Fans Irate Over Chiefs WR’s Lack of Playing Time vs Bills: ‘Disgraceful’

Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

The Kansas City Chiefs could have done several things better offensively in Week 11 to help them obtain a win over the Buffalo Bills. But many fans are wondering why veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins played less than 50% of the offensive snaps in a game that had playoff implications tied to it.

“Giving future first ballot hall of fame WR Deandre Hopkins FOURTY SEVEN PERCENT OF SNAPS in a game like this is disgraceful work by Andy Reid,” one person wrote.

“Deandre Hopkins played 45% of the snaps yesterday in a game the Chiefs were trailing throughout? How in the WORLD does that make sense?” another person wrote.

“Is it possible the Chiefs are purposely trying to keep Hopkins snaps below the 60% threshold? It doesn’t make sense to me for Hopkins to play 47% of the snaps in a game of that magnitude. He was 3rd in the WR room in snaps,” Carrington Harrison of 96.5 The Fan wrote.

DeAndre Hopkins Plays Lowest Snap Percentage Since Joining KC

Just days after being traded to the Chiefs, Hopkins played 32% of Kansas City’s offensive snaps during the team’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8, per Pro Football Reference. He then played 60% of the snaps in Week 9 and 65% in Week 10, which is on par with what we should expect from a player being acclimated into an offense midseason. But Hopkins’ 47% snap share in Week 11 doesn’t fall in line with the plan of increasing his reps as the season progresses.

Seeing that Hopkins and fellow wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster play similar roles and Week 11 was the first time both players were healthy and in the lineup together, it made sense that Smith-Schuster — who played 36% of the snaps against the Bills — was going to eat into Hopkins’ snap share a little bit. But Smith-Schuster is not on the same level as Hopkins in terms of talent, so he should not be seeing the field in place of Hopkins as much as he did in Week 11.

Chiefs Had Undefeated Streak Snapped by Bills

Kansas City trailed Buffalo early in Week 11 after quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw an interception on his first dropback of the game and the Bills responded with a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

The Chiefs took their first lead of the game late in the second quarter via a touchdown catch from tight end Noah Gray. However, the Bills kicked a field goal to take a 16-14 lead into halftime and held the lead for the remainder of the game.

The two-time defending Super Bowl champions scored just seven points in the second half, and any hope of a comeback was spoiled when Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard intercepted Mahomes with 1:17 left in the game on a pass intended for TE Travis Kelce.

Mahomes finished the game having completed 23-of-33 pass attempts for 196 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Rookie wideout Xavier Worthy was Kansas City’s leading receiver with four catches for 61 yards and one touchdown. Veteran running back Kareem Hunt led the backfield with 14 carries for 60 yards.

The Chiefs’ next opportunity to get back in the win column will be in Week 12 when they travel to Carolina to face the Panthers.