Chiefs at Broncos Snap Counts: KC's Priorities Clear in Week 18, with a Few Surprises

The Chiefs rested the majority of their key players on Sunday, but a few familiar faces got more work than expected.

Jan 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) catches a pass against Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson (13) in the first quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs lost a 38-0 blowout to the Denver Broncos on Sunday as KC's starters rested while the backups took the vast majority of the workload. Despite the fact that the Chiefs treated it like a preseason game, there are still lessons to be learned from Kansas City's snap counts in the regular season finale.

Offensive starters who played exited early

A few familiar faces adorn the Chiefs' Week 18 snap counts, including Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, who each took the first three snaps of the game before exiting the action, allowing Humphrey to complete his fourth-consecutive season with 17 starts. (Smith and Thuney have impressive consistency in their own right, but Humphrey is the only member of the trio to play every single game of his NFL career. Smith missed one game in 2022 while Thuney missed two in the same season after 107 consecutive starts.)

The most intrigue on the offensive line comes at left tackle, where D.J. Humphries made his second start as a Chief and took 32 offensive snaps (94%). Humphries signed in Kansas City after recovering from a torn ACL before suffering a hamstring injury late in his first start on December 9 that sidelined him until Sunday's game in Denver. As the team decides between starting Humphries or Thuney at left tackle in the playoffs, Humphries got a bit of NFL action under his belt against a strong Broncos pass rush.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Xavier Worthy played one snap, giving him 17 appearances in his rookie campaign, while tight end Noah Gray took four snaps. The Chiefs' most-used pass-catchers were Justin Watson (33 snaps, 97%), JuJu Smith-Schuster (32, 94%), Nikko Remigio (31, 91%) and tight end Peyton Hendershot (28, 82%). Those numbers cement Watson and Smith-Schuster's standing behind Worthy, DeAndre Hopkins and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown in KC's pecking order, as Hopkins and Brown did not take the field on Sunday.

Young offensive linemen got reps, but not many

The most jarring thing about the Chiefs' Week 18 snap counts may be the total numbers. While the Chiefs played a hefty 74 snaps on defense, they took just 34 snaps on offense. Due to a large number of short, unsuccessful drives, the Chiefs only gave 31 live-action reps to rookies Kingsley Suamataia, Hunter Nourzad and C.J. Hanson despite the fact that they all played 91% of the available snaps.

Meanwhile, second-year tackle Wanya Morris was the only Chief to play 100% of the offensive snaps (34).

Defenders rest, with a few exceptions

While the Chiefs gave the day off to defensive starters like Trent McDuffie, Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, Justin Reid, Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill, a few key defenders did get large workloads in Denver.

Safeties Bryan Cook and Jaden Hicks each got 100% of the Chiefs' 74 defensive snaps, with safety/slot defender Chamarri Conner taking 19 (26%). Conner was returning from an absence following a concussion, while Hicks's workload isn't a huge surprise for the final game of his rookie season. However, as Hicks's role has grown in recent weeks, Cook's has declined slightly, though both players played at least 57% of the snaps in each of the final four games of the season. Reid, Hicks, Cook and Conner are the only safeties on the roster, and Reid was an obvious choice for an extra week of rest.

Defensive end Charles Omenihu's snap count was a surprise on Sunday, as the 27-year-old took 50 plays (68%) in a meaningless game. The logic for Omenihu's playing time likely begins with his already-shortened season. Omenihu returned to action in late November after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in last season's AFC Championship Game. While it would have been reasonable to rest Omenihu due to his value in KC's defense, an extra game before a first-round bye may have been beneficial to the veteran.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs' No. 2 cornerback situation remains unsettled. While McDuffie earned a week of rest, fellow cornerbacks Nazeeh Johnson (85%), Joshua Williams (69%), Keith Taylor (45%) and Christian Roland-Wallace (35%) took sizable workloads while the Chiefs hope that Jaylen Watson can return for the playoffs.

Read More: Column: The Chiefs' Backups Lost in Week 18 Because They Didn't Owe Anyone Anything