an ankle injury.
Rankin, who filled in at left guard during Wylie’s absence, remained on the left side of the offensive line.
Defensive line
Tanoh Kpassagnon (59, 5 on ST), Emmanuel Ogbah (59, 4 on ST), Chris Jones (45, 5 on ST, Derrick Nnadi (41, 4 on ST), Khalen Saunders (30, 1 on ST), Mike Pennel (22, 1 on ST), Joey Ivie (21)
Jones made his return to action after missing the past three games because of a groin injury, but didn’t start. He played 45 snaps rotating inside and outside and made an impact, totaling three tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.
The Chiefs effectively utilized an interior rotation among Jones, Nnadi, Saunders, Pennel and Ivie, who was elevated Saturday from the practice squad to the active roster, against Vikings running back Dalvin Cook.
The group maintained their gap responsibilities and played a large role in the Chiefs’ ability to contain Cook, who entered the game leading the league in rushing, rushing touchdowns and total yards from scrimmage. Cook finished the game with 71 yards rushing on 21 carries and 45 yards receiving.
Nnadi, in particular, was highly effective from the interior, totaling six tackles.
Linebackers
Anthony Hitchens (59, 5 on ST), Damien Wilson (59, 1 on ST), Reggie Ragland (47), Ben Niemann (9, 15 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (27 on ST), Darron Lee (23 on ST),
The Chiefs appear to be settled on the starting linebacker group, as Wilson, Hitchens and Ragland once again opened the game for a third straight week.
The trio combined for 19 tackles and proved very active behind the defensive line in stopping the run.
Defensive backs
Charvarius Ward (71, 11 on ST), Tyrann Mathieu (71), Juan Thornhill (71, 6 on ST), Bashaud Breeland (44, 1 on ST), Morris Claiborne (27), Daniel Sorensen (23, 22 on ST), Rashad Fenton (20, 12 on ST), Jordan Lucas (3, 26 on ST), Armani Watts (23 on ST)
Claiborne started the game at left cornerback, but Breeland rotated in to command the majority of snaps opposite of Ward. The Chiefs were without cornerback Kendall Fuller, who continues to rehabilitate from thumb surgery, but had more than enough in coverage against the run-minded Vikings.
Ward paced the defense with a team-high seven tackles, adding a pass defensed.
Specialists
Harrison Butker (12), Dustin Colquitt (11), James Winchester (11)
Butker was the hero of the game by nailing the game-winning kick. He finished the contest going 4 of 4 on field-goal attempts and connected on both extra points.
Two of Butker’s field goals came with less than three minutes remaining in the game. He made a game-tying 54-yard field goal with 2:30 remaining followed by the game-winning 44-yard kick as time expired. The effort in that time span made Butker the first kicker since Martin Gramatica made a game-tying field goal of at least 50 yards and a field goal of at least 40 yards accomplished the feat on Oct. 27, 2002.
Inactives
Patrick Mahomes (knee), Eric Fisher (groin), Frank Clark (neck), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (ankle), Alex Okafor (ankle), Kendall Fuller (thumb), Darwin Thompson
This story was originally published November 4, 2019 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Vikings: Hill plays all offensive snaps, Jones makes return."
