No team in the league saw its opponents throw a greater share of its pass attempts to running backs, per Tru Media, and Mahomes connected with Jerick McKinnon on 6 of 8 passes for 56 yards. The Jags ranked 32nd in Football Outsiders' DVOA against throws to tight ends this season, for example, and Mahomes completed 6 of 7 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown to Travis Kelce, as well as 3 of 3 passes for 26 yards and a score for Noah Gray and Jody Fortson. It makes sense that he was able to light the Jaguars up, given the areas of relative weakness for Jacksonville's defense. He did that despite losing JuJu Smith-Schuster to a concussion and Andrew Wylie to an elbow injury in the first half. He added seven rushing attempts for 39 yards while taking zero sacks. When these two teams played several weeks ago, Patrick Mahomes torched the Jaguars secondary to the tune of 26 of 35 for 331 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. Kansas City is going to score putting the game on Lawrence's right shoulder, rather than counting on Etienne and the offensive line to control the ball all game, is Jacksonville's best chance of pulling off an upset. The Jags might be tempted to try to play conservative in a matchup where they are underdogs, but they really need to do the opposite. Lawrence may also have to work his checkdowns more often than he likes ( Travis Etienne has rarely been targeted in recent weeks) if Jones is dominating the game. That's where Jones comes in, and if the Jags can't keep him from crashing the pocket, it might be a long day for their offense. Lawrence's superpower is his ability to avoid sacks, but it's more difficult to do that when the pressure comes up the middle and directly into your lap. Getting the ball downfield necessitates time to throw, and the Jacksonville offensive line will have its hands full with Kansas City's front - particularly Chris Jones. On the perimeter, Zay Jones and Marvin Jones will see coverage from rookies Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, and they are somewhat easier to throw on than is Sneed, but Lawrence was at his best ripping it over the middle - especially when he was able to push the ball downfield while doing so. L'Jarius Sneed, and tight end Evan Engram vs. Throwing over the middle likely means working the matchups with slot man Christian Kirk (76% of snaps in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus) vs. It was a solid game, but not nearly enough to keep up with what Patrick Mahomes was doing on the other side of the ball. That means he'll also need to exceed the performance he put forth when these teams met back in Week 10, when he completed 29 of 40 passes, but for just 259 yards (6.5 per attempt) and two touchdowns. And the Jags really might need Lawrence to play at the level he reached in that second half, for the entire game, just to keep up with Kansas City's explosive offense. The Chiefs are not the Chargers, and they will not let an opponent survive that type of performance. Obviously, the former type of half absolutely cannot happen against Kansas City if the Jaguars want to stay in the game. After the break, he went 18 of 23 for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with zero picks. Prior to halftime against the Los Angeles Chargers, Lawrence was just 10 of 24 for 77 yards, one touchdown, and an incredible FOUR interceptions. Jacksonville is one of four NFL franchises that have never played in the Super Bowl, alongside the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and division rival Houston Texans.It's extremely hacky to imitate the opening of A Tale of Two Cities when introducing a point, but damn if last week wasn't the worst of halves followed by the best of halves for Trevor Lawrence. The Jaguars have been less successful since, with only four playoff appearances and two division titles since 2000. They are the youngest NFL expansion team to appear in a conference championship (by their second season in 1996, along with the Panthers) and clinch their conference's top seed (by their fifth season in 1999). The Jaguars saw early success, making the playoffs in each of their second through fifth seasons, a four-year span in which they won two division titles and appeared in two AFC Championship Games. The franchise is owned by Shahid Khan, who bought the team from its original majority owner Wayne Weaver in 2012. NFL: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2017, 2022įounded alongside the Carolina Panthers in 1995 as an expansion team, the Jaguars competed in the AFC Central until they were moved to the AFC South in 2002.
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