AFC Game Of The Week 

Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars 

Chiefs: Last week was a tough way to open up a season. I’m just going to get this out of the way right now and I will be as professional as I possibly can be. If you think Patrick Mahomes is the reason they lost that game, apparently, you just started watching football last year or maybe even that night. I can’t begin to tell you how many posts I saw after that game about the reigning MVP costing them a game. What changed everything was the pick six that bounced off Kadarius Toney’s hands and into the hands of Brian Branch. After seeing them lose to the Lions, two obvious things stood out. The first was how much of an impact Travis Kelce has on this offense, especially on third down and in the red zone. One of my concerns about the Chiefs coming into the year was not having a consistent second pass catching option alongside 87. The other of course was the absence of Chris Jones and you saw just how important he is to this Kansas City offense. Throughout the game last Thursday night, the Lions ran the ball up the middle on the Chiefs defense and the Chiefs struggled to apply pressure on Jared Goff. As I like to say, his jersey was way too cleaning for my liking at the end of the game. The only time they could apply pressure was when they blitzed and we all know you can’t always blitz to get after the passer. Last Thursday was just the fourth time they’ve lost in the month of September with Mahomes as their starting Quarterback. On Sunday, they make a trip to Florida to face a young and upstarting football team.

Jaguars: Many people are high on them and for obvious reasons. This is by far the best team in the AFC South and I don’t think it’s close at this point. I know a few people who are predicting that Trevor Lawrence will win the MVP and I can’t fault them for that prediction. As everyone else is also predicting, this is the favorite to win the AFC South and they surprised us all coming out of left field last year to take the division and what about the thrilling comeback win in the AFC Wild Card round against the Los Angeles Chargers? Watching them closely in week one against the Indianapolis Colts, my biggest takeaway with the Jacksonville Jaguars was their offense and the addition of Calvin Ridley. Now, we saw what they did without Calvin last year. Just paint the picture and imagine what he can do this year for a Jacksonville offense looking to attack defenses throughout the air. Trevor and Calvin had tremendous chemistry on Sunday in Indy and he made some impressive catches. I didn’t like what I saw from their secondary against Anthony Richardson and the Colts passing attack. I won’t necessarily put them in the upper echelon in the AFC, but they will be a team to watch this year. Doug Pederson was a nice hire of them and knowing him, he will have his men ready to play. They have their home opener on Sunday against a team who had them number last year in the regular season and the playoffs.

Chiefs X-Factor: George Karlaftis- It’s not uncommon for edge rushers to struggle in their first season. Also, George didn’t see much of the football field last year. He could burst on the scene this season. When he did get playing time, he made the most of it. George was applying pressure, getting his hands on many passes and he was no slouch in filling gaps to slow down the running game. With Chris coming back, expect George to see his share of single looks.

Jaguars X-Factor: Travis Etienne- I loved this kid at Clemson and still follow him to this day! Travis reminds me so much of Alvin Kamara with his running style and the ability to make people miss in the open field and it’s also how he impacts the game as both a runner and a pass catcher. He and Trevor know how to mesh with each other because of their college days together with the Clemson Tigers. I’m taking a page out of the Lions book and running that ball.

Three Things I’m Watching 

1. Reinforcements On The Way?: Travis Kelce has been practicing all week and Andy Reid said he looks good. He’s going to make his season debut in week two. Chris Jones ended his contractual hold out and returned to the team this week. Outside of the Quarterback, these are the Chiefs most important players. You’ll see the difference having them both on the field potentially compared to not having them which we saw in week one against the Lions.

2. Payback?: As I mentioned up top, the Chiefs beat the Jaguars twice last season. Once in the regular season and once in the postseason. The Jags know if they want to get places in this conference, these are the games they must win. I know for a fact they will enter this game with revenge on the mind. This is the same team that sent you on vacation in January. I will say this: They kept things close in the playoff game back in January.

3. Teacher & Pupil: Doug coached under Andy Reid for years. Doug has stated he wouldn’t be a Head Coach if it’s not for Andy Reid. In three meetings between the two Head Coaches, Andy has been victorious. Is this finally the season where the pupil breaks through over the teacher? Doug even said in his press conference that of course, he has all the respect in the world for Andy, but it would be nice to win a football game against him.

Final Analysis: We have a playoff rematch here. The Chiefs had several miscues last Thursday against the Lions which included dropping passes and missing tackles while the Jaguars handled their business on the road en route to a week one victory over a divisional rival. Jacksonville did its part in limiting Anthony Richardson for the most part. Now, look who they have to face. The reigning MVP and best Quarterback in the league. I’m worried about this Kansas City secondary because these Jags receivers will present a challenge. They struggled to contain the Lions weapons and these Jacksonville receivers are much better. Jacksonville must get that running game going early on and neutralize Jones. For the Chiefs, they’re looking to silence the naysayers. I expect the offense to come out firing on all cylinders after a dud-like performance in week one. I don’t see the Chiefs losing back to back games and they’ll get a win on the road Sunday.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Jaguars 24