The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24 in Week 13.
The defense played 17 more snaps compared to the offense this week. It speaks to the inability of the offense to sustain drives and get things done in the red zone. It also speaks to the defense struggling to get off the field and extending drives for the opponent with costly mistakes.
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What else can we learn from the weekly snap numbers? Here’s a look at how the snaps came down in Week 13:
*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System
Observations
- JuJu Smith-Schuster returned to a normal dose of snaps in Week 13. The week prior, the team still was working him back into the mix following his concussion.
- Skyy Moore dipped to fourth in terms of wide receiver snaps, with his lowest offensive snap total on offense since Week 10. A lot of that has to do with Smith-Schuster’s return to the lineup, but it’s worth noting he played 35 offensive snaps just a week ago.
- Jerick McKinnon and Isiah Pacheco had nearly even snaps on offense. They were quite the 1-2 punch in the running game averaging a combined 5.3 yards per carry on the night.
- A week after finding some success in his first start with the team, Ronald Jones played just three snaps on offense. It’s hard not to wonder if Melvin Gordon won’t ultimately supplant Jones on the 53-man roster.
- Lucas Niang saw one snap as an extra blocker on offense. It was his first snap on offense since returning from his knee injury.
- Trent McDuffie, L’Jarius Sneed and Nick Bolton didn’t leave the field on defense, playing all 72 snaps for the team. Juan Thornhill and Justin Reid were also one and two snaps shy (respectively) of playing all the snaps on defense.
- Despite dealing with an illness, Frank Clark played over 75% of the defensive snaps on Sunday.
- Rookie S Bryan Cook played just eight snaps on defense after matching a season-high in place of Juan Thornhill a week ago.
- Six non-specialists had only special teams snaps, with practice squad DB Zayne Anderson leading the way with 18 snaps on special teams.