Chiefs v Jaguars: The Perfect Test

Chiefs v Jaguars: The Perfect Test – It’s one thing to see the roster turnover, it’s another to see that change translate on the field. Last year, the Kansas City Chiefs had one of the worst run defenses in the National Football League. While they were largely able to overcome it, thanks to the stellar play of Patrick Mahomes, it would come back to bite them, later in the season. For all of Mahomes’ heroics, he did have some struggles against great defenses, and none gave him more trouble than the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Red-and-Gold defense had been playing against a QB not named Blake Bortles, they could have easily lost that game. In Kansas City’s first action of the season, they’ll get the perfect test. Beat the league’s most talented defense, contain the Jaguars improved offense, and calm fan’s nerves.

The Run Defense

RB Leonard Fournette, QB Nick Foles, and the Run-pass Option (RPO) heavy offense of John DeFilippo, will stretch the Chiefs defense to the max. With a roster that’s not particularly loaded, at Wide Receiver, the Jags will lean on heavy personnel groupings, with multiple Tight Ends and physical Running Backs. The Chiefs Linebackers will have to be disciplined, sound tacklers, and solid in coverage, over the middle. Cornerbacks, and Safeties, will have to come up in run support and this group has a chance to prove that they learned from the past, and are ready to build their own future. If they fall back into old habits — missed tackles, blown assignments — it’s going to be a long season.

Patrick Mahomes Better?

Throughout the off-season analysts from afar have predicted a regression for Patrick Mahomes. Meanwhile, reporters in training camp have spoken glowingly, albeit in hushed tones, about how Mahomes looks even better this year. Both propositions seem almost equally impossible. With similar offensive weapons, and an elite coach in Andy Reid, it’s hard to feature much of a regression from Patrick Mahomes. On the flip-side, he was so incredible last year, expecting improvement seems greedy at best, and delusional at worst. Is it really fair to expect a young QB to have back-to-back history-making, record-breaking, seasons?

Whichever proves to be the case, he has an excellent opportunity to define the conversation against a Jags defense that handed him his worst Quarterback Rating, last year. His 2018 output, against this same defense was just 313 yards, 0 Touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He recently spoke about his performance against them last year:

“Last year, I feel like I just kind of missed the shots when they were there and I’d kind of try to force some things that didn’t work out in my favor.”

Recognizing problems is one thing, fixing them is another. If Mahomes can improve, statistically, against one of the deepest units, in the NFL, it’ll go a long way towards silencing the critics. If he doesn’t live up to the hype, regression talk will be dogging him for weeks. To be clear, it’s silly to draw much of a conclusion from the first game of the season. Good teams develop over the course of 16 games, and bad teams fall apart. However, starting off on the right foot certainly makes things easier.

Some Conclusions

The Jaguars will be jacked for this game. They were contenders, heading into the game against the Chiefs last year. They emerged broken, and never recovered. The addition of Nick Foles shows that they once again view themselves as contenders. This team is composed of physical bullies on a good day. In a grudge match, against a team they view as causing their collapse, you can bet they’ll be hyped from the first snap, and chippy to the last. This game won’t be easy, for the Chiefs, on either side of the ball, but it will be the perfect test of their progress. The rest of the season will show whether they are able to maintain, or improve upon, this week’s performance, but, for a week at least, this game will leave a distinctive taste in fan’s mouths. Make it a good one. Go Chiefs.

Ransom Hawthorne — ArrowheadOne

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