The Kansas City Chiefs are looking for redemption after losing to the Detroit Lions last Thursday Night without their two stars. Now with Chris Jones and Travis Kelce back on the field, here’s what to expect from the Chiefs as they head to Duval.
The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off their first season opener loss of the Patrick Mahomes era. The Chiefs really beat themselves against Detriot, the wide receivers dropped a total of six passes, including a drop leading to a pick-six. But the loss was mostly down to the Chiefs being without Travis Kelce and Chris Jones on the field, now this week, both will be suited up.
Jacksonville is a tough opponent to face this week, the Jaguars looked a little lost against the Colts last week with new players and new expectations on their shoulders. They were able to overcome a lot of issues and some turnovers to defeat Indianapolis, but they will look to bring their best against the Chiefs.
Offense
Patrick Mahomes only threw for 226 yards last week and two touchdowns is excited to get back Travis Kelce this week. After nursing the injury, the star tight end is ready to come back and hopes to get this offense a lift after the offense struggled in the second half last week. Kelce, who has seven straight 1,000 seasons is hoping to go for eight straight and to bring some security for Mahomes. His presence was missed and hopefully what he does in the pass game can help Toney regain his confidence, who had by far the worst game of his career.
He is looking to redeem himself from last week’s performance and he hopes to get his season back on track against the Jaguars which was his first game back when he was traded to KC and had a spectacular performance scoring his first TD with KC. In this week’s press conference, he took the blame for the Chiefs’ loss saying ‘ it’s on him’ and he expressed that same sentiment to both Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Expect this game to be the breakout game for Toney, showing why he will be the No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs and will have a breakout season.
Defense
Although the Chiefs’ defense looked good without the star defensive lineman Chris Jones, bringing him back only makes them better. The defense only gave up 14 points against Detriot, and the defensive line was able to get pressure and had a couple of sacks, but they were missing Jones in several key spots down the stretch. Not only will KC be getting back their star defensive tackle, but they will also activate the newly added Neil Ferrell to the group.
With the possibility of Jones’ final year in Kansas City, the pressure is on the defensive tackle to live up to last year’s magical season. He wants to win another ring, and it seems like the Chiefs’ defense is living up to the hype. They were only missing Jones to help them fill in the gaps in key moments and they should be able to make some big plays against an unseason Jaguars offensive line.
The Jaguars’ offense looked very competent and explosive last week, especially with Calvin Ridley taking over Marvin Jones Jr’s old role. Ridley looks just as deadly as he did before his season-long suspension and the young secondary of the Cheifs should be wary of him. But if the front seven of the Chiefs can create pressure and contain the running game, don’t expect the Jaguars to be as explosive as they were last week. Trevor Lawrence has looked really good this season, but when he’s pressured, he’s struggled. Kansas City just needs to control the trenches and the Cheifs can go home happy.
Prediction
The Kansas City Chiefs will get their first victory of the season, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-31 in a shootout. Patrick Mahomes will have a big game on his birthday, being the first one since Texas Tech where he put up over 400 yards and 5 total touchdowns. The same will be done Sunday as he will earn offensive player of the week throwing over 350 yards and 4 total touchdowns. In Kelce’s return, he will score two touchdowns going for 8 catches and 105 yards. Chris Jones will have a slow start, however, towards the end of the game he will get his first sack of the season, hopefully helping him to hopefully build a resume for defensive player of the year.
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