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Chiefs snap counts: Melvin Ingram plays 29 snaps in Week 9 debut

charles goldman
·3 min read

Given the Kansas City Chiefs’ struggles to sustain drives offensively, it’s a bit surprising that the snap counts on offense and defense were so even this week. The offense played just two fewer snaps to the defense on Sunday, even if it felt like the defense was on the field for much longer.

What else can we learn from this week’s snap counts? Here’s a look at how the snaps played out in Week 9:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations

  • Lucas Niang played just 13 snaps before exiting the game with a rib injury. He was replaced by Andrew Wylie, who played 80 percent of the snaps on offense for the first time since the 2020 postseason.

  • A week after leading non-Tyreek Hill wide receivers in snaps, Byron Pringle played just the third-most snaps by a Chiefs receiver. This week Mecole Hardman played the second-most snaps by a wideout, but didn’t have much to show for it.

  • After his impressive 16-snap Week 8 debut, Derrick Gore saw just 10 snaps on offense. Instead, Jerick McKinnon saw the most offensive snaps he’d seen since Week 7 with 20. It was the fourth-most offensive snaps he’s seen in a game.

  • After notching a season-high in snaps against the Giants in Week 8, Josh Gordon had only 19 snaps against the Packers this week. He was targeted once, but failed to make what would have been a first down catch.

  • Michael Burton played the most offensive snaps of his Chiefs career on Sunday with 9. It speaks to a newfound commitment to the power running game for Kansas City, yet they’re still probably not running the ball with as much frequency as they should.

  • Three defenders, Juan Thornhill, Tyrann Mathieu and Charvarius Ward played 100% of the defensive snaps on Sunday. Sneed had to exit the game due to a brief injury scare otherwise he would have played all 63 snaps too.

  • Frank Clark and Chris Jones led the defensive line in snap counts. It’s impressive how much both of them have been able to play given past injuries. You can tell they’re both getting closer to 100% with how they play each week.

  • Willie Gay played most defensive snaps by a linebacker with 65% of the snaps on Sunday. Anthony Hitchens played less than 40% of the defensive snaps in his return. Nick Bolton had two more snaps than Ben Niemann, but also played his fewest snaps of the season with 27.

  • Melvin Ingram played an impressive 29 snaps in his Chiefs debut and he looked effective doing so. Mike Danna and Alex Okafor split snaps off the bench, but next to Clark, Ingram had the most snaps. It’s safe to say Ingram will continue to get a healthy dose of defensive snaps moving forward.

  • Four players, Chris Lammons, Dorian O’Daniel, Armani Watts and Nick Allegretti played special teams-only snaps on Sunday. O’Daniel, Niemann, Noah Gray, and Marcus Kemp led the team in special teams snaps with 19.

  • Despite being active for the first time in Week 9, Austin Blythe played no snaps on offense or special teams.

List

The morning after a Chiefs Week 9 win