Jaguars vs. Chiefs: Halftime Thoughts

What did we see in the first half of Jaguars vs. Chiefs?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are entering halftime trailing the Kansas City Chiefs 7-6.

After a wild first-half that saw the two teams combine for four turnovers, here are our halftime takeaways. 

The defense has played admirably, but the offense has let them down 

The Jaguars' special teams coverage unit and defense are the only reason this game is close. The Jaguars' offense has simply not been good enough, first failing to score a touchdown after starting at the Chiefs' 17-yard line following a fumble and then fumbling on the next play after a Chiefs fumble. Then after Andre Cisco's second quarter interception, the Jaguars' offense stalled and turned it over with a fourth-down sack. 

The defense has done it's part and then some, limiting Patrick Mahomes and flustering him for much of the first-half. The coverage has been sound, the pass-rush has been impactful, and the tackling has been there. But the offense has, so far, let them down eve

Jaguars OL needs to be better in second half

The Jaguars' offense line started out slow, with a fair amount of pressure allowed on Trevor Lawrence on the first two drives of the game. One came on third down across the 50, with rookie right tackle Anton Harrison losing on a rep to Chris Jones, who lined up on the edge. Jones forced Trevor Lawrence to step up and into a sack, with the interior line not offering much in terms of pocket depth. 

The next drive, the Jaguars had a pass batted down on first-down and then an errant snap on second-down. The running game was a mess, too, with Travis Etienne averaging 1.6 yards per carry during the first quarter, gaining eight yards on five carries and finding little to zero running room. The offensive line has been a problem to start the 2023 season and the Jaguars will simply need to be much better up front. 

Kadarius Toney has been a problem

Despite Kadarius Toney having one of the worst individual performances in recent memory in Week 1, the Chiefs made him a key part of the game plan vs. the Jaguars. It paid off, too, with Toney catching three passes for 41 yards on the second drive of the game to flip field position. Toney has always been an issue for the Jaguars, catching nine passes for 93 yards in two games against them last season. That continued in Sunday's first half, too. 

With the Jaguars limiting Travis Kelce to one catch for seven yards, Toney needs to be their focus in the second-half. Letting Kelce beat you is one thing -- but letting Toney would be backbreaking and, frankly, close to inexcusable. If the Jaguars' defense is truly set to take a step, then they will need to learn how to limit role players, no matter how electric they are with the ball in their hands.

134 (19.62%) of Kadarius Toney's 683 career receiving yards have came against the Jaguars lmao

— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) September 17, 2023