Chiefs commit 3 turnovers, still roll over Jaguars 27-17
Good offense and a solid defense help counter turnovers and sloppy special teams play
The Kansas City Chiefs (7-2) jumped out to a 14 point lead against the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) and never looked back en route to a victory in Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Patrick Mahomes threw for another 300+ yards and four touchdowns, Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both scored their first touchdowns as Chiefs, and the Chiefs defense held the opposition under 20 points for the second consecutive week.
The Jaguars were able to surprise the Chiefs with an opening-kick onside recovery, forced a fumble on the opening Chiefs offensive drive, and another fumble just before the half on a kick return. Fortunately for the Chiefs, the defense was able to hold the opposition to zero points on those three turnovers, keeping the Jaguars at bay throughout the first half.
The comfortable win proved even sweeter as the Minnesota Vikings dealt an overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills, putting the Chiefs in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s number 1 seed.
Here’s what else stood out on Sunday:
Chiefs Back atop the AFC
This will likely go down as one of the least memorable games of the Chiefs’ season. After some of the games this team has had recently, that’s not a bad thing. There wasn’t a ton flash about the performance — just a workmanlike game that was really never in doubt.
The excitement on Sunday came some 40 minutes after the game ended. What will perhaps be the most memorable regular season game of the entire NFL happened in Buffalo where the Vikings and Bills played a classic. After 4th and 18 conversions, goal line stands, and a goal line fumble, the two teams needed overtime to decide a winner.
The Vikings pulled off the upset with a field goal and Josh Allen interception to close the game.
What looked like an uphill battle to earn the one seed in the AFC has now turned to the Chiefs being favored to do so. The Bills lost their second straight to fall to 6-3. The Chiefs have taken care of business against two AFC South opponents to get to 7-2.
The Chiefs must beat the Bills’ record outright to secure the one seed over them. The margin for error is zero, but that’s now the same for the Bills as well. The pressure is on, and the race for the top spot for the remainder of the season will be exciting to watch.
One of the biggest tests for the remainder of the season is in LA on Sunday night. Game on.
Play of the Game
The Chiefs win over the Jacksonville Jaguars was an interesting blend of full on control, mental errors, and exciting new pieces making massive plays. After essentially dominating the entire first half, the Jaguars were able to build some momentum going into halftime after a missed extra point was followed by a Jaguars’ TD drive. The Jaguars then went on to cut the lead to 10 points - 20 to 10 - on their first second half possession but two newer Chiefs came up with massive plays on the next two possessions.
On the Chiefs ensuing drive they didn’t have any issue moving the ball down the field, but then they picked up this big play down the sideline to Kadarius Toney. Toney was already having a monster game scoring his NFL TD and having a long run earlier in the game but this play may have been the most important. Not only did it set the Chiefs’ up for a lead-extending touchdown, but it showcased a layer to their offense they haven’t had this year.
The Chiefs vertical options this season on the outside had mostly been Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson, who both require time and space to build up to their top speed. Toney, on the other hand, can explode downfield in the blink of an eye and threaten vertically a little more dynamically. On top of that, he is able to go up and attack the football in the air to secure the catch — something the Chiefs’ WRs are still getting more comfortable doing and gives some serious Tyreek Hill-esque vibes to the offense.
That’s right, I’m going to cheat here and include a second play for play of the game. The Jaguars take the next possession, begin driving, and reach midfield. When faced with a 3rd and 7 the Jaguars decide to try Chiefs’ rookie CB starting only his third game of the year, Trent McDuffie. Earlier in the game McDuffie gave up his first reception of the season on a diving catch on a Go route, so the Jaguars went back to that well.
This time, things didn’t go exactly as planned. Rather than landing a big play and getting into scoring range to keep the game close, McDuffie made an absolutely stunning play on the ball. Hand fighting with the WR up the sideline, he was able to pin the WR’s arm and then turn his own head to locate the ball so he could play it. McDuffie then made a diving pass deflection perfectly deflecting the ball out of the air right before it could get to the WR’s hands.
These two plays on back to back drives may not have given the Chiefs the lead — and they may have been able to win without them — but they had the most significance moving forward this season of any play that occurred in Sunday’s game. Plus, they were both down-right fun.
8 - Offensive Players with 25+ touches in 2022
The Kansas City Chiefs offense is ranked first in the league in points, yards, first downs, and drives ending in a score through 9 games this season. Patrick Mahomes is pacing all quarterbacks in the league in almost every relevant stat — and his betting odds for the NFL’s MVP award reflect it. Quite simply, the offense is humming at a level that not even the most optimistic of Chiefs’ fans could have predicted entering this offseason.
Part of the reason for the Chiefs’ offensive success has been Mahomes’ ability to spread the ball around to every receiver in the stable. This game featured more Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore than expected due to Mecole Hardman being inactive with an abdominal injury and Juju Smith-Schuster being knocked out of the game on a nasty hit that went unflagged. After Marquez Valdes-Scantling entered the injury tent, the Chiefs were down their starting three wide receivers (and a starting right tackle) — and it simply didn’t matter.
The Chiefs rattled off back-to-back touchdown drives of 75+ yards while dealing with injuries and attrition, spreading the ball around to multiple receivers at clutch moments. The Chiefs offense already has 8 players with 25 or more touches in 2022, which equals the number of 25+ touch players from the entirety of Kansas City’s 2021 season. Whether it be injuries, turnovers, or elite defenses, the Chiefs offense seems to have an answer somewhere on the roster — and Mahomes is maximizing them.
2 - Games with 25+ points allowed by the Chiefs defense
The Chiefs defense is currently ranked 19th in the league, allowing 22.9 points per game on the year. However, they’ve only allowed the opposition to score more than 24 points on two occasions this season — against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Las Vegas Raiders in weeks 3 and 4. The Buccaneers game was mostly garbage-time points (the Chiefs led 38-17 near the end of the third quarter), while the Raiders game was a back and forth affair. Outside of those two performances, the Chiefs have allowed 21, 24, 20, 24, 23, 17, and 17 points in the remaining games — good for a 20.9 point/game average.
These numbers are notable, because the Chiefs defense under Steve Spagnuolo has started notoriously slow. In 2021 the Chiefs defense allowed the opposition to score 25+ in six of their first nine games, and the 2019 squad allowed 25+ in five of their first nine. Only the 2020 squad has matched the current group’s two games allowed — and that was a much easier offensive opposition slate to start the year. Despite those slow starts, each and every one of those Spagnuolo defenses started to turn things around at nearly this exact point of the year, closing the season strong into the playoffs.
The Chiefs 22.9 points per game allowed would have flirted with the top 10 just two years ago under Spagnuolo and isn’t far off from 2021’s 8th ranked 21.5 points per game allowed. The fact that the Chiefs are 19th with that number speaks to the strength of defenses in the league this year. With that said, if the Chiefs defense is truly turning up the heat —like they tend to do every year about this time — Spagnuolo may be staring at his fourth straight top-ten defense in points allowed. The past two weeks may have been the start of that upswing.
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