Chiefs-Broncos snap counts: Nazeeh Johnson takes the other outside spot

How did Kansas City use its players in Sunday’s game against Denver?

In Week 10, the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to 9-0 with a 16-14 victory over the Denver Broncos on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Let’s see how the Chiefs used their players.

Starters (offensive): WR Xavier Worthy, WR DeAndre Hopkins, LT Wanya Morris, LG Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey, RG Trey Smith, RT Jawaan Taylor, TE Noah Gray, TE Travis Kelce, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Kareem Hunt.

Starters (defensive): DT Chris Jones, DT Tershawn Wharton, DE Michael Danna, LB Nick Bolton, LB Drue Tranquill, LB Leo Chenal, CB Trent McDuffie, DB Chamarri Conner, S Nazeeh Johnson, S Justin Reid and S Bryan Cook.

Did not play: QB Carson Wentz.

Inactive: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, OL C.J. Hanson, OT Ethan Driskell, DT Marlon Tuipulotu and DE Cameron Thomas.

The big takeaway

Nazeeh Johnson was back from concussion protocol in Week 10. With starter Jaylen Watson still on injured reserve, Johnson joined the group of four defensive backs who were on the field for virtually every defensive snap, getting 91% of the outside reps across from alongside cornerback Trent McDuffie (100%). As usual, safeties Justin Reid (98%) and Bryan Cook (96%) filled out the secondary’s key positions.

Cornerback Joshua Williams — who had all of the outside snaps across from McDuffie in Week 9 — took what was left against the Broncos. But interestingly, he did not return to the big special teams role he filled earlier in the season.

Second-year safety Chamarri Conner (80%) matched his highest use of the season — mostly playing in the slot on passing plays — while rookie safety Jaden Hicks’ use (25%) continued to trend up. He appeared almost exclusively on passing plays — and was used all over the field.

Meanwhile, after two games getting some work on the defense, rookie corner Christian Roland-Wallace went back to playing only on special teams.

Offensive takeaways

• Sunday’s matchup was the third straight game in which the Chiefs looked much more like a typical Andy Reid offense that passed the ball significantly more often than running it. In fact, 71% of Sunday’s total offensive snaps were passing plays, which was the season’s highest percentage.
• Left tackle Wanya Morris (34%) played 13 offensive snaps to start the game before being injured early in the second quarter. He returned for the fourth quarter’s final nine offensive plays. Interestingly, he came out for a second-quarter extra point and a third-quarter field goal. This suggests that the team wanted to see how Kinglsey Suamataia would do in an extended look.
• Tight ends Travis Kelce (85%) and Noah Gray (58%) were both in their normal ranges of use — although both were used in roughly the same percentage of passing and running plays. (Typically, we see Kelce used more often in passing plays, while Gray plays more often on running plays). Over two games, we’ve seen Peyton...