The Kansas City Chiefs won a close-scoring primetime game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night, securing a 22-17 road victory. A look at the snap counts from KC’s third win of the year paints an interesting picture of how Kansas City’s coaching staff currently views three key positions on the team.
Here’s what stands out on both sides of the ball as the Chiefs try to determine their rotation at wide receiver, running back and cornerback.
This isn’t a reason to panic about rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, but it’s certainly worth mentioning.
Rashee Rice was the Chiefs’ top receiver, completing 55 of 74 offensive snaps (74%). JuJu Smith-Schuster was next in second place with 41 (55%), followed by Worthy with 37 (50%) and Justin Watson with 29 (39%). Skyy Moore had 15 reps (20%), while Mecole Hardman had three (4%).
Smith-Schuster, who re-signed with KC in late August, played just 12 snaps in Week 1 and 13 in Week 2, while Worthy played 34 and 44 snaps, respectively.
While the experienced Smith-Schuster is certainly valuable in this offense (especially as it continues to search for answers after losing Marquise “Hollywood” Brown), I didn’t expect him to be the second-most used receiver in Week 3. Smith-Schuster did some of the dirty work for KC, catching two passes for 17 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown, but Worthy’s performance, completing two of 17 passes (without a touchdown), left something to be desired.
The Chiefs’ final offensive play where they could have tied the game up with the football ended after Mahomes targeted Worthy for a potential first down on 3rd-and-2. Worthy appeared to stop his route while Mahomes ran him, expecting Worthy to keep running. This mistake was almost certainly due to a misunderstanding on Worthy’s part, as KC wide receivers often stop or slow down to give Mahomes a pocket to throw the football into. Unfortunately for Worthy, he appeared to slam on the brakes when Mahomes believed he should have kept running. When it comes to reading the defense and running the offense, Mahomes has the benefit of the doubt over the rookie.
Was a drive concept for Worthy on 3rd down. The playbook says sit against zone and run against man.
Worthy got completely lost in the design and perhaps felt he was in an empty zone so he sat down. That’s something to keep in mind.
— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) 23 September 2024
For the third week in a row, Trent McDuffie played 100% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps. After an uncertain offseason, Jaylen Watson was KC’s clear No. 2 cornerback for the third week in a row, as Watson played 57 of KC’s 61 snaps against the Falcons offense. The intrigue surrounding KC’s cornerback room now begins after McDuffie and Watson.
In Week 1, Joshua Williams played 32 defensive tackles while Nazeeh Johnson played none. In Week 2, Williams played just six defensive tackles while Johnson played 22. In Atlanta, Johnson played 26 defensive tackles in Week 3 while Williams played only on special teams.
While Williams could continue to be used on defense as the season progresses, it seems clear that the Chiefs have given Johnson the opportunity to overtake Williams in the rankings, with McDuffie and Watson holding the top two spots. By Week 3, Johnson appears to have earned the job.
In Isiah Pacheco’s absence, undrafted rookie and free agent Carson Steele took on the bulk of the running back workload, playing 46 of 74 offensive snaps (62%) to Samaje Perine’s 28 (38%). Keaontay Ingram, who KC brought up from its practice squad to the active roster when they placed Pacheco on the injured list, did not play on offense and recorded just five special teams snaps.
Steele was solid in his first game as a starter, as he and Perine both averaged 4.2 yards per carry on nine-yard runs. After not showing much interest in using Ingram, the Chiefs should look to bring Kareem Hunt into the team once he feels comfortable on offense.
