Jacksonville vs. Kansas City
JT: It’s game day. Mahomes is in town
From the looks of things, several Mahomeses? Mahomies? Mahomi? are in town. A sea of Red has invaded the First Coast. What’s going on? Do the Chiefs have any other notable players? I see a few Kelce jerseys walking around but 90% are of Mahomes. If we are predicting the outcome of the game based on the jerseys that the opponents are wearing then JAX only has to worry about two players. Lock down Mahomes and Kelce and one would think the Chiefs have nobody else to play the game. In a nut shell, I believe that might be partially true. Here are the JaguarsTalk’s keys to victory for their home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The biggest issue the Jags face today is of their own making. It is the patchwork that Jacksonville calls their O-Line. As the play of their offensive line goes, so will the play of one Trevor Lawrence, and thus the play of the Jaguars as a whole. Brandon Scherff got himself a boo boo against the Indianapolis Colts and that’s a big issue. He’s a pro-bowl guard and a big time leader, not just on the O-line, but on the entire O-fence. Scherff at 85-90% is better than no Scherff at all, I guess. Luke Fortner also seemed to catch the injury bug like he’s Calvin Ridley on an out route. He’s questionable, which means he will suit up. But folks, Cooper Hodges is on the IR and Cam Robinson went all Sammy Sosa/Mark McGuire on us resulting in a four game suspension. Thank god for Tyler Shatley playing Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and swinging all game long. Shatley is reminding me of the most awesomest movie of all time, Swingers. Why, because Swingers has a ton of, well, swing music in it. Plus it’s just plain awesome. Vince Vaughn in his absolute prime folks. Go watch it, right the hell now. It’s money baby. Anyway, Shatley is a swing man on steroids right now, going wherever he is needed. Plug and play Tyler. Our offensive line needs to really step up this game, more than any other, because…Chris Jones. Yep, he is in Jacksonville. In order of scary defensive lineman the list goes, Bosa - the San Francisco treat, and then Chris Jones. Most important key to success for the Jags this week is a cohesive offensive line. The more time Trevor gets the better for JAX.
The second key to a Jaguars victory this week is containment. Defensive containment is huge against the KC Chiefs. Do not let Mahomes on a scramble, or Pacheco on a hand-off, gain the edge. If last game showed us anything, Josh Allen and Travon Walker have stepped it up. Allen leads the NFL in sacks with three and Travon grabbed a big one as well. Just funnel everything down the middle for Oluokun to clean up. That is the biggest key for the defense. Travis Kelce returns and he is pretty much unstoppable. He had 46 catches in the playoff game against the Jags last year and still Jacksonville was in the hunt until the end. He looks as though he is 100% healed based on the fact that he was caught bouncing around in practice like Tigger the tiger from Winnie The Poo. Maybe he is just giddy from the excitement of his new relationship with Tay Tay. Let’s hope love is in the air and Kelce’s new Starbucks lover acts as a distraction. That said, I think Mahomes and Kelce are going to get theirs. So as long as the defense focuses on containment and funneling down the middle to our bigs boys + Oluokun, the game will be within reach for JAX.
The third key to a Jaguars victory against Andy Reid and the Chiefs at Everbank today is Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s a cop out answer except that it’s not. Because I’m gonna get specific. The key is T-Laws attitude. Sometimes it takes a little while for Trevor to wake up. A little while for Trevor to get in the zone. Sometimes it takes an occurrence or happen stance to wake the Jaguar within. We need the Trevor Lawrence that tucked the ball and ran down the sideline in Arrowhead stadium last year. The Lawrence who lowered his shoulder and demolished a KC would be tackler. He exhibited pure animalistic will on that run. He was not going to be stopped. He would get that first down and even more, he would send the Chiefs a message. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who knows this team deny that the Jags were on their way to winning that game last year. If not for the unfortunate turnover mishap in the red zone. THAT is the Trevor Lawrence we need to see all game long. THAT is the third key to victory. Awaken the sleeping dragon inside T-Law and let him eat all game long.
If the Jaguars offensive line can become a Band of Brothers and work together like Capt. Winters and his motley crew of airborne fighters then JAX has a shot. If Josh Allen and Travon Walker can keep containment and funnel everything inside to Oluokun and our front three, then JAX has a shot. Equally as important, if Lawrence can bring the “I play better when you hit me 52. I like it!” attitude from the very first whistle, then JAX has a very good shot. And, I will throw in a bonus key to victory for Jacksonville today. I foresee #33 Devin Lloyd partaking in quite a bit of mirroring of Patrick Mahomes this afternoon. Stick to that guy like glue and the Jaguars chances improve greatly. We need defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell to call his best game yet (I guess that makes two bonus keys to victory). Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.