Jaguars vs. Chiefs: What Jacksonville Can Learn From Their Last Trip to Kansas City
The last time the Jacksonville Jaguars left Arrowhead Stadium, their focus wasn't on pushing through the rest of the AFC to get to the Super Bowl.
After the 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 13, the Jaguars were far from where they are today. The loss dropped the Jaguars to 3-7 and was the last loss the Jaguars suffered before the 7-1 streak that brought them back to Kansas City in this weekend's AFC Divisional Round.
Since then, the Jaguars have grown up. Since then, they have become winners.
The Jaguars are one of the hottest teams in the NFL since their Week 10 loss to the Chiefs, a loss that came just before a much-needed bye week. In the months and games since, the Jaguars have been to hell and back in order to get another shot at the Chiefs.
“We have to execute better than we did in the first matchup. That’s one of the things going back and watching that game again. I just thought our execution was a little off," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday.
"Again, you’re playing a good football team, a well-coached team. Coach Spagnuolo (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) on defense, who I know. Those guys, again, it’s a scheme that teams that don’t do a lot of stuff schematically, but they do it well, and they’ve got great players over there."
While 17 points is far from a thrilling offensive output, the Jaguars know they left plenty of points on the board that day. The Jaguars missed two field goals and had one touchdown pass called back due to a penalty, 10 points that could have given them a chance to fight back into the road contest.
But despite forcing three turnovers, including a Patrick Mahomes interception, the Jaguars were unable to match Mahomes and Andy Reid. That failure comes down to a combination of smaller failures, failures that Pederson knows can't continue this weekend.
"We just have to execute better," Pederson said. "We’ve got to take care of the football. We can’t do what we did the other night and expect to win, not against this team. We’ll take a look at it and make some adjustments for the week.”
The Jaguars didn't turn it over once in their first matchup with the Chiefs. Despite this, and despite the Jaguars' three takeaways and a recovered onside kick on the opening kickoff, the Chiefs were still able to put up nearly 30 points on a then-struggling Jaguars' defense.
The Jaguars' defense has improved since then, but the Jaguars know they shouldn't expect to have another clean day with zero turnovers after turning the ball over five times vs. the Los Angeles Chargers in a 31-30 win in the Wild Card round
The Jaguars survived those turnovers, storming back from a 27-0 hole to win on a walk-off field goal. But Pederson and the Jaguars know from Week 10 that the Jaguars can't afford to put themselves in another position like last Saturday.
“You can’t spot anybody. When you get this far into the postseason now, everything matters. Every mistake is magnified, every turnover is magnified, every point you can get," Pederson said.
"You’re playing an explosive offense, you better score touchdowns. That goes without saying because you know they’re going to score, and you’ve just got to try to minimize as much as possible but maximize your opportunities.”
