This week’s matchup featured the master versus the student. Doug Pederson was back up to Brett Farve when Andy Reid was on the Packer’s coaching staff. Then Coach Reid hired him as an Eagles assistant. In 2013, Coach Reid hired Pederson to be the Chiefs offensive coordinator. These two men have a long history and long-standing relationship. The Chief’s victory today, shows that he is still the master.
Struggles
Everyone expected the Chiefs to beat the Jaguars. The question was by how much. The Chiefs should have run away with this football game. They probably would have but for three key turnovers. During the Chiefs first possession of the game, they drove all the way to the Jaguars 13 yard line. On a first and ten, Isiah Pacheco gained four yards and then lost the ball. Then, late in the 2nd quarter, Jody Fortson fumbled away a kickoff return to end the half. Finally, Patrick Mahomes was picked off by Andre Cisco midway thru the fourth quarter setting up a Jaguar’s touchdown. The last turnover was the only turnover the Jaguars were able to turn into points.
Jaguars’ safety Andre Cisco was the bane of the Chief’s existence today. He was all over the field. He is a hammer for the Jaguars from the safety position. As the signal caller for the Jags, he sets the tone for the Jaguars defense. He knocked JuJu Smith Schuster out of the game on a questionable no call for unnecessary roughness on a defenseless receiver. He knocked Marquez Valdes-Scantling out of the game for a short time. Finally, he collected three tackles, forced a fumble and picked off Patrick Mahomes. Cisco is a regular game wrecker.
Victories
The Chiefs found a way to win despite all the trouble the Jaguar’s defense gave them. That is what championship caliber teams do. Pacheco rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown despite his lost fumble. Kadarious Toney burst onto the scene and collected four receptions on five targets along with a touchdown. Toney is uber talented. He can shake and bake a defensive back right out of their shoes. During the Chief’s second possession, he blew past the Jaguar’s defense back, collected the ball on the sideline and one hopped his way into the endzone. Later in the game he showed his route running prowess as he caught several more passes over the middle, earning more yards after catch.
Patrick Mahomes was his usual brilliant self. He never gets down. If he needs to run for a first down, he runs for a first down. He hit nine different receivers for completions, six of which caught multiple passes. Travis Kelce, Valdes-Scantling, Toney and Noah Gray all caught a touchdown pass today.
Solid Defensive Performance
The Jaguars offense is nothing to sleep on. They have a potent running attack and a budding star at quarterback who played very well against the Chiefs. In fact, the Jaguars won the time of possession, holding the ball for almost 32 minutes in the game. The difference in the game was that the Chiefs defense only allowed four of fourteen third down conversions. Trevor Lawrence was sacked five times on the afternoon as well. Despite the sacks, Lawrence’s stat line looks great. However, games are won and lost on third down. Though the Jaguars converted on two fourth down attempts, the Chiefs prevented the Jaguars from completing enough drives to win.
This was a good game for the Chiefs. It was the first game against an opponent with a losing record from 2021. Yes, I said that right. The first eight games were played against teams who all had winning records last year. The Chiefs ran quite a gauntlet. Today, they had some self-imposed adversity to fight thru. They also lost a few players to injury and despite all the issues, they still found a way to win. That is play off football. That is championship football. The Chiefs also found out that Isiah Pacheco can be the bell-cow back the Chiefs have lacked for years. Finally, they found out that Toney is the playmaker they have been looking for to replace Tyreek Hill.
Next week they travel to San Diego. Last time they won a very close game at home. Let’s see if they can win big on the road.