Week 5: Chiefs vs. Jaguars – Game Preview + Predictions

Week 5: Chiefs vs. Jaguars – Game Preview + Predictions

Snap back to Jackson. She’s showing a blitz. Jackson being harassed. Gets rid of the football right side and it’s going to be intercepted. Intercepted by Leo Chanel. Leo Chanel gets his first career interception. World looks different. Chiefs are two and two now. It’s no coincidence the Chiefs have forced four takeaways in those two games. And this week, Monday Night Football on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And Matt, they are living off the takeaway. They’re on a near record pace. 13 takeaways by the Jags in the first four weeks. Yeah, Jacksonville is 3-1 through four games this season. And you’re right, the primary reason behind that is all these takeaways that they’ve generated. They have at least three takeaways in each of their four games this year, four takeaways against the NerS last week, and they’re making sure they they do a lot with those takeaways. They have 41 points immediately following takeaways this year, most of any team in the league. They also have a bunch of drives that have started on their opponent’s side of the field. Nine possessions this season have started on the opponent’s side of the 50 yd line. Very difficult to win if you’re playing a team that’s constantly starting at like the 45 or 30 yardd line on your side of the field. The Jags haven’t missed when they’ve got these takeaways. The Chiefs cannot turn the ball over here in this game. And yet the Chiefs have only one giveaway all year and that was on a tip pass in the game against the Eagles. The Chiefs also have been outstanding in the red zone of late, especially four red zone touchdowns in the victory over the Ravens. That’s a good sign. four different red zone touchdowns, four different players, four different play designs. And how awesome was Xavier Worthy last week? Even though Xavier didn’t get in the end zone, he helped set all that up. He had 121 scrimmage yards last week. He was the Chief’s leading rusher and receiver in that game and really just changed everything for this offense because when you when you have Xavier running these deep routes down the field or into rounds around the back field, the defense has to respect that and opens things up for everyone else. And you’re right, you see Hollywood Brown get a touchdown last week. Juju Smith Schustster, Isaiah Pacheco caught a touchdown. And Taekquin Thornton also had a touchdown in that game. Xavier being the player that he is and really just jumping right back in after that shoulder injury and being such a dynamic weapon on this offense opens up everything else for Patrick Mahomes and trying to match speed for speed. This Jaguar defense is young, feisty, fast, and they like to take it away. with the Chiefs now getting Xavier Worthy back and with Brashard Smith growing with Taekquin Thornton, you’ve got a speed for speed match here. That’s the idea. You match their speed with your speed. Again, don’t turn the ball over here in this game because the Jags defense is good. It’s the number five scoring defense in the NFL due in large part to all those takeaways. But it’s the number 15 total defense in the league in terms of yards allowed. It’s also the fourth worst third down defense in the NFL. So, teams have found a way to move the ball on these guys. they just end up turning the ball over when they’re moving down the field. So, the Chiefs in this game, take your gains and don’t turn the ball over. Trevor Lawrence, uh, good last week. Didn’t turn the ball over himself, but it was the first time in seven games he had not had an interception. He’s thrown four interceptions in the first three games of the year. The other interesting thing about the Jags, they lead the league with 12 drop passes. That is five more than 31st in the league. That’ll do a number on your completion percentage, which right now he’s 31st in the league, Lawrence, at 58%. But the Jags have dropped a gob of passes early. Yeah, they have. Uh, and what’s interesting is I think their new head coach and Liam Cohen, he’s really done a great job of simplifying their offense. The drop passes don’t help with that, but what he’s done with their offensive scheme is they’re running the ball a whole lot with Travis ETN, who kind of went away. No one really thought about him after a year last year that wasn’t very uh impressive. Well, he’s great this year. looks like a first round running back once again. He’s averaging over six yards per attempt this year on the ground and ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards. So, he’s been playing very well. And then with Lawrence, it’s all short stuff with really quick passes. He has the second fastest average time to throw of any quarterback in the NFL this season. That’s why he’s the least sacked quarterback in the league this year. There’s no time for the pressure to get there. So, in this game for the Chiefs, stop the run. Stop ETN on those early downs. And when Lawrence is dropping back, cover his first read. Make him hold on to the ball. Because if you look at Pro Football Focus scores, his grade when he gets rid of the ball in less than 2.5 seconds, it’s very good. His numbers dip significantly though when he holds on to the ball for longer than 2.5 seconds. And where can they get big plays? ETN on the ground. Travis ETN has 10 runs of 10 yards or more, including two touchdown runs. He’s back to where he was when he entered the league uh and was such a threat. Remember in 2022 when the Chiefs had to play him twice, including in the playoffs. Now, special teams, I don’t want to overlook that because special teams also have can have its own explosiveness here. And the fact that the Chiefs are getting some of that in the return game. The fact that Nico Roiho last week, a 16-yd punt return led directly to a touchdown. And then a 48-y kickoff return answered a three for three. And then the coverages, the coverages have been very good. Cooper McDonald, Jeffrey Bosa. You’re looking at guys that I mentioned the speed on special teams has improved, but the Chiefs special teams has its own level of excitement. The kickoff return by Nico really fired me up because you look at the the box score from the Chiefs and Ravens game. It’s a blowout. Ah, the Chiefs just rolled. Well, sort of, but also the Ravens were trying to get back into it early in the second half. And when they kick that field goal and narrow the deficit to only 14 points, Nico responded right away with that big kick return. Chiefs go right down the field and score. or get a field goal and have 17 points. Again, uh in terms of the margin, those plays are big. Uh and for Patrick Mahomes in this offense, especially with Xavier Worthy back to be starting at like the 45 yd line, the 50 yardd line, I mean, what an advantage that is. So, let’s keep that going here with Nico. He’s been awesome here to start the season. And you’re right. I mean, between two teams that uh in a lot of ways are very evenly matched. The Jags have played good football this year. You got to make sure you win in the margins. And the special teams in this game are certainly one of those margins. And if you can’t steal, then get stops. The Chiefs have done that now two weeks in a row. Third down defense has been spectacular. One of 10 with the Giants on third down conversions. We know how good the Ravens offense is and was coming into week four. They were just three of 10. That’s four of 20. The Chiefs defense has had 16 stops on third down in two weeks. That’s championship level. A lot of that comes from the pressure they’ve created on the early downs, I think, because these teams are facing longer third downs. The Chiefs have gotten a pressure rate on the opposing quarterback over 50% in each of the last two weeks. And through the first couple weeks of the year, the Chiefs were blitzing a whole lot. Well, they didn’t have to blitz a lot against Lamar Jackson or against Russell Wilson to create that pressure. Sure, maybe it’s Nick Bolton rushing, but a defensive end drops. If it’s four rushers, it’s technically not a blitz. And the Chiefs pressured Lamar Jackson 10 times on 18 drop backs where he wasn’t blitzed last week. That’ll work if your front four is getting pressure early on in downs. Creates long third down situations. And we’ve seen what the Chiefs have done on those long third downs. And then finally, the AFC West looks dramatically different. Very few thought that the Charger would lose against the Gmen, but here are the Chiefs at 2 and two, just one game out of first. The world looks totally different uh this week compared to last week, and it shows how quickly things can change in the NFL. We were telling everybody just hold on. You know, we believe in this team. We know what this team can achieve. To go out there and beat Baltimore. I get they’re struggling right now and they’re beat up. It’s still the Baltimore Ravens. To beat them like that and for the Chargers to lose to the Giants. I mean, think about the last several weeks of of people celebrating the demise of the Chiefs. Not so much. The Chiefs are only one game back in the AFC West with a lot of season to play. And with Xavier Worthy, Andy Reid can just open up that iPad and adds more recipes to the cookbook.

Voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus and senior team reporter Matt McMullen preview the upcoming Week 5 NFL matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday.
TUNE IN to Week 5 👇
📺: MNFChiefs vs Jaguars at 7:15 p.m. CT | ABC/ESPN
📻: 96.5 The Fan (eng) & TICO Sports (esp)

Subscribe for more videos! https://bit.ly/2OuOUnB
More Chiefs NFL action! https://bit.ly/2Moa1VR

Follow Our Social Media!
🔴 Website: https://www.chiefs.com/
🟡 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs
🔴 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chiefs
🟡 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiefs

Download the Chiefs Mobile App:
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id390783578?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yinzcam.nfl.chiefs

#ChiefsKingdom #Chiefs #KansasCityChiefs #NFL #Football