Trevor Lawrence shows intensity in dramatic win over Chiefs | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Trevor Lawrence shows intensity in dramatic win over Chiefs | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

But let’s get right into last night’s action, which was an awesome Monday night football game. Kind of a statement win in Jacksonville for the Jaguars against a Chiefs team that had kind of figured it out recently. It felt like everything was rolling for them and their offense continued to roll in this, but it felt like kind of a gritty, not to be cliche, but like a scrappy win for Jacksonville. Didn’t always look pretty at times, but they just found a way. I I I mean, I would sit here and argue that that was the biggest win of Trevor Lawrence’s fiveyear career. Totally agree. Right. I mean, I I I would say, yeah, we know we he came back and won 27 nothing against the Chargers and all that, but the pressure wasn’t on him at that point. It was still like, hey, this is the first playoffs he’s ever been in. He’s young. We’re going to be going to the playoffs all the time. You know, last night was the most intense, willing, willing type of play and response I’ve ever seen from Trevor Lawrence. It’s almost like he knew when he fumbled the quarterback sneak, which he was wrong in the fact that you have to go up and then over. He went over too quick. But it’s almost like when he’d made that mistake on the quarterback sneak, he was like, “Uhoh, I’m opening up the door for everybody to say, does Trevor Lawrence ever play good in a big moment? Is he really a franchise quarterback? Should we start worrying about Trevor Lawrence?” And I have never seen him play with that type of intensity, scrainess, like you talked about, willing his team to win. And not that it was all perfect, but big plays in big moments, scrambling in big moments, right? Overcoming the Chiefs and being down 14 nothing. That’s where I was impressed because like you said, the Chiefs on offense have figured out, I think, how they want to play a little bit. That’s for sure. And that was Yeah. in a moment and a night where we went, how good is Jacksonville? It looks like the Chiefs have figured things out. Watch out for them to win and now go to four and one I think is a coming out party officially for the Jacksonville Jaguars to be like, “Hey, they’re they’re here to stay in the AFC. Trevor Lawrence is on the right track and Liam Conn is a phenomenal head coach.” I think all of those things are are officially true after last night and you should give yourself a little pat on the back. Anthony Campanili is right now one of the big differences with this organization. Agreed. Yeah. I mean, no Trayvon Walker. No. No. I mean, they were in a tough spot. They were in a tough spot. I know they didn’t have a greatest night, but it but they’re more competitive in tougher spots this year. Well, and and they’re they’re definitely more competitive in different spots. They have moments of dominating. They have And their biggest thing they do, which I didn’t think would happen last night, is they create turnovers, right? They create turnovers and they create big plays. Now, I didn’t I picked the Chiefs to win because I thought they would go into the game going, you know what, we know we’ve seen that’s how they’ve won a few games. We’re not going to do that. And of course, I thought Trevor might do some dumb things. Right. Which we saw him do a little bit, right? Right. Throw past the line of scrimmage. The throw past the line of scrimmage, of course, the quarterback see that. No, you definitely don’t. The interception, which I won’t blame him totally. That was a tough play. Pass interference could have been called there and I wouldn’t have been mad. Um, you know, but but yeah, all in all, uh, Anthony Campanili on that side of the ball, they’re creative and they keep you on edge and they got playmakers and they’re aggressive and you could tell they believe in the unit and what they’re doing there. Yeah, they’re not perfect, but damn, they’re good. And the Jacksonville Jaguars are here to stay. They’re good. I I went into the game last week telling a lot of people, the Jaguars, I think, might be more talented than the Kansas City Chiefs. They’re just not quite as polished, battle tested, and know how to handle clutch situations quite the same way. But that was a big step for Jacksonville’s growth last night. Yeah. So, listen, Kansas City 11-0 in one score games last season, 17 straight. They’re 0 and3 this season. You just feel like a little bit of that magic is missing somewhere, or is it at some point like the tide’s going to turn the other way and it feels like it’s happening all at once? Well, I think that eventually, you know, the tide will turn to where they win more games like this than they lose. But I think two things here. One, I think everybody is prepared to go when we play the Chiefs, we know it’s going to come to the end of the game. They almost play that way. They’re they’re almost like the Seattle Seahawks like in their Legion of Boom days. Let’s just keep the game close and then Russell will be clutch in the last drive and we’ll win the game. That’s what the Bucks do, right? The Bucks kind of do the same thing, too. The Chiefs, Exactly. Right. The Chiefs play that way. So, I think teams are mentally prepared going into the game going, “Hey, this is going to go down to the end and we’re we’re going to have to be clutch to slay the beasts, the the champs here, right? Or at least the AFC champs.” You know what I’m trying to say there? I think the other thing that is real about this conversation is that the Chiefs defense is not the same. The Chiefs defense is good. We know it’s good. It’s still really good. But is it again like you’ve heard me say and I’ve said a few times on other places it’s not as dominant as it was I think last year which I think last year was less than the year before and the year before that. Right. The two steady it’s kind of been a steady decline. Exactly. Right. And again we’ve hit that on that a little bit but there we were in the end of the game or in got to have it moments. You know I think that’s what kind of shows that there’s not a lot of big-time playmakers on the D right now. a lot of good coached as good as anybody in the sport because of Spags and everything he does on that side of the ball. But do I look at it like some of the top defenses in the game and go there have the guys that can shut a team down in a big moment or make a big play in a big moment? No, I don’t quite look at them that way right now as we were sitting here. So, it’s more personnel driven than schematic issues. I I think it’s personnel driven is the first thing. And then I also think we hit on this I think a little in week one and week two. Everybody has studied the Chiefs so much and Spags is so good that so many teams have stolen the things he does that I don’t think when people play the Chiefs they’re in the shock of what the Chiefs are doing as much anymore. Right? And that’s the big thing. And then the other thing that goes unnoticed a little bit is what you see there on the left column. The 13 penalties for 109 yards. Right? people are going to look at it and go, “Hey, the Chiefs played good. You know, the Chiefs the Chiefs outgainain the Jacksonville Jaguars.” And yes, that’s true. But then when you add in the penalty yards and the aggressive nature in which they play, no, it’s actually really close as far as total yards and how everything worked that way. And I’m with you on the personnel side of things. It’s not to single anyone out, but it surprises me to see, you know, Derek Naughty out there for over 20 snaps. He was with the Jets in camp this summer. I was out there. I just didn’t really think he had a lot left in the tank. So, when I turn on prime time game and I see someone like that starting, and it’s not just him, there’s problems across the board personnel-wise, but it does feel like they’re a little bit more vulnerable against the run than what we’re used to. I think cuz that was something that it feels like they just didn’t allow. No, no. Now, yeah. I mean, and and they didn’t allow. They’re definitely not as talented in that area. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Like you’ve said, I mean, you know, the start of training camp, uh, you know, Mike Penel was a defensive tackle starter. that kind of tells you where they are. So, he was a starter that didn’t make the team and they’ve had to try to figure it out. And yeah, they don’t have, you know, as big a people in the middle of the defense as they used to. And as I would say too, you know, I I think they have to crowd the line of scrimmage a lot right now to stop the run and do that, which leaves them in one-on-one situations where we know they have good corners. McDuffy is special, right? But after that, I don’t know if I think anybody else is special covering. And that’s what they’ve lost the last two years in my opinion, too. They won two Super Bowls in a row. Let’s not forget with one of the best corner duos in the sport and Legio Sne and McDuffy. And that was part of the reason I think the defense fell off a little last year. And of course, we’re seeing it now. But yeah, I mean, when you really get into it, Chris Jones is still really good. He can still disrupt plays, but he’s not the superstar he was a few years ago. It’s not like you have to game plan the whole game anymore to to stop him, which was which is what it was the year they played the 49ers in the Super Bowl, the Eagles in the for the Super Bowl. Those years, if you talk to a offensive coordinator getting ready for the Chiefs, they’re like, “Oh my god, Chris Jones, holy cow, we got to I got to make sure we slide the protection this way. There’s only certain run plays we can run at him. We’re going to try to run away with them.” You I don’t hear that anymore. And then after you get after that, who is the next best player? It’s McDuffy. It’s McDuffy and him. And then a lot of good, but I wouldn’t say any other blue chip superstar type of guys on their defense, right? Like Bolton and Carloffus are starters. Real good. Real good. But again, not guys that I’m going to look at to go, “Oh, are superstar gamechanging type of players on that side of the ball?” No, we got to hear from Chris Jones after this game on the Kansas City defense and that Jaguars game-winning touchdown. So, let’s take a listen. I thought multiple times we had him. We just got to finish. We got to finish. We had multiple guys there that we just got to finish that play. It was a fluke play for him to be able to break that many tackles. Um but yeah, I I think I put it on us as a defense. We got to finish, you know, we got to bring him down on that. I don’t love fluke play. I understand it’s a weird play. He falls, he stumbles again, he goes the opposite way you’d expect him to, which was actually smart and scores, but like contain is contain and they lost contain. But there’s people on the ground. Yeah. Well, that was that was the thing that saved it, but the left tackle knocked down whoever that was the defensive end there, right? I think it was the left guard that actually helped the left like it was a great effort play. Whoever it was, they they lost contain like you don’t want to be on the ground. It’s a weird play. I don’t know if it’s a fluky play. Like a fluky play is a ball gets tipped up and someone makes a miracle catch like Bills Ravens week one. It’s a fluky play, right? This is just I mean Trevor Lawrence, they lost contain a lot last night against Trevor. Definitely. He broke a lot of tackles. He made them look silly. defensive again. Yeah. Well, I think that’s again where we can get into how elite are they up there again. Carl Loftess, Dana, they’re good players again, but they’re not guys where you go, can they contain superstar quarterbacks to keep them in the pocket? Can they take over and dominate a tackle in a big moment in passing situations? I think that’s all up for debate to, you know, to a degree there. And yeah, I mean, sure, it’s fluky in the fact that he falls down and does all that, but at the same time, you know, I think the point you’re trying to make is like, you know, a lot of good defenses in that moment, it’s like it would have been collapsed and it would have been all over them and there been nowhere to run. But that, you know, the the fact that the the left defense end or the defense is right defense end, left defense end to the offense there, he gets knocked down. Yeah. Yeah, and Trevor Lawrence has the presence of mind to finally get up after basically falling twice and then seeing that, oh wait, there’s a gap here, even though this is my left side and it’s going to be a little unnatural, and to get into the end zone. Yeah, I mean, I think it was a little bit of a a microcosm of things with the Chiefs defense to show you it’s not quite as dominant, just like we saw that whole drive. And the one thing I was shocked by in the the drive at the end of the football game is McDuffy for the most part of the night shadowed Brian Thomas Jr. in big moments. It was a weird matchup. It was a weird matchup, but he’s their best guy. Yes. That’s so they’re they’re stuck a little that way. But what happened on the big throw down the right sideline on the last drive? It wasn’t McDuffy. I was shocked by that. I was like, “What? Wait, fourth quarter big moment. Now he’s not on him.” I don’t I I was shocked. But but either way, I I think I was more impressed still with the fact that Jacksonville, their grittiness, their toughness, and this is where I think it’s Liam Conn and his attitude and his pizzazz and keep your name out of my mouth, Robert Salah, and that is rubbing off the football team where they’re a little more chippy that way. It felt that way. I I saw a video of the locker room after the game and you can kind of feel the different energy in there. Definitely. It was not like, oh, you know, it was just a like, no, we’re supposed to win these kind of games and they were fired up. And like you said, it was, yeah, it was just a scrappy game at home for them. Producer Pete is just working in some really good numbers here. Per NextGen stats, Chris Jones reached a max speed of 5.11 mph on that touchdown. Uh, that was the second lowest of any player on the field ahead of only Ezra Cleveland, the Jags left guard, who did pancake the uh right defensive end. Yeah. Well, and then this is what Chris Jones is going to hear about a little bit as social media catches this over the next 24 hours that he didn’t even try to go get Trevor Lawrence or pursue him or anything when he sees him take off. And you certainly can make the I don’t think he gets him either way, but like if he hustles from the very get-go to where Trevor Lawrence breaks that first tackle, is it maybe close at the goal line? Yeah, it might be. It it it could be. Could Trevor Lawrence maybe make the wrong decision in cutting somewhere if he sees oh no it’s going to be close with Chris Jones let me hit the brakes and try to cut you know behind him. So yeah not a good look there you know and again that you know a little bit of like Travis Kelce Chris Jones who were legends first ballot hall of famers right but a few times this whole year we’ve seen them they want to lead they want to yell at guys but they haven’t hustled 100% all the time there either. One more note on Jacksonville before we close out with the Chiefs offense. I thought this was the best Travis Hunter has looked without question. Kind of as advertised of make some big plays and you know season high 64 receiving yards, but I think it was how he got there. I thought he looked good with the ball in his hands. He showed a contested catch. It just felt like there was an effort to get him involved with what he know we know he’s good at. Like I think he’s good at playing wide receiver or at least with the ball in his hands. Agreed. I mean that’s what we want. That’s what we want. Again, this is where I think they they have to favor the receiver thing. Nobody’s going to know if he just plays good corner. I mean, nobody’s going to know your value. And his biggest value to the team is get him on that side, feed him the ball, have another weapon to go along with Brian Thomas Jr. and Deami Brown and ATN and all of that. And if they can get to that point, they can if they can really start to infuse him in the offense and make him a a staple cuz they got a good group of guys. And we know the damn tight end is good, too. And I I hope he’s not hurt too badly with his little hip injury that he missed the game with there. But they can get to a point with their run game, too. And as Trevor Lawrence gets better and better to where you look at it and you go, they have the potential to be like like indefensible a little bit. They really do because Liam Con and is going to be able to run the ball. He’s going to. And as Trevor continues to get more comfortable and more comfortable with a coach who’s going to ride him and yet expect a lot out of him and give him a lot at the line of scrimmage, yeah, you look at those combinations and you go, there is more potential to be to be had here. And that’s what I would be excited about if I’m Jacksonville. But yeah, Hunter, that catch that was special. He shows special movement, special route runner. He’s tough. Yeah, he could care less about contact. That’s what I do love about him. Right. But what did you notice after the catches? I thought his energy in the game was way higher. Way higher. And like even on that amazing catch, the ball should have been there earlier. He was open. Uh I mean it was like Trevor patted the ball like didn’t trust it all that way. But yeah, and it lifts the stadium. Yes. You know, again, when you have a young top five, top 10 pick, first round pick, Jackson Dart to the Giants, Travis Hunter, whatever. When they have success, the crowd goes, “Oh my gosh, he’s awesome and he’s our future.” And everybody gets behind that. So that’s to me again where I just go offense, offense, offense. Dabble in defense for the time being and let that grow slowly, but offense should be the main the main focus despite the loss. It feels like the Chiefs offense is fixed. It’s in a much better place. Definitely more rhythm. I I I think again we we saw what we’re seeing a little bit is you know running game still iffy but but like the the pass game to me again what’s jumps out is you know they just put it in Mahomes hands and they said carve them up carve them up throw it short throw it short become a lead at that and then boom we got a chance to hit some balls down the field I think that’s why you saw Jacksonville blitz a few times and they got the cover zero posted Taekquin Thornton and all that because they were like Hey, he’s picking us apart. We got to do something. Can we get the ball out of his hands and then he just throws it two or three yards instead of six yards here, eight yards here, all of that. So, yeah, I feel really good about their offense and their big dogs coming back, right? That’s going to be and and and they can’t wait and they and listen, you know, I know people there and they just think that like when he’s back, watch out, our offense is going to go to another level. So, they’re excited about that. So, you couple that with a defense we know that’s really good but not as dominant. They need the offense this year. That’s what I think we’re seeing. The last few years, they’ve been a defensive team that can win through the defense. To your point and what you said before, the one-sore games, the defense isn’t the same. It’s not the same, and it’s not as dominant as the last years. The offense is going to have to take over a little bit more this year than the past three years that we saw them go to the Super Bowl. Still feels like they’re a team that maybe adds a veteran running back at the deadline. I wouldn’t be shocked. I mean, they’re going to be aggressive if they’re in the mix of things and with the the state of the AFC right now with going, you know, okay, yeah, the Bills are the best team, but how good are they? I don’t know. I don’t sit here going, “Oh, wow. They’re just unbelievable, unstoppable. We’re going to talk about this a little.” Yeah. Yeah. We’re going to break all that down, which is going to, you know, the Colts, I mean, we know they’re good, but are they going to have the Chiefs like shivering in their shoes like, “Oh, no. We can’t beat the Colts. They got to get through Jacksonville.” Exactly. So, there’s a lot. It’s still there to be had. That that’s the big point. And yeah, I would not be shocked if they made an aggressive move, but yeah, I think their offense is going to have to be more of a focal point with them this year than ever before. And I think they’re showing us that they’re they’re capable of doing that. One quick one from the chat. This is from D Solder 324. Chris Connor, what uh what is it that the Jags call hike with such little time, so consistently, not as much time in offense or too much jargon in the play calls? Well, I think it’s it’s jargon in the play calls. And this is to me again a part of the toutelage of Trevor Lawrence right now. He’s never had an offense like this where it’s like wait it’s two plays in the huddle every time and it’s a long play call and I got to spit it out fast and sometimes it might be I make two play calls in the huddle and give them an alert for a third one I might have to get up to. Then you got to be like when you have that type of offense you have to go you have to say you’ve heard me say some of the Gruden stuff. West right slot 72Z bingo you split. We’re going to can it with 58 Lexus. Hey, Apple 314 hammer ready break. Hey, hurry, hurry. You got to literally be like, hurry, get to the line because if you want to like figure out what the defense is going to do to get into that, the urgency has to be constant. Now, even with what they do, and if Trevor Lawrence is perfect, yeah, they’re going to snap the ball at six or seven seconds every time, but I don’t think he’s perfect in that department yet. And that’s why it goes down to the very end as far as him figuring it out. Wait, we had a motion, a shift with these checks and all that, but I broke the huddle at 16. Yeah, you’re gonna snap the ball at at one second when it’s that way. And I think he’s still, you know, growing in that department. I think if there’s a glass half full, though, that’s something that’ll improve. That’s where I look at all of it and it’s all going improved. You know, it’s all going to improve. You you come away from the game and we come from the game going the Jacksonville wasn’t even perfect and they beat the Chiefs. They weren’t perfect on the road against San Francisco and they beat San Francisco in San Fran. So yes, I I think there is they can beat you schematically. I think that’s what I look at the Jacksonville and they can beat you personally with people. Yep. Right. Just like we saw Devin Loin. Let’s that interception. It changed the whole game. It changed the whole game. And that’s back to our man Anthony Kemp Campanily. Creative. Hey, just give him one or two steps like you’re going to blitz. Mahomes is so smart. He’ll see that check it off in his mind and go nobody’s over there. And then boom, he comes back out to get underneath the route. And to me that was like they knew or had a feel what was coming there, right? That’s that kind of defense like hey they coached him for that for that moment and that type of play right there. And of course maybe the biggest play of the football game with a 99 yard. I mean the kind of athlete he is at that position not only to finish the play but just catching it. Not every not every linebacker catches that. Taquan Thornton was going 100 miles per hour down the sideline. I know. I was like strip him. He’s going to strip him. And then he and then he just runs through the tackle like he’s not even there. looked like a flag game. But we both know. I mean, we’ve been watching Deon Lloyd since he came out of college. He’s a special special player. He’s a freak. Yo yo homies, it’s time to watch some games. That’s right. We’re on to the NFL season here with Chris Sims Unbutton. Hit subscribe to get our weekly pick. Sunday night recaps after every game and much, much more. Thanks for watching. Peace out, homies. Remember, subscribe. Peace out.

Chris Simms and Conor Rogers review the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Monday night win over Kansas City, praising Trevor Lawrence’s intensity fighting through adversity and the Chiefs’ issues on defense. #NBCSports #ChrisSimmsUnbuttoned #NFL
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Trevor Lawrence shows intensity in dramatic win over Chiefs | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC
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