In Week 16, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 26-9. It was the ninth loss of the season in a game that had no consequences, as both teams were already eliminated from playoff contention.
Let’s look at how Kansas City used its players in the defeat:
Starters (offensive): WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, TE Travis Kelce, LT Esa Pole, LG Kingsley Suamataia, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Chukwuebuka Godrick, TE Noah Gray, WR Xavier Worthy, QB Gardner Minshew and RB Isiah Pacheco.
Starters (defensive): DE George Karlaftis, NT Mike Pennel, DT Chris Jones, DE Michael Danna, LB Drue Tranquill, LB Nick Bolton, LB Jack Cochrane, CB Nohl Williams, CB Jaylen Watson, DB Chamarri Conner and S Bryan Cook.
Did not play: T Matt Waletzko.
Inactive: WR Rashee Rice, CB Trent McDuffie, RB Dameon Pierce, OL C.J. Hanson, OL Jaylon Moore, WR Tyquan Thornton and DT Derrick Nnadi.
In the first inconsequential game for the Chiefs under head coach Andy Reid since the 2014 season finale, there was little change in the lineup to reflect the dead end, even with injuries to account for. With a chance to shake things up and evaluate the future roster, the team featured the usual suspects for the majority of the game.
The gameday inactive list included running back Dameon Pierce, who was a healthy scratch after being signed to the 53-man roster on Saturday.
Five members of the Chiefs’ 2025 draft class were available to play; cornerback Nohl Williams and defensive end Ashton Gillotte continued a season-long ascension in the lineup, while the other three — wide receiver Jalen Royals, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa and running back Brashard Smith — combined for 11 snaps between offense and defense.
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On offense, it was a clear opportunity for the Chiefs to play young weapons like Royals and Smith. Instead, 65% of the skill-position snaps and 85% of the opportunities to touch the ball went to players slated to be unrestricted free agents.
Wide receivers Juju Smith-Schuster (91% of offensive snaps) and Hollywood Brown (53%) took substantial reps after a long season of being featured in the offense. Royals, a rookie wide receiver who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds with a 93rd-percentile 10-yard split, played three snaps; each was a run play. Second-year tight end Jared Wiley, a fourth-round pick like Royals, played two snaps.
On defense, Bassa was shut out from seeing the field in favor of special teams ace and linebacker Jack Cochrane, who is set for unrestricted free agency. Cochrane played 40% of the defensive snaps behind starting outside linebacker Drue Tranquill, who was on the field 94% of the time; Tranquill is signed through 2026.
Kansas City’s backfield was handled by two players set to test the open market in March: running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt.
Pacheco played 73% of the offensive snaps, including 75% of the pass plays called; he led the team in total yards (75) over 14 touches. The 26-year-old will take all the opportunities possible to prove worthy of a big contract.
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Hunt will be hitting free agency for the third consecutive offseason at 30 years old. He has been a reliable finisher when trusted in short yardage, but hasn’t shown to be any more productive than Pacheco outside of those situations. His snaps have steadily declined since heroically shouldering 30 attempts in an overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts.
It’s also worth noting that wide receiver Xavier Worthy played 84% of the offensive snaps after a campaign filled with different injuries.
The defense was missing cornerback Trent McDuffie, but the unit had most of its other key pieces ready to play. Defensive tackle Chris Jones played a season-low 56% of defensive snaps, which seems like the right call given the team’s situation. Everyone else appeared to be full-go until later on when the game felt out of reach.
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After two games playing 90% or more of the defense’s pass snaps, Nohl Williams dropped to playing on just 43% of pass plays.
Veteran cornerback Kristian Fulton, who is signed through 2026, was given his first real opportunity to be on the field since Week 1 by playing a season-high 67% of pass snaps. He made seven solo tackles among 10 total against Tennessee.
Defensive tackle Zacch Pickens was on the field for 53% of the Chiefs’ run-defense snaps after being signed to the roster this week; the 64th overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft had four tackles, including three solo.
Offense All Pass Run
Total 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
Chukwuebuka Godrick 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
Creed Humphrey 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
Esa Pole 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
Trey Smith 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
Kingsley Suamataia 43
(100%) 28
(100%) 15
(100%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 40
(93%) 26
(93%) 14
(93%)
Xavier Worthy 36
(84%) 26
(93%) 10
(67%)
Travis Kelce 33
(77%) 24
(86%) 9
(60%)
Isiah Pacheco 31
(72%) 21
(75%) 10
(67%)
Chris Oladokun 30
(70%) 20
(71%) 10
(67%)
Marquise Brown 23
(53%) 17
(61%) 6
(40%)
Noah Gray 22
(51%) 13
(46%) 9
(60%)
Gardner Minshew 13
(30%) 8
(29%) 5
(33%)
Kareem Hunt 11
(26%) 6
(21%) 5
(33%)
Brashard Smith 8
(19%) 4
(14%) 4
(27%)
Nikko Remigio 4
(9%) 2
(7%) 2
(13%)
Jalen Royals 2
(5%) 0
(0%) 2
(13%)
Robert Tonyan 2
(5%) 0
(0%) 2
(13%)
Jared Wiley 2
(5%) 1
(4%) 1
(7%)
Hunter Nourzad 1
(2%) 0
(0%) 1
(7%)
Defense All Pass Run
Total 70
(100%) 30
(100%) 40
(100%)
Nick Bolton 70
(100%) 30
(100%) 40
(100%)
Chamarri Conner 70
(100%) 30
(100%) 40
(100%)
Bryan Cook 68
(97%) 28
(93%) 40
(100%)
Drue Tranquill 66
(94%) 26
(87%) 40
(100%)
Jaylen Watson 58
(83%) 27
(90%) 31
(78%)
Kristian Fulton 44
(63%) 20
(67%) 24
(60%)
George Karlaftis 44
(63%) 21
(70%) 23
(58%)
Ashton Gillotte 43
(61%) 17
(57%) 26
(65%)
Chris Jones 39
(56%) 22
(73%) 17
(43%)
Nohl Williams 38
(54%) 13
(43%) 25
(63%)
Michael Danna 34
(49%) 16
(53%) 18
(45%)
Charles Omenihu 32
(46%) 18
(60%) 14
(35%)
Jerry Tillery 32
(46%) 12
(40%) 20
(50%)
Mike Pennel 29
(41%) 8
(27%) 21
(53%)
Jack Cochrane 28
(40%) 8
(27%) 20
(50%)
Zacch Pickens 25
(36%) 4
(13%) 21
(53%)
Kevin Knowles II 17
(24%) 10
(33%) 7
(18%)
Jaden Hicks 16
(23%) 11
(37%) 5
(13%)
Mike Edwards 12
(17%) 6
(20%) 6
(15%)
Cooper McDonald 5
(7%) 3
(10%) 2
(5%)
Special Teams Snaps
Total 27
(100%)
Jack Cochrane 23
(85%)
Jaden Hicks 23
(85%)
Cooper McDonald 23
(85%)
Jeff Bassa 18
(67%)
Kevin Knowles II 18
(67%)
Joshua Williams 18
(67%)
Nohl Williams 18
(67%)
Cole Christiansen 18
(67%)
Noah Gray 11
(41%)
Matt Araiza 9
(33%)
Harrison Butker 9
(33%)
James Winchester 9
(33%)
Mike Edwards 8
(30%)
Nikko Remigio 8
(30%)
Ashton Gillotte 6
(22%)
Nick Bolton 5
(19%)
Chamarri Conner 5
(19%)
Bryan Cook 5
(19%)
Michael Danna 5
(19%)
George Karlaftis 5
(19%)
Mike Pennel 5
(19%)
Brashard Smith 5
(19%)
Jerry Tillery 5
(19%)
Robert Tonyan 5
(19%)
Drue Tranquill 5
(19%)
Mike Caliendo 4
(15%)
Chukwuebuka Godrick 4
(15%)
Creed Humphrey 4
(15%)
Hunter Nourzad 4
(15%)
Esa Pole 4
(15%)
Trey Smith 4
(15%)
Kingsley Suamataia 4
(15%)
All Snaps Off Def ST Total
Total 43
(100%) 70
(100%) 27
(100%) 140
(100%)
Matt Araiza 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 9
(33%) 9
(6%)
Jeff Bassa 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 18
(67%) 18
(13%)
Nick Bolton 0
(0%) 70
(100%) 5
(19%) 75
(54%)
Marquise Brown 23
(53%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 23
(16%)
Harrison Butker 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 9
(33%) 9
(6%)
Mike Caliendo 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 4
(3%)
Jack Cochrane 0
(0%) 28
(40%) 23
(85%) 51
(36%)
Chamarri Conner 0
(0%) 70
(100%) 5
(19%) 75
(54%)
Bryan Cook 0
(0%) 68
(97%) 5
(19%) 73
(52%)
Michael Danna 0
(0%) 34
(49%) 5
(19%) 39
(28%)
Mike Edwards 0
(0%) 12
(17%) 8
(30%) 20
(14%)
Kristian Fulton 0
(0%) 44
(63%) 0
(0%) 44
(31%)
Ashton Gillotte 0
(0%) 43
(61%) 6
(22%) 49
(35%)
Chukwuebuka Godrick 43
(100%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 47
(34%)
Noah Gray 22
(51%) 0
(0%) 11
(41%) 33
(24%)
Jaden Hicks 0
(0%) 16
(23%) 23
(85%) 39
(28%)
Creed Humphrey 43
(100%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 47
(34%)
Kareem Hunt 11
(26%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 11
(8%)
Chris Jones 0
(0%) 39
(56%) 0
(0%) 39
(28%)
George Karlaftis 0
(0%) 44
(63%) 5
(19%) 49
(35%)
Travis Kelce 33
(77%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 33
(24%)
Kevin Knowles II 0
(0%) 17
(24%) 18
(67%) 35
(25%)
Cooper McDonald 0
(0%) 5
(7%) 23
(85%) 28
(20%)
Gardner Minshew 13
(30%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 13
(9%)
Hunter Nourzad 1
(2%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 5
(4%)
Chris Oladokun 30
(70%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 30
(21%)
Charles Omenihu 0
(0%) 32
(46%) 0
(0%) 32
(23%)
Isiah Pacheco 31
(72%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 31
(22%)
Mike Pennel 0
(0%) 29
(41%) 5
(19%) 34
(24%)
Zacch Pickens 0
(0%) 25
(36%) 0
(0%) 25
(18%)
Esa Pole 43
(100%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 47
(34%)
Nikko Remigio 4
(9%) 0
(0%) 8
(30%) 12
(9%)
Jalen Royals 2
(5%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 2
(1%)
Brashard Smith 8
(19%) 0
(0%) 5
(19%) 13
(9%)
Trey Smith 43
(100%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 47
(34%)
JuJu Smith-Schuster 40
(93%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 40
(29%)
Kingsley Suamataia 43
(100%) 0
(0%) 4
(15%) 47
(34%)
Jerry Tillery 0
(0%) 32
(46%) 5
(19%) 37
(26%)
Robert Tonyan 2
(5%) 0
(0%) 5
(19%) 7
(5%)
Drue Tranquill 0
(0%) 66
(94%) 5
(19%) 71
(51%)
Jaylen Watson 0
(0%) 58
(83%) 0
(0%) 58
(41%)
Jared Wiley 2
(5%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 2
(1%)
Joshua Williams 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 18
(67%) 18
(13%)
Nohl Williams 0
(0%) 38
(54%) 18
(67%) 56
(40%)
James Winchester 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 9
(33%) 9
(6%)
Xavier Worthy 36
(84%) 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 36
(26%)
Cole Christiansen 0
(0%) 0
(0%) 18
(67%) 18
(13%)
Editor’s Note: Arrowhead Pride obtains snap count data from the NFL’s game stats and information system, which allows us to break out snap counts by run or pass on offensive and defensive plays. Because GSIS data ignores plays that were nullified by penalties, total offensive and defensive snap counts will vary from other sources, which get their data from NFL Gamebooks