Chiefs-Cowboys snap counts: Vets take lead in short-rest Week 13 loss

The Kansas City Chiefs lost 31-28 to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Let’s look at how the Chiefs used their players in this game:

Starters (offensive): TE Travis Kelce, LT Josh Simmons, LG Kingsley Suamataia, C Creed Humphrey, RG Mike Caliendo, RT Jawaan Taylor, WR Marquise Brown, WR Rashee Rice, WR Xavier Worthy, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Kareem Hunt.

Starters (defensive): DE George Karlaftis, DT Derrick Nnadi, DT Chris Jones, DE Michael Danna, LB Drue Tranquill, LB Nick Bolton, LB Leo Chenal, DB Chamarri Conner, CB Jaylen Watson, CB Trent McDuffie and S Bryan Cook.

Did not play: QB Gardner Minshew

Inactive: CB Kristian Fulton, WR Jalen Royals, RB Elijah Mitchell, CB Christian Roland-Wallace, G Trey Smith, OL Esa Pole and TE Noah Gray.

The big takeaway

The game in Dallas occurred four days after the Chiefs won 23-20 in overtime against the Indianapolis Colts. In that narrow victory, the offense ran a season-high 92 total plays. This season, the team averages 61 plays per game.

Off the short week, Kansas City’s offense leaned on its veteran players. In the case of tight end Travis Kelce — who was on the field for a season-high 92% of snaps — it was out of necessity. Second tight end Noah Gray suffered a concussion against Indianapolis and did not play against the Cowboys.

Second-year tight end Jared Wiley made his season debut after being a healthy scratch for 11 games, playing the second-most snaps at the position (9) — but that was only 15% of the unit’s plays.

In the backfield, running back Kareem Hunt still led the position by taking the field for 74% of the Chiefs’ running plays following a game where he registered 30 carries (on 80% of the running plays) against the Colts. Running back Isiah Pacheco returned to the lineup for the first time since his knee injury, playing only 13% of the running calls. Hunt carried the ball 14 times, while Pacheco collected three rushes.

Kansas City’s defense may not have played a season-high number of snaps in Week 12, but defensive tackle Chris Jones played 88% of the defense’s snaps, including 94% of the pass plays; both marks are top-2 results for Jones this year. Against Dallas, he played 79% of the snaps, which was still more than his season average (74%).

Veteran safety Mike Edwards also played an impactful role after being elevated from the practice squad in response to defensive back Christian Roland-Wallace’s injury. Starting safety Bryan Cook left the game early, forcing Edwards to play 62% of the snaps in his season debut.

Offensive takeaways

With the return of Pacheco, the backfield rotation tightened. That squeezed rookie running back Brashard Smith’s playing time.

Smith played a season-low 7% of offensive snaps, including just 3% of pass plays. He carved out a niche role in the offense earlier this season, but it appears Smith has lost any momentum he held as a playmaker for the Chiefs. Even though the Cowboys’ defense was vulnerable to catch-and-run plays, Smith was never used to attack that soft spot. He’s averaged 10.6 yards after catch over 19 receptions this year.

In Dallas, he played just 4% of the special teams’ snaps — despite a 33-yard kickoff return. Look for his special teams role to increase if he has a diminishing role on offense.

Defensive takeaways

Against the Cowboys, two young defenders were on the field more usual — each for a different reason.

Rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte played 47% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps, the highest snap rate he has recorded since Week 7. He was on the field for 54% of running plays; that’s the second-highest mark this season behind the blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. His high-energy presence against the run helped eat into veteran defensive end Charles Omenihu’s reps in run defense; he played just 35% of run snaps, the third-lowest rate of his season.

Second-year safety Jaden Hicks was thrown into the fire due to the injuries of Cook and Roland-Wallace. He played 85% of the defense’s snaps, the highest rate he has played in a game since last year’s regular-season finale. In Dallas, Hicks flashed the playmaking he displayed as a rookie, breaking up two passes and recording a quarterback hit.

While Hicks managed the larger workload on defense, he maintained a significant role on special teams. He played 86% of snaps for the third phase, the second-highest mark he has recorded in 2025.

Data

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

All Snaps

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

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