Let's see how the Chiefs used their players on Sunday afternoon.
Starters (offensive): TE Noah Gray, LT Wanya Morris, LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Jawaan Taylor, TE Travis Kelce, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR Xavier Worthy, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Kareem Hunt.
Starters (defensive): DE George Karlaftis, DT Chris Jones, DT Mike Pennel, DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, LB Nick Bolton, LB Drue Tranquill, LB Leo Chenal, CB Trent McDuffie, CB Jaylen Watson, S Justin Reid and S Bryan Cook.
Did not play: No one
Inactive: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, DE Michael Danna, OL C.J. Hanson, OT Ethan Driskell and DT Marlon Tuipulotu.
If you thought Kansas City was running the ball much more often than normal, you were right. The team ran on 57% of the offensive plays. That was the highest percentage since Week 6 of 2020, when the team ran 63% of the time in a 26-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
There was one other unusual stat: every eligible Kansas City player got into the game. The Chiefs rarely have such a large lead that they'll send in the backup quarterback -- so unless Patrick Mahomes misses some snaps, we can normally expect for Carson Wentz to spend the whole game on the bench. But both Wentz and Mahomes were on the field for some goal-line razzle-dazzle in the second quarter.
Left tackle Wanya Morris, left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Jawaan Taylor were all in for every offensive snap. While we sometimes see Mike Caliendo, Kingsley Suamataia or Hunter Nourzad come in as extra blockers on one or two offensive plays, all three were among the nine Kansas City players used only on special teams. Defenders Jack Cochrane, Cam Jones and Cole Christiansen were the other three who joined Harrison Butker, James Winchester and Matt Araiza in playing exclusively for coordinator Dave Toub.
Travis Kelce (78% of offensive snaps), Noah Gray (66%), Jody Fortson (15%) and Jared Wiley (15%) were all within their normal ranges of use -- although Kelce was on the low side of his range, while Gray was on the high side of his. Wiley is typically used mostly on rushing plays -- but on Sunday, he was used only on running plays.
Kareem Hunt (63%), Samaje Perine (22%) and Carson Steele (19%) were also in their normal ranges. Hunt and Steele were used almost exclusively on first and second down; Perine came in almost exclusively on third and fourth downs.
The loss of JuJu Smith-Schuster in this game was hard for Kansas City to bear. After losing Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice, Smith-Schuster has been the team's only every-down option at wide receiver.
Justin Watson continued to be used at a high rate (72%) but had just one passing target -- while rookie Xavier Worthy (66%) had eight. Skyy Moore's use (48%) was more than twice as high as any other 2024 game. Unlike the previous game, he was actually on the field for some passing reps -- but also had only one target. Meanwhile, Mecole Hardman (who also more than doubled his highest use rate of the season) had just two targets.
All of this makes it clear why the team felt it was necessary to go after a player like DeAndre Hopkins.
Against the San Francisco offense, the Kansas City defense did a pretty good job of getting off the field. Three times, it forced the 49ers to punt after only three plays -- and forced another after four plays. Three other drives were ended by Kansas City interceptions -- one of them on the very first play. Thanks to this effort, the Chiefs' offense was on the field for 54% of the snaps and just over 35 minutes of game time.
Cornerback Jaylen Watson left the field after 58% of the defensive snaps had been run. Pro Football Focus and Next Gen Stats data indicate the Chiefs responded to his absence by giving more snaps to Christian Roland-Wallace (23%) (who was already getting some snaps before Watson was injured) and Joshua Williams (19%), who had been relegated to special teams duty since Week 3. Nazeeh Johnson's usage (35%) remained in its normal range -- although that is likely to change on Sunday, when Watson will miss the whole game.
Among the safeties, Justin Reid (100%) and Bryan Cook (95%) -- as usual -- were on the field for virtually every play. Chamarri Conner (56%) continued to be used as an extra safety (mostly on passing plays). Jaden Hicks (12%) was also in his normal range.
Nick Bolton (93%), Drue Tranquill (79%) and Leo Chenal (58%) were in their normal ranges of use and their typical roles: Bolton as the every-down leader, with both Tranquill and Chenal pitching in primarily on running plays.
Defensive end George Karlaftis (89%) and defensive tackle Chris Jones (88%) continued as the iron men up front. Tershawn Wharton (68%), Mike Pennel (35%) and Derrick Nnadi (12%) were all in their normal ranges on the interior. With Mike Danna missing on the outside, Felix Anudike-Uzomah was in for 53% of the snaps -- a season high -- while Malik Herring (28%) also got a spike in usage. Fellow defensive end Cameron Thomas -- on the field for only the second time this season -- also had a handful of snaps (5%).