Chiefs’ snaps counts vs. Falcons: Rookie Willie Gay Jr. shines on season-high 49 plays
The Chiefs secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed, which provides a first-round bye in the postseason, with Sunday’s 17-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Arrowhead Stadium.
Sunday’s victory also gave the Chiefs their first 14-win season in team history and extended the winning streak to 10 games, which ties a franchise record for their longest winning streak in a single season.
As has been the case with nearly all of their recent games, however, nothing came easy for the Chiefs in Week 16.
The one-possession game marked the seventh straight such game for the Chiefs, a habit the defending Super Bowl champions should look to break in the playoffs against dangerous teams.
Here’s how the snap counts worked out in Week 16.
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (67)
Mahomes shook off a shaky start to the game and came alive when it mattered in the fourth quarter.
With the Falcons holding a 14-10 lead, Mahomes engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive and threw the game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson with 1:55 remaining in the contest.
Mahomes threw for 83 yards in the final period and finished the game completing 24 of 44 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns with an interception for a 79.5 passer rating. He added 21 yards rushing on three carries.
The Chiefs signal-caller extends his streak of consecutive games with at least one scoring pass to 25 games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL.
RUNNING BACKS: Darrel Williams (47), Le’Veon Bell (20), Anthony Sherman (4, 14 on ST), Darwin Thompson (7 on ST)
Conventional wisdom suggest that Bell would see the bulk of work with rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire out with an ankle injury, but it was Williams who absorbed the most work.
Williams tallied 73 total yards (46 rushing) on a position-group high 47 offensive snaps to Bell’s 20 snaps. Bell finished the game with 39 total yards (30 rushing).
As a team, the Chiefs rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Sammy Watkins (51), Tyreek Hill (43), Demarcus Robinson (41), Mecole Hardman (41, 11 on ST), Byron Pringle (7, 16 on ST), Gehrig Dieter (2, 16 on ST)
Hill gritted through a hamstring injury suffered in Week 15 and paced the wide receiver position with four catches for 65 yards on six targets. Hill also saved a potential pick-6 with a hustle play by catching a Falcons defender from behind.
Watkins totaled two catches for 14 yards before leaving the game with a calf injury. Robinson produced two catches for 29 yards and a touchdown, his first of the season; and Hardman snared three catches for 24 yards and contributed 20 yards rushing on one carry.
Pringle and Dieter saw limited action on offense and did not record a target in the game, but contributed on special teams.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (56), Nick Keizer (13, 13 on ST), Deon Yelder (6, 6 on ST), Ricky Seals-Jones (4, 5 on ST)
Kelce cemented his status as one of the NFL’s top, if not the top, tight end.
With seven catches for 98 receiving yards, Kelce now has 105 receptions for 1,416 receiving yards for the season, both career-highs. He becomes the first tight end in NFL history with multiple seasons of 100-plus catches (2018 and 2020).
Kelce also established a record for most yards receiving by a tight end in a single season, a mark previously held by San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (1,377 yards in 2018).
“I’m so proud of him in so many ways, on and off the field,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Kelce.
Seals-Jones was active for just the second time this season.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Eric Fisher (67, 3 on ST), Mike Remmers (67), Andrew Wylie (67, 3 on ST), Nick Allegretti (67, 3 on ST), Austin Reiter (63, 3 on ST), Daniel Kilgore (4), Stefen Wisniewski (3 on ST), Yasir Durant (3 on ST)
Mike Remmers returned to the lineup at right tackle after missing Week 15 with back and neck injuries.
Reiter briefly left the game in the second half and was replaced by Kilgore, who played four offensive snaps.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Chris Jones (49, 1 on ST), Frank Clark (46), Tershawn Wharton (33, 2 on ST), Tanoh Kpassagnon (32, 7 on ST), Alex Okafor (32), Derrick Nnadi (29, 3 on ST), Mike Danna (26, 3 on ST), Mike Pennel (25, 3 on ST)
The D-line lived up to its “Sack Nation” moniker with three of the team’s four sacks on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. The defensive line also accounted for 10 of 12 recorded quarterback hits.
“They were in there quite a little bit throughout the day on the pass rush,” Reid said.
Jones, Clark and Okafor each recorded a sack. Jones totaled a team-high four quarterback hits, Clark contributed three, Okafor tallied two and Wharton chipped in with one.
Pennel recorded four tackles.
LINEBACKERS: Darius Harris (19 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (49, 15 on ST), Ben Niemann (24), Omari Cobb (10, 1 on ST)
The Chiefs entered the game without starting linebacker Anthony Hitchens (reserve/COVID-19 list) and Damien Wilson (knee), meaning the position group needed to step up.
Gay answered the call with a career-high nine tackles, which also led the defense, and a pass defensed on 49 snaps, a season-high for the rookie. The Chiefs’ second-round pick was everywhere on the field and forced a fumble, which Harris recovered.
Niemann totaled three tackles and a forced fumble before leaving the game in the first half with a hamstring injury, prompting the Chiefs to give the green-dot responsibilities to Harris, who finished the game with four tackles.
Cobb, who was called up from the practice squad over the weekend, tallied a tackle.
“The young linebackers finished the game, were flying around and making plays,” Reid said.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Tyrann Mathieu (68), Daniel Sorensen (69, 2 on ST), Bashaud Breeland (68), Charvarius Ward (69, 2 on ST), L’Jarius Sneed (48, 3 on ST), Juan Thornhill (19, 7 on ST), Armani Watts (19 on ST), Antonio Hamilton (19 on ST), Rashad Fenton (12 on ST)
Sorensen, Mathieu, Breeland and Ward played all defensive snaps, and Sorensen paced the group with seven tackles.
Sneed continues to impress in his rookie season and recorded a sack for a second straight game. He finished the game with seven tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits.
“Sneed, another young guy, flying around and making plays,” Reid said.
Thornhill’s 19 defensive snaps marked his second-lowest total of the 2020 season.
SPECIALISTS: Harrison Butker (7), Tommy Townsend (7), James Winchester (7)
Butker drilled a 53-yard field, marking his fourth 50-plus yard field goal of the season.
Townsend totaled 165 yards on four punts, which included a 58-yard bomb and three punts inside the Falcons’ 20-yard line.
DID NOT PLAY: QB Chad Henne
INACTIVES: LB Damien Wilson (knee), RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (ankle), DT Khalen Saunders, CB BoPete Keyes, DE Tim Ward, CB Deandre Baker, OL Martinas Rankin
Wilson missed a third straight game.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Chiefs’ snaps counts vs. Falcons: Rookie Willie Gay Jr. shines on season-high 49 plays."
