The Chiefs fail to get things going in exhibition loss against Jaguars

After some special team's woes and stalled drives, the Kansas City Chiefs took a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 26-13

While the four Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks threw for a combined 81 percent completion percentage on the night, the offense failed to get things going in any meaningful way, mustering just 13 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

It was third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun who put together the most sustained drive of the evening, which resulted in a one-yard touchdown rush for undrafted rookie fullback Carson Steele. Oladokun led the Chiefs in passing, going seven for 10 and 85 yards in their 26-13 loss to the Jaguars. 

“I thought there were some positive things that they can take from it in some cases,” head coach Andy Reid said. “They've got to learn, and we'll clean all that up and that's what it's for. That'll be good tape for them,”

One of the more interesting parts of watching these preseason games was always going to be how teams adapted to the new kickoff rules. After the Steele touchdown, which had the game tied at 10 with less than two minutes to go in the first half, Jacksonville quickly answered with a long touchdown pass to Devin Duvernay and converted a two-point attempt. The ensuing kickoff led to a special teams snafu that the Chiefs could not overcome the rest of the game. 

The Jaguars kicked the ball into the endzone, but the backspin of the football bounced the ball back at the one-yard line, inside the landing zone. Kick returner Mecole Hardman clearly thought that because the ball landed outside of the landing zone, it was a dead-ball for a touchback. He grabbed the ball at the one, took a step back and kneeled it in the endzone. Initially, the referees deemed it a touchback, before overruling the call and instead called it a safety, making the score 20-10 heading into halftime.

The first-team offense, led by Patrick Mahomes was one and done after moving the ball 43 yards in seven plays, setting up a Harrison Butker field goal to make it 3-0 to start the match. The drive was ultimately stalled out on a third and three in which Mahomes threw his only incompletion to wide receiver Rashee Rice. 

Mahomes wound up going three for four for 27 yards, finding three different receivers. One of those was a seven-yard completion to tight end Travis Kelce and another was a nine-yard pass to running back Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco had the highlight of the drive, breaking away for a 16-yard rush. 

The most disturbing part of the drive, and perhaps the entire game was the very first play from scrimmage on offense. Mahomes completed an 11-yard pass to newly acquired free agent wide receiver Marquise Brown, who got hit hard by Jacksonville cornerback Montaric Brown to force the former Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals receiver out of the game. After the game, Reid revealed it to be a dislocation of the sternoclavicular shoulder joint and was taken to the hospital for examination. He mentioned Brown would “miss some time.” and likened the injury to the one Tyreek Hill suffered in 2019, which kept him out for four games. 

The majority of the starting defense played a few more drives than the offense, allowing seven points to Trevor Lawrence and company. With linebacker Jack Cochrane filling in for the injured Nick Bolton, he came away with one of the Chiefs' two sacks on the evening, taking down Lawrence in the second drive of the game on a fourth and five for a turnover on downs. Fellow linebacker Drue Tranquill also tallied a tackle for loss.

Fourth-round safety out of Washington State, Jaden Hicks played a little bit longer than the rest of the starters after starting in the place of the injured veteran safety, Justin Reid. He ended his debut with four tackles, including a tackle for loss. 

2023 first-rounder, Felix Anudike-Uzomah was also active with three tackles and created some pressures from the defensive end position. Defensive end number four, Malik Herring registered a quarterback hit and a batted pass as well. 

Some other offensive standouts were Steele and wide receiver Nikko Remigio. Steele led the team in rushing with 29 yards on just four carries to go along with his touchdown. One piece of the unofficial depth chart that was interesting was defining Steele as a fullback, rather than a running back, which was the position he starred at in three years at Ball State and UCLA. If he can make his mark in the preseason matchups, he could force Reid to add the fullback position back to the 53-man roster. Reid made a point after the game to mention Hicks and Steele played well. 

Remigio did muff a punt after the Chiefs stopped the Jaguars coming out of the half, but luckily the ball bounced out of bounds. He also had what appeared to be a fumble after a 29-yard catch from Oladokun, which was then returned for a touchdown before Reid challenged the ruling on the field. The call was overturned, and they ruled Remigio down by contact. Aside from all of the chaos, no harm was done on any of the fumbles or potential fumbles and the second-year undrafted free agent led the team in receiving with three catches for 35 yards. He also returned a kick for 31 yards. 

Third-year undrafted wide receiver Justyn Ross made one of the better plays of the night when he high-pointed a ball, catching a 23-yard fade from Oladokun. He followed that up with another 14-yard gain before it was called back for an illegal lineman downfield penalty that was committed by rookie Hunter Nourzad. Training camp Ross hype seems to be living on for another year. Perhaps with the Brown injury, the odds of making the team grew. 

While the first team was only out there for one series, it was noteworthy that 2024 first-round wide receiver, Xavier Worthy did not record a stat. Reid did say the first play was designed for him but that the coverage dictated the play to the direction of Marquise Brown. 

Former second-round wide receiver Skyy Moore did not make a stat either, but he played longer into the first half. It was also telling that 2024 second-round left tackle Kinglsey Suamataia exited the game with the rest of the first team. Former professional rugby player, Louis Rees-Zammit made his NFL and football debut taking two carries and catching one pass.

Deneric Prince, who has gotten many reps with the first team in training camp, had a solid preseason debut. He registered 16 yards on four carries and caught two passes for 10 yards. He also returned a kick for 25 yards. Other offensive standouts included former Notre Dame quarterback, the Chiefs' fourth-stringer, Ian Book. He went eight for nine for 46 yards. Former second overall pick, Carson Wentz was four for four on the day for 26 yards. 

The Chiefs' new punter, Matt Araiza punted the ball four times, pinning two of them inside of the 20. Butker nailed his two field goals in his first game since becoming the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. Aside from Hardman, Remigio and Prince, the other player who got to return a kick was wide receiver Montrell Washington. Reid said the special teams will be a point of emphasis moving forward after allowing 73, 45, 25 and 23-yard returns on kickoff coverage. 

So, there were some good things and there were some things we need to work on in this game,” Reid said. “I mean the obvious is we'll clean up the Special Teams and what took place there. (We) put the defense in kind of a compromise their first series there by putting them into a short field.”

Next up the Chiefs have the Detroit Lions back in Kansas City next Saturday night. Be sure to follow @KCSportsNetwork on X to get live updates from training camp. It will be interesting to see how the depth chart is shaking up after their first live exhibition. The kickoff at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is at 3 p.m. CDT.