Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Panthers: Mahomes, Sorensen on fire over past two games
Unlike Weeks 7 and 8, when the Chiefs cruised to wins, the Chiefs found themselves in a contested battle against the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.
The final play of the game, a missed 67-yard field goal attempt by the Panthers, determined the outcome before the Chiefs escaped with a 33-31 win to improve to 8-1 on the season before a Week 10 bye.
“A good team win,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game.
Here’s how the Chiefs’ snap counts worked out in Week 9:
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (62)
Mahomes completed 30 of 45 for 372 yards and four touchdowns, which gives him 101 career passing touchdowns. He becomes the fastest signal-caller in in NFL history to eclipse 100 passing touchdowns (40 games), breaking the previous mark of 44 games held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino.
Mahomes has been on fire over the past two games, amassing 788 yards passing and nine touchdowns with no interceptions.
RUNNING BACKS: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (25), Le’Veon Bell (19), Darrel Williams (18), Darwin Thompson (12 on special teams)
The Chiefs passed the ball 45 compared to just 12 rushing attempts, resulting in a quiet day for the backfield for a second straight game. Over that span, the Chiefs have attempted 32 rushes against 87 passing plays.
Edwards-Helaire’s 14 yards rushing on five carries led the team, but he also contributed in the passing game with three catches for 20 yards and a touchdown.
As for the run-pass ration over the past two games, Reid provided an explanation after the game.
“We played two good run teams in a row here,” he said. “Both these two are pretty solid up front, so we felt like the pass game, we could execute that maybe even better than the run game.”
WIDE RECEIVERS: Tyreek Hill (59), Demarcus Robinson (50, 5 on ST), Mecole Hardman (42, 11 on ST), Byron Pringle (19, 8 on ST), Gehrig Dieter (15 on ST)
Hill paced the wide receivers group with nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns on a team-high 18 targets. Sunday marked Hill’s ninth career game with two or more receiving touchdowns since 2017, the most in the NFL over that span.
Robinson hauled in touchdown pass, while Hardman totaled three catches for 48 yards.
Pringle wasn’t targeted in the game.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (57), Nick Keizer (13, 13 on ST), Deon Yelder (7, 7 on ST)
Kelce totaled 10 catches for 159 yards on 12 targets, the second straight game he produced a 100-yard receiving effort. The 159 yards against the Panthers gave Kelce his 22nd career 100-yard receiving game, which is the second-most in team history.
The snap counts for Keizer and Yelder show the Chiefs mostly stayed away from their 12-personnel grouping (one running back, two tight ends) and utilized more 11 personnel schemes (one running back, one tight end).
OFFENSIVE LINE: Eric Fisher (62, 7 on ST), Austin Reiter (62, 7 on ST), Andrew Wylie (62, 7 on ST), Nick Allegretti (62, 7 on ST), Mike Remmers (50, 4 on ST), Yasir Durant (12, 7 on ST), Daniel Kilgore (1), Bryan Witzmann (3 on ST)
Remmers briefly left the game with a rib injury and the Chiefs turned to Durant to fill in.
The Chiefs also made a switch at the center position by returning to Reiter, who started the first five games before giving way to Kilgore from Weeks 6-8.
Witzmann, who was elevated Saturday from the practice squad, contributed three snaps on special teams.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Frank Clark (71), Chris Jones (67, 5 on ST), Tanoh Kpassagnon (65, 7 on ST), Tershawn Wharton (50, 2 on ST), Derrick Nnadi (38, 7 on ST), Mike Danna (29), Mike Pennel (13, 7 on ST), Taco Charlton (1)
Clark and Jones were a terror in the Panthers backfield. Of the Chiefs’ nine quarterback hits on Teddy Bridgewater, Jones totaled five and Clark totaled two. Clark and Jones also each recorded a sack.
Kpassagnon and Nnadie each recorded five tackles, which paced the defensive line group.
Charlton suffered a fracture to his lower leg in his only snap of the game.
LINEBACKERS: Anthony Hitchens (43, 7 on ST), Ben Niemann (41, 24 on ST), Damien Wilson (38, 4 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (15, 10 on ST), Dorian O’Daniel (24 on ST)
Hitchens totaled six tackles to led the linebackers, while Gay produced an assist.
Since totaling 39 defensive snaps in Week 7, Gay has recorded 24 snaps over the past two games (nine in Week 8 against the Jets).
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Daniel Sorensen (83, 7 on ST), Tryann Mathieu (83), Charvarius Ward (82, 3 on ST), Bashaud Breeland (81), Juan Thornhill (67), Rashad Fenton (32, 17 on ST), Armani Watts (14, 24 on ST), Antonio Hamilton (17 on ST), BoPete Keyes (10 on ST)
Sorensen’s 10 tackles led the team, the second straight week he led the defensive charge. A large part of his production Sunday is a result of his assignment as a shadow to Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey for most of the game.
Where McCaffrey went, so did Sorensen and the veteran safety rose to the challenge of attempting to contain one of the NFL’s best all-around running backs. While McCaffrey certainly did some damage with 151 total yards and two touchdowns, Sorensen drew praise for his efforts.
“I thought he did a good job,” Reid said of Sorensen. “Listen, McCaffrey’s a pretty good player and had a pretty good day, but great players make great plays and whether it was a big catch or his runs, he did a nice job. But I’d tell you Sorensen, I thought, played a respectable game there.”
Breeland produced seven tackles, while Mathieu chipped in with six tackles.
Hamilton (hamstring) and Fenton (ankle) suffered injuries against the Panthers.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (14), Tommy Townsend (8), James Winchester (8)
Butker missed an extra point, the sixth of the season, in the game. He also misfired on a 48-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter.
DID NOT PLAY: Quarterback Chad Henne
INACTIVES: Tackle Mitchell Schwartz (back), wide receiver Sammy Watkins (hamstring), linebacker Darius Harris, defensive end Demone Harris, tight end Ricky Seals-Jones, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, safety Tedric Thompson
Schwartz missed a third straight game, while Watkins hasn’t played since Week 5.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Chiefs’ snap counts vs. Panthers: Mahomes, Sorensen on fire over past two games."
