Jaguars vs. Chiefs: 5 Pressing Questions on AFC Divisional Round Showdown

The Jacksonville Jaguars will face off against the AFC's best team this Saturday, with the Kansas City Chiefs acting as Goliath standing in the way of a potential run at the AFC Championship

To preview this week's big game, we spoke with Jordan Foote of Arrowhead Report to get their insight on the team the Jaguars are faced to do battle with.

1) What makes Patrick Mahomes such a dangerous playoff quarterback?

Jordan Foote: For some reason, Mahomes almost always steps up for the biggest challenges. He’s at his best for road matchups, must-win regular season games & aside from a poor second half in last year’s AFC Championship Game, he’s a terrific playoff performer. Kansas City fine-tunes its attack all season long and unleashes in the playoffs, which leads to Mahomes playing at a top level.

2) How has the Chiefs' defense adjusted in recent weeks?

Jordan Foote: Because of so many rookies and newcomers entering the fold, it took a while for the Chiefs’ defense to get going. Health played a role in things improving, as did Steve Spagnuolo making adjustments such as flipping L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie in the secondary and trusting his front four to get pressure by itself. That, combined with the players simply getting more comfortable over time, led to unit-wide progress.

3) Who is the top Jaguars player the Chiefs know they must stop?

Jordan Foote: This may be a cop-out answer, but it’s got to be Trevor Lawrence. While he struggled out of the gate in the Wild Card round, he showed in the second half of that game (and partially in the second half of Week 10’s game) that he can flip a switch and get the offense going at any time. If KC can replicate some of the pressure it got in the first matchup, it boasts a good shot of slowing Lawrence at least a bit.

4) How do the Chiefs see this Jaguars team entering this week?

Jordan Foote: In typical Andy Reid fashion, he referred to Doug Pederson as a Coach of the Year candidate this week. Patrick Mahomes said he thought back in Week 10 that the Jags were a good team and tipped his cap to them for winning last week. The Chiefs, despite having a ton of playoff success in the recent past AND winning against the Jags this year, aren’t taking Jacksonville lightly. They know this team can sneak up on them if they don’t execute.

5) Score prediction?

Jordan Foote: With as much respect to the Jaguars as possible, I’m going to take the Chiefs 34-24 in another 10-point win. Until proven otherwise, it’s hard to bet against a Reid-Mahomes duo not getting the job done in its first playoff game. Lawrence and Pederson make for an awesome tandem, but minor question marks on defense and not quite enough firepower yet on offense may end up sending Jacksonville home with plenty to look forward to for next season.