Kansas City Chiefs: Defense shows up big in win against Jaguars
The Kansas City Chiefs had a big win against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday and notched their fifth win of the year, moving to 5-0 in 2018. The defense played a huge part in this win, which feels good to finally say.
For the first four weeks of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs defense was garbage. They were getting cooked on just about every play, but week five finally saw some positive changes for the Chiefs D.
Kansas City won the game 30-14 and it was the perfect time for the Chiefs defense to show up, as the offense wasn’t as sharp as it had been. Patrick Mahomes finished the day with over 300 yards passing, but he failed to throw a touchdown for the first time all season, though he did run for one. He also threw his first (and second) interception of the year.
Where the Chiefs excelled in this game was limiting the Jaguars production on offense. Whether it was Blake Bortles really being as bad as advertised or the Chiefs defense actually playing well (or both), it was nice to see the D step in when the Chiefs offense wasn’t at the top of its game.
Bortles did throw for over 400 yards, but a lot of it was in garbage time. He was picked off four times, once by Chris Jones for a pick six, once by Orlando Scandrick, once by Jordan Lucas (who?), and once by Steven Nelson on a pass that Bortles threw off the helmet of an offensive lineman. I can’t make this stuff up, you guys.
Right after Mahomes threw his first interception of the year, Dee Ford had a strip sack of Bortles to give KC the ball back. Jones and Terrance Smith also had sacks on Bortles. The pass rush really is starting to click and that’s good to see. KC also had a few crucial fourth down stops, otherwise this game would have been closer than it was.
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As for the rest of the game, it was a mostly dominant effort by the Kansas City Chiefs. The Jaguars have one of the best defenses in the league, so they were able to limit the Chiefs in the red zone, but it was 20-0 at half time in favor of the Chiefs and at one time 23-0.
It took until the fourth quarter for the Jaguars to get on the board, but the game was long over by that point. With the win, the Chiefs move to 5-0 on the year and the Jaguars fall to 3-2. It’s not crazy to think that this could be a match-up we see again in the playoffs considering both teams are the best in their respective divisions.
Hats off to Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who limited Tyreek Hill to just 61 yards off of four receptions. He covered Hill well and while he might have won that particular battle, the Chiefs won the war.
It wasn’t a great outing for the Chiefs offense, but they still put up 30 points and looked fine against a tough defense. It was Mahomes’ worst start yet he still threw for over 300 yards and rushed for a touchdown. Yeah, I’m good with that being his worst start, especially with the defense stepping in and doing a decent job for once.
5-0 feels great, but this is where the Chiefs started to crumple last year. Let’s keep grinding and not wind up at 6-6 like last year please.
Great win, boys!