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Kansas City Chiefs: Don’t sleep on Jacksonville in week one

By Leigh Oleszczak

MIAMI, FLORIDA - AUGUST 22: Josh Allen #41 and Ronnie Harrison #36 of the Jacksonville Jaguars celebrate against the Miami Dolphins during the preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium on August 22, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - AUGUST 22: Josh Allen #41 and Ronnie Harrison #36 of the Jacksonville Jaguars celebrate against the Miami Dolphins during the preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium on August 22, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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The Kansas City Chiefs kick off their 2019 campaign and quest to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville against an underrated Jaguars team. The Chiefs shouldn’t take the Jags lightly in week one or it could bite them in the butt.

When it comes to the Super Bowl predictions floating out there on the inter webs, most people are either picking the New England Patriots or our very own Kansas City Chiefs to come out of the AFC. It makes sense why people would do that, as they’re the two teams who made it to the AFC Championship Game a year ago.

One year prior to that, however, it was the Patriots against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Foxborough in the AFC Championship Game with the Patriots barely edging out the Jags. A year and a half later, and people have forgotten about that run Jacksonville went on to end the 2017 season.

While I’m not saying the Jaguars are going to win the Super Bowl this season, they’re still a team that is very underrated heading into 2019 and one that deserves more respect.

Heading into last season, a lot of people had high hopes for the Jaguars after their run in 2017. They had won the AFC South, took down the Steelers in Pittsburgh in the divisional round, and then went toe-to-toe with the bad guys of the league in the AFC Championship Game, only to come up just short.

So, what happened in 2018?

Well, Blake Bortles happened, that’s what.

Despite playing well in the divisional and championship games the year prior, Bortles couldn’t do much of anything on offense last season and that’s what held the Jaguars back. Their once dominant defense had also lost a couple of steps, making them extremely beatable, considering their offense couldn’t put up points.

Well, the Jaguars fixed the Blake Bortles issue by letting him go. He went to sign with the Rams as the backup behind Jared Goff and Jacksonville brought in Nick Foles to handle the quarterbacking duties.

Foles won the Super Bowl MVP for the Eagles in the 2017 season and almost helped them make a run again in last season’s playoffs. He might be an up and down kind of quarterback, but he’s an upgrade over Bortles and with that defense still at the top of the pack, the Jaguars are in much better shape heading into 2019.

I understood overlooking the Jaguars a few weeks ago. They had to battle the Colts and the Texans in their division, but with Andrew Luck out the door and the Texans not having an offensive line to protect Deshaun Watson, the Jaguars suddenly look like a team that could win that division and make a run come January.

The Chiefs will find out for themselves what kind of team the Jacksonville Jaguars are when they face them this weekend. Hopefully they’re ready for everything because this could be a much tougher and closer game than what fans are expecting.

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