How did the Chiefs distribute playing time in OT win vs. Titans? Here’s a breakdown
The Chiefs endured a physical contest against the Tennessee Titans in Week 9 before pulling off a 20-17 win in overtime at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City dominated multiple offensive categories, including first downs (29), total yards (499), total plays (91) and time of possession (41:28-26:23).
Despite the figures, the Chiefs had to come from behind and fight for the win, which improved the team’s record to 6-2.
“The main thing was we won a game that we were behind a bit — it was a struggle, we were up and down — and the guys all hung together,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Sunday night. “And you’ve got to win this; you’ve got to be able to do this. So, we accomplished that.”
Here’s how the Chiefs’ snap counts worked out:
QUARTERBACKS: Patrick Mahomes (100), Chad Henne (did not play)
Based on how many times he threw the football, Mahomes might have experienced flashbacks to his Texas Tech days.
The Chiefs’ star quarterback attempted a career-high 68 passes, completing 43, for 446 yards and a touchdown with an interception and 80.9 passer rating. He connected with 11 different receivers in the game.
In just his 71st career start, Mahomes passed Matthew Stafford (21,254) for the most passing yards in a player’s first 75 career starts. Mahomes currently sits at 21,596.
Mahomes hurt the Titans with his feet, too, gaining 63 yards and a touchdown on six carries. He also converted a 1-yard run for a 2-point conversion.
RUNNING BACKS: Jerick McKinnon (62, 12 on special teams), Isiah Pacheco (22, 10 on ST), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (17), fullback Michael Burton (5, 16 on ST)
The Chiefs got away from the run early in the game and it showed in the box score, as the backfield combined for 13 rushes for 14 yards. McKinnon contributed in the passing game with six catches for 40 yards, while Edwards-Helaire and Pacheco each recorded a catch.
As a team, the Chiefs totaled 77 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts. Mahomes accounted for 66 of the yards and the touchdown.
WIDE RECEIVERS: JuJu Smith-Schuster (83), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (71), Mecole Hardman (54, 7 on ST), Skyy Moore (26, 1 on ST), Justin Watson (26, 1 on ST), Kadarius Toney (9), Marcus Kemp (24 on ST)
Smith-Schuster paced the position group with 10 catches for 88 yards on 12 targets; Hardman contributed six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown; Watson tallied two catches for 37 yards; and Toney hauled in two catches for 12 yards in his debut.
Hardman has now found the end zone with a receiving touchdown in three straight games. In that span, he has five total touchdowns (three receiving, two rushing).
The Chiefs turned to Hardman in favor of Moore on special teams to handle punt-return duty, and Hardman responded with four returns for 42 yards. Watson also contributed a return for 17 yards.
Moore was targeted once in the game and did not record a catch, while Kemp contributed on special teams and notched a tackle and an assist.
TIGHT ENDS: Travis Kelce (83), Noah Gray (40, 24 on ST)
Kelce went beast mode against the Titans, hauling in 10 catches for 106 yards on a team-high 17 targets. Sunday night marked Kelce’s 32nd career game with 100 or more yards receiving, which tied Rob Gronkowski for the most 100-yard games by a tight end in NFL history.
Gray notched three catches for 45 yards, including an acrobatic 27-yard gain in overtime to help set up the game-winning field goal.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Trey Smith (100, 4 on ST), Joe Thuney (100), Creed Humphrey (100, 4 on ST), Orlando Brown Jr. (100, 4 on ST), Andrew Wylie (100, 4 on ST), Nick Allegretti (2, 4 on ST), Prince Tega Wanogho (4 on ST), Geron Christian (4 on ST)
While the Chiefs’ offense totaled an incredible 499 yards and ran 91 plays, there were some hiccups in pass protection: Mahomes was sacked four times and hit eight times.
Nevertheless, Reid believed the front five did enough to help secure the win.
“I thought our pass protection was good, too,” Reid said Monday. “I thought overall it was decent protection for as many times as we threw the ball.”
DEFENSIVE LINE: Chris Jones (49), Mike Danna (43), George Karlaftis (33, 3 on ST), Carlos Dunlap (31), Derrick Nnadi (21, 3 on ST), Khalen Saunders (19, 3 on ST), Malik Herring (8, 3 on ST), Taylor Stallworth (4)
The Chiefs’ defensive front stepped up to match the Titans’ physical style in the trenches and won the day.
Titans running back Derrick Henry had two big runs early in the game. But the Chiefs, led by interior players Jones, Saunders, who totaled a team-high six tackles, and Nnadi helped plug the holes as the game progressed.
The defensive line also accounted for all four sacks in the game. Dunlap led the team with 1.5 quarterback take downs, Saunders had one and Jones split a sack with Dunlap.
Dunlap now has 99.5 career sacks and seeks to become the eighth active player in the NFL to eclipse the century mark for career sacks.
LINEBACKERS: Nick Bolton (51, 3 on ST), Willie Gay Jr. (37), Leo Chenal (22, 26 on ST), Darius Harris (3, 16 on ST), Jack Cochrane (24 on ST)
Gay paced the linebacker group with five tackles, while Bolton contributed three tackles, including one for a loss.
Bolton arguably came up with the defensive play of the game early in the fourth quarter. The Titans were marching in Chiefs’ territory and threatened to get in field goal range with hopes of extending a 17-9 lead.
Facing a third-and-9 at the Chiefs’ 38-yards line, Titans quarterback Malik Willis threw a short screen pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard, who had blockers in front of him. Bolton, though, quickly diagnosed the play, shot the gap and avoided Titans center Ben Jones, who was slow to get to the block, and brought down Hilliard for a 4-yard loss, which moved the Titans out of field-goal range.
Chenal contributed two tackles in the game, while Cochrane tallied an assist on special teams and just missed blocking a punt.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Juan Thornhill (51), L’Jarius Sneed (51, 8 on ST), Justin Reid (50, 3 on ST), Trent McDuffie (49), Joshua Williams (21, 15 on ST), Jaylen Watson (6, 10 on ST), Bryan Cook (12, 24 on ST), Chris Lammons (27 on ST), Deon Bush (21 on ST)
The Titans only completed five passes in the game with their rookie quarterback, and none of the completions went to a wide receiver.
Sneed led the position group with five tackles and two passes defensed, while Reid contributed three tackles. Williams had two tackles, including one for a loss. Watson briefly left the game after getting dirt in his eye and finished with a pass defensed.
McDuffie made his return to the starting lineup for the first time since Week 1 and totaled two tackles and an assist.
Reid chipped in with seven tackles, and Sneed totaled six tackles with a half-sack. Williams produced a tackle, an interception and a team-high three passes defensed.
Bush totaled a team-high two tackles, adding an assist, on special teams.
SPECIALISTS: Tommy Townsend (10), James Winchester (10), Harrison Butker (9)
Butker struggled in the game, missing an extra point and a 47-yard field goal, but redeemed himself with the game-winning 28-yard field goal.
“I know (Harrison Butker) had a couple things that were hiccups there, but he’ll work through that and get it cleaned up,” Reid said.
Townsend had six punts for 283 yards, landing two punts inside the Titans’ 20-yard line.
