KC Chiefs: Five things we learned from win over Jacksonville
By Mike Norris
DEFENSE HELD ITS OWN AGAINST A GOOD TEAM
Football can be a funny game sometimes. As mentioned earlier, the Jaguars entered this matchup ranked first in passing yards, total yards and points allowed per contest, but left Kansas City after giving up the most points in a regular season game since Week 16 of last year.
But what you see is not always what you get.
Yes, the Jaguars allowed Mahomes to throw for more than 300 yards, but they held him to zero touchdowns passes for the first time this season. His two interceptions were his first of the year.
As bad as it looked on paper for the Jacksonville defense, it was really the Chiefs defense that shined in the victory.
Four different players intercepted Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles — including lineman Chris Jones, who took his to the house for his first career touchdown — and a lost fumble by Bortles came one play after a Jaguars’ interception in Chiefs’ territory.
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In other words, the worse defense in the NFL contributed to a victory for a team playing against the top-ranked defense in the league.
The Chiefs also registered three tackles for a loss, a season-high five sacks and 12 quarterback hits per Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star, setting up good field position all day for an offense that can score from anywhere on the field.
After allowing an average of 30.7 points the first three games of the season, Kansas City has given up just 37 total the past two contests. The 23 points allowed in Week 4 at Denver won’t make the history books, but the Chiefs made stops when needed.
Against Jacksonville, there was no denying the defense played a role in the Chiefs’ second consecutive 5-0 start to the season. It did allow Bortles to throw for a career-high 430 yards, but most of that came in garbage time.
Seth Keysor of The Athletic KC summed up the performance well:
The Chiefs just dominated a Super Bowl contender despite losing half their defense to injuries/ejections, a dropped TD, and 2 INTs from Mahomes.
— Seth Keysor (@RealMNchiefsfan) October 7, 2018
The injuries to linebacker Justin Houston and safeties Eric Murray and Armani Watts could prove problematic moving forward if they linger, but those will be addressed during the week leading up to New England.
For now, the defense can hold its head high knowing it helped contribute to showing the rest of the AFC the Chiefs are the team to beat.