Chiefs 27, Jaguars 20: Observations on Divisional Round Loss

What did we see from the Jaguars in their AFC Divisional Round loss to the Chiefs?

The Jacksonville Jaguars' season ended in emotional and disappointing fashion in Saturday's 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, ending an odds-defying playoff run that saw the Jaguars go from worst to first in the AFC South.

“I just told them I was proud of them for the season we put together. Nobody expected us, the Jaguars, to be in this football game. From the beginning of the season to today," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the loss. 

"I just told them how proud I was of them for how they hung together all season long, and how they battled and fought through a ton of adversity. I am also proud of how they kept battling all season to get to this spot and really battling in this game to come down to an on-side kick to see what happens. I told them we are going to learn from this and grow from this. Our expectation is to be in these games every year. That is our expectation. This was a good first year for all of us.”

So, what did we see out of the Jaguars playoff loss? We break it down below.

Jaguars are not yet ready to go toe-to-toe with Mahomes

The Jaguars made incredible strides on both sides of the ball in 2022, but there is still quite a ways to go until they are able to go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of the NFL like Patrick Mahomes. Before Mahomes' ankle injury, he was consistently shredding the Jaguars' middle of field coverage and evading pressure with ease. And even after his injury, the Jaguars weren't able to do enough to force Mahomes to make mistakes, sans a couple of punts at the start of the second-half.

“That is what he does. He eludes the pressure. He can step up and he has great vision down the field. He finds those guys," Pederson said after the game. 'We talk about it all the time. If you get opportunities to tackle him or sack him, you have to try to do the best you can to get him on the ground. It is easier said than done.”

The Jaguars are building to be able to contend with teams like the Chiefs and Mahomes moving forward. But for as long as Mahomes is in the AFC, he is the bully on the block. Perhaps in another year, the Jaguars will be able to push Mahomes to the brink. But for today, the Jaguars are still too young to be able to take down the king. 

Why the somber locker room went beyond losing a playoff game

The Jaguars' locker room was, predictably, a somber one following the loss. Player after player poured their emotions into the season, with a number pushing their bodies to the edge to sacrifice and make it to this point in the season. There was a clear sense of pride in how far the team has come, but there was also a veil of indescribable pain. Not just because the Jaguars lost a pivotal game, ending their season and Super Bowl chances. But because Saturday was the last time this specific Jaguars team will be together.

"I told them boys, ‘you really changed my career in terms of how I look at NFL football.’ I got back to playing football for the boys, for my brothers, as a team in general," Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun said. "There is a camaraderie we had and to have it come up short like that, it hurts. We learned a lot. We are going to use that. I’m going into the offseason, and I am going to be better. I’m going to be better. Everybody, in turn, will be better. The team is going to be better. We learned a lot.”

The Jaguars are a young team that will return most of their core, but there are also a number of key players such as Evan Engram, Jawaan Taylor, Arden Key, and Dawuane Smoot. There are no guarantees in the NFL, and every team changes dramatically each offseason. And that is why the Jaguars' locker room was so emotional. Not because the game was lost, but because this meant the ride was officially over.

Where the Jaguars need to improve from here is clear

The Jaguars' season ended up ending because of a culmination of roster holes, all of which reared their ugly heads at the worst point of the season. For starters, the Jaguars' complete inability to cover tight ends all season long became a major sticking point, with Travis Kelce seeing 17 targets for 14 catches, 98 yards and two touchdowns. Until the Jaguars find an answer for opposing tight ends, the defense's ceiling will be limited. 

“Yeah, those option routes when they move the pocket, he always knows where to sit down, keep running or over routes," Oluokun said after the game. 

"We have to be more matchier or catch and tackle when he does catch it. We can’t let him catch and run. Maybe we learned a little bit how to go against them in big games and what their game plan is going to be. Maybe get a little more man on them, stick to them or in zones, maybe really match them up there going to the sticks.”

On top of the tight end issue, the Jaguars' inability to create consistent explosive passing plays showed up again and again. It wasn't until Lawrence's 37-yard pass to Zay Jones in the second half that the Jaguars had a passing play go over 15 yards, with the Jaguars mostly restricting themselves to the short passing game due to a lack of a vertical threat and an offensive line that could not hold up consistently. Moving forward, the Jaguars will have to add more speed and become better up front. 

"It was just playoff football," Marvin Jones said after the game. 

"There were times when we were going, and we did what we needed to do. And there were times when we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit and got behind the ball a little bit. That's playoff football.”

Jaguars have raised the bar

If there is one thing the Jaguars did in 2022, it was raising the standards and the bar for the organization from top to bottom. The Jaguars were widely expected to win six or seven games in 2022, something most would have taken with pride in August. But those days are gone thanks to the work of Pederson, his staff and the locker room, who have completely flipped the Jaguars' reputation upside down in the best way possible. 

"No one thought we should be here, and we just kept believing. It was really cool to be a part of, it was special. It’s just the beginning. This year was huge, obviously, for this organization, for our city and for our franchise moving forward," Lawrence said after the game. "It sets the bar of who we’re going to be and what we’re going to do moving forward. That’s the mindset, and we won’t settle for less than that. We got a taste of it, but there’s more left and we all feel that.”

The Jaguars can no longer simply sniff competitive football and expect for the people of Jacksonville to hit their knees and thank God for giving the city an NFL team. Instead, a standard has been set. The Jaguars are supposed to be a winning team moving forward. Anything else would be a disappointment.