Four Takeaways From the KC Chiefs' 17-9 Win Over the Jacksonville Jaguars

Four overarching observations from the Chiefs' second game of the 2023 NFL regular season.

In the last 12 months, the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars have met up multiple times for some competitive battles. On Sunday, that trend continued with a Week 2 game at TIAA Bank Field.

After a low-scoring first half that saw them head into the locker room with a slim 7-6 lead, Andy Reid's bunch came out of the break and doubled its scoring output in one drive. Both offenses struggled a bit from there on out, however, as the rest of the third frame was a scoreless overall effort. A Jacksonville field goal early in the fourth quarter applied some pressure and cut into Kansas City's advantage but in the end, the road team did enough to escape with a 17-9 win.

Here are four takeaways from Sunday's game.

Sep 17, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson talk before a game at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Spagnuolo's defense had another strong showing

A week ago, the Chiefs' defense was missing its best player and still managed to surrender just 14 points to a potent Detroit Lions offense. Expected to take some sort of step back this week with another tough test on the docket, Steve Spagnuolo's unit instead put together yet another stellar performance fueled by production from the pass rush, quality linebacker play and some solid reps in the secondary.

In the first half alone, Kansas City's defense allowed just 3.8 yards per play and forced the Jaguars to go 2-for-7 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth downs. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence logged just 101 yards on 20 pass attempts, and Jacksonville rushers averaged a measly 3.4 yards per carry. Some handsy tendencies from the cornerback and safety groups put the defense in some disadvantageous positions but even in the face of that, the defense answered the call. Allowing only nine points to this level of an offense in its own house is a terrific feat.

As expected, the returns of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones helped a ton

Had the Chiefs been able to have either Travis Kelce or Chris Jones on the field in the club's first game of the year, there's an argument to be made that the home team would've found a way to win. The final margin was that close, and a lot was (rightfully) made of Kelce's return from a bone bruise and Jones's return from his contract-related holdout. Both players were expected to help get the Chiefs over the hump in Week 2, which is exactly what they did.

As far as the team's star tight end was concerned, Kelce didn't have a very typical stat line. Despite being targeted nine times, the future Hall of Fame pass-catcher logged just four receptions for 26 yards. On that aforementioned opening drive of the second half, though, his touchdown was a massive boost. Jones, in his 2023 debut, recorded a sack and had multiple pressures over the course of the game. The Chiefs' second and third-best players made life easier for those around them in the process, contributing to the win in a big way. 

Kansas City needs to play smarter football moving forward

The term "smarter" can be relevant to multiple areas here. Offensively, Kansas City simply needs to do a better job of finding a balance between running and passing the ball. Four first-half rushing attempts — with only two of them being designed in nature — isn't going to cut it. The Chiefs found success in the second half when they committed to Isiah Pacheco, which could serve as a lesson. Running the ball takes some pressure off quarterback Patrick Mahomes and also keeps the opposing defense honest, and even a slightly more balanced diet could lead to things going over a bit smoother as the season goes on.

The other application of "smarter" has to do with penalties. Multiple elements of the offensive line were highlighted for the wrong reasons, as there were flags pertaining to formation alignment issues, holding and false starts. Kelce got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and an unnecessary roughness violation, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi was penalized for a neutral zone infraction and both L'Jarius Sneed and Justin Reid were too physical in the secondary. In future games, making this many mental mistakes can absolutely come back to haunt the Chiefs. 

The offensive tackles regressed significantly

Let's dive into the offensive tackle play more. In Week 1 against Detroit, the Chiefs' new bookend duo of Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor had some less-than-stellar moments but overall gave off a respectable first impression that set a positive tone. In Jacksonville on Sunday, both players took very serious steps back and looked overmatched and out of sync all afternoon long.

Smith got beat inside more than anyone on the Chiefs would like and also got flagged for holding. For the second week in a row, questions about his viability with a quarterback like Mahomes were raised stemming from his play. On the opposite side of the line, Taylor had one of the worst games of his career and did so against his former team. Referees called him out for infractions multiple times, prompting the high-dollar free agent signing to even appear to get benched at one point in the game before later returning. The Chiefs need better performances from their tackles, and they're lucky these struggles didn't lead to a change in the game's final outcome.