Jaguars vs Chiefs: Keys to Victory

11/5/2016

The outlook for the Jaguars Week 9 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs is bleak. How can the Jaguars find a way to win against long odds?

By Zach Weeks

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1.Nathaniel Hackett’s offense:
I tried to ask myself what would change when quarterback coach Nathaniel Hackett took over for Greg Olson as offensive coordinator. Hackett has stated publicly that he plans to restructure our struggling run game, but does that mean the Jaguars will finally commit to running the football? Not a great opponent to be “trying new things in the run game” against considering how notoriously sturdy the Chiefs defensive line is. The next thing I wondered was, Does Hackett’s supposedly “stronger” relationship with Blake Bortles mean that we will finally see some plays called that highlight his strengths as quarterback? That’s a tall order against The Chiefs who lead the league in interceptions. Kansas City could rush four and easily get consistent pressure on our Blake Bortles and he is going to need to be able to navigate through the pressure and make an accurate pass against a high quality secondary. Our offense is a big question mark halfway through the season and I’m sick of saying that.

2. Score 25 or more points and commit no turnovers:
Truthfully, this particular key to victory over the (5-2) Chiefs feels a lot like wishful thinking. The Jaguars, if they were coached by anyone other than Gus Bradley, probably wouldn’t be as worried about facing the Chiefs injury plagued offense. Sunday’s opponents are without quarterback Alex Smith, although they have a capable backup in Nick Foles. Kansas City will be without starting running back Sprencer Ware, but wield a powerful offensive line that is so good that the Chiefs can almost plug-and-play with running backs. If by some miracle our offense is moderately efficient, void of turnovers and can put up around 25 non-garbage-time points, we would definitely be in good shape due to the injuries that Kansas City is dealing with on offense.

3. Force turnovers and have a plan for Travis Kelce.
I hereby swear to the football gods, if I see Dan Skuta or Paul Posluszny matched up on Travis Kelce EVEN ONCE in this game, I will snap and stop watching football all together. I’ll simply just be full-time Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fan. Travis Kelce will be productive if our coaches don’t pay attention to whoever is matched up against this man. The most disappointing thing about Gus Bradley is that our head coach is a DEFENSIVE coach and still recklessly disregards matchup management. Dan Skuta covering Travis Benjamin in the San Diego game still haunts my dreams. If healthy, Myles Jack could drape Kelce all game with safety help from either Cyp or Gipson. Teams have paid special attention to our horrible coverage on linebackers all season and Kelce is the best tight end that we’ll see all year. I’m not expecting much production from the Kansas City wide-outs because Nick Foles has minimal practice hours logged with the Chiefs starting wide-outs and the chemistry will be shaky at best. This will be a perfect opportunity to force turnovers with so many back ups on the field for the Chiefs offense in key positions. We haven’t been a team that forces turnovers and the fact that we consistently turn the ball over ourselves completely take us out of games early.

Jaguars, please don’t embarrass us three weeks in a row. I know we’re kind of fighting right now on social media and you think we don’t like you, but please actually play hard this week.

Sincerely,
All Jaguars fans.

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