How an Unknown Jaguars Rookie Upstaged the Chiefs on MNF

The Jaguars have continually proven their next-man-up mentality, including in their win over the Chiefs, showcasing their impressive depth in the 2025 season.

Oct 6, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars needed a lot of things to go right for them in their Monday Night Football upset over the Kansas City Chiefs. They came into Week 5 as significant underdogs, despite holding home-field advantage. Between the bright lights of primetime, the Jaguars' unproven record as a franchise, and the Chiefs' recent domination, not many expected Trevor Lawrence and his squad to get the best of Patrick Mahomes and company.

Ultimately, Jacksonville came out on top, 31-28, moving to 4-1 on the 2025 NFL season. The team got multiple impressive performances along the way and needed every single one of them to pull out a one-score, last-minute victory over the reigning AFC champions.

T-Law was the hero, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with an improbable individual effort on a broken play. Travis Hunter Jr. was spectacular on both sides of the ball. Devin Lloyd gave the Jaguars the lead and the momentum late in the game with a 99-yard pick-six on Mahomes. There was one truly unexpected standout for Jacksonville on Monday night, though.

Jacksonville Jaguars center Jonah Monheim (60) runs on the field during an NFL scrimmage event at EverBank Stadium, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jonah Monheim steps up

Late into Monday Night Football, the Jacksonville Jaguars suffered a huge injury blow. In a game where they didn't have Travon Walker, saw second-overall pick Travis Hunter Jr. limp off to the sidelines, and lost Brenton Strange due to a hip issue, having center Robert Hainsey exit was less than ideal, to say the least.

The Jaguars signed Hainsey in the offseason, and he's been a huge part of the offensive line's vast improvements this year. His departure left a huge hole in the trenches, one that Kansas City Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones threatened to blow wide open en route to torturing Trevor Lawrence throughout the remainder of the night.

Shoutout to Jonah Monheim. The seventh-round rookie played well after Robert Hainsey left the game with a hamstring injury

Huge block vs Chris Jones on BT’s 33-yarder pic.twitter.com/LN1O7UILr7

— Gus Logue (@gus_logue) October 7, 2025

Thankfully, Jacksonville had rookie Jonah Monheim waiting in the flanks. The Jaguars selected him with the 221st pick in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He filled in admirably for Hainsey and made sure that his team didn't miss a beat on the way to a thrilling comeback victory. Left tackle Walker Little spoke to Jacksonville media about Monheim's performance:

“Jonah, through the first 5 weeks being a rookie, is already a great pro. He was ready to go, ready to step in. In a big game like that, Monday Night Football, it's not an easy situation for anybody, much alone a guy that it's your fifth game in the NFL. So, that was huge for us, though, especially at the end there, pressure-packed situation, two-minute drill to win the game against the Chiefs, and he did a great job and led us and communicated well. So, I can't say enough about Jonah.”

Follow us on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley to get all of our injury updates throughout the 2025 season.

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