Three Chiefs Week 1 Snap Count Trends That Stood Out

Multiple things jumped off the Chiefs' snap count page following their win over the Cardinals.

The Kansas City Chiefs' 2022 campaign got off to a fantastic start on Sunday, as the club defeated the Arizona Cardinals by a final score of 44-21 in the season opener down in Glendale. Kansas City's offense and defense both made plays throughout the contest and in the end, there was plenty to consider worthy of building on ahead of a short week and a Thursday night outing against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Now that the dust has settled a bit and snap counts are out (courtesy of the NFL Game Statistics & Information System), there are multiple things to take away from the game. Some patterns were the byproduct of the nature of Sunday afternoon — the Chiefs securing a blowout win by the beginning of the fourth quarter — so context must be kept in check. With that in mind, let's dive into Kansas City's snap counts and go over three main things that stood out.

Good morning.

Here are the Chiefs’ snap counts for their Week 1 win over the Cardinals:

What stands out to you, #ChiefsKingdom? pic.twitter.com/gjnPLRZZxk

— Jordan Foote (@footenoted) September 12, 2022

1. George Karlaftis is going to make an early impact

There was perhaps no more significant standout snap count number than rookie pass-rusher George Karlaftis's defense-leading total of 51. Many knew heading into the draft that the Purdue product had a seemingly unmatched motor, but him playing that many snaps so early and finishing ahead of his peers says a ton about him. Considering that merely a week or so ago many were questioning whether Karlaftis would even take the field with the starting unit, that's a wild trend to watch unfold.

It also seems mostly sustainable. Karlaftis was stellar in Week 1 despite not logging good stats in the basic box score. Of all players who had at least five quarterback hurries in the NFL's opening week, Karlaftis was one of them (and one of three Chiefs) with five total. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo appears to be a fan of his rookie defensive end and as long as Karlaftis continues to play hard and play well, he'll routinely finish atop the snap count standings in a group that also features Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap.

2. Noah Gray is trusted in year two 

Last year, Chiefs fifth-round pick Noah Gray didn't make a great impact as a rookie. He did manage to make some plays down the stretch but in an offense that had Travis Kelce garnering unquestioned snaps at the primary tight end spot and Kansas City preferring blocking options like Blake Bell behind him, there wasn't a huge role for him. With Bell out due to his ongoing recovery from a hip flexor injury and the Chiefs' offense going to backups late in the second half, however, Gray logged a whopping 53% of offensive snaps and also played 16 special teams snaps. 

Gray finished with two targets against Arizona, finishing with a pair of targets for one catch and 10 yards in the process. The Chiefs' tight ends, as a whole, also displayed some terrific blocking ability on run plays. Jody Fortson got a healthy amount of snaps in Week 1 and projects to be far more of a threat in the red zone than Gray, yet Gray does seem to be a better player in year two. All reports coming out of training camp were positive, and he's parlaying it into playing time early on. It remains to be seen what his workload will look like in more competitive games but for now, Gray appears to be trusted in year two. 

3. The Chiefs' running back split is worth following

Full disclosure: Kansas City's extreme advantage on the scoreboard undoubtedly played a role in the team's split in regards to running back snaps.

Despite that, what a split it was. Starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire, on memory, seemed to be heavily involved in the first-half game plan and was absolutely fantastic. Veteran Jerick McKinnon, who came on strong for the Chiefs down the stretch of the 2021 season, logged the exact same amount of snaps as Edwards-Helaire (27) and played a role in both the running and passing games. To salt the game away in the fourth quarter, rookie Isiah Pacheco got the majority of his 16 snaps in an effort to run the clock down. Pacheco, on a team-leading 12 rushing attempts, had a team-high 62 yards.

The pie won't always be split this way. In future games that are closer, Pacheco likely won't see the field as much and McKinnon may not, either. Despite Edwards-Helaire's injury history and shortcomings in some areas, it still reasons to expect that he will carry some snap count advantage on a more consistent basis. With that said, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy did an awesome job sharing the love on Sunday, keeping everyone fresh and throwing different looks at Arizona's defense. If the Chiefs can continue doing that — along with having more great showings from their offensive line — then this year's running game could be much different.