Jaguars vs. Chiefs: What Can Jacksonville Learn From the Lions?
The Detroit Lions beating the Kansas City Chiefs to open the 2023 regular season was improbable. The Chiefs losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars and going 0-2 is even more improbable.
But the Lions showed what’s required to beat Kansas City: high-impact plays on defense and a balanced, clean offensive performance. Things will be different than Week 1 as Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce should enter the fray, but his presence doesn’t necessarily complicate or eliminate what the Jags need to be emulating from the Lions’ Week 1 performance.
Let’s start with the defense, specifically the Jacksonville secondary and how they can best limit Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.
The Lions played considerably more zone than the Jaguars did against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, but it was in no way a timid approach. Detroit was patient and aggressive, letting CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson be the ball-hawk he is (2 PDs) while not giving the game away and waiting for the Chiefs to make a mistake.
The obvious Jaguars comparison to Gardner-Johnson is Tyson Campbell, who is flying on confidence after another stellar performance against Indy (forced fumble, INT.) Darious Williams and Tre Herndon need to be solid, but Jacksonville will rely on Campbell to win his matchups, regardless of where he’s lined up.
But the players defending the Chiefs' No. 2 and No. 3 receivers need to bring the same energy: the Chiefs' WR core is not elite, not even close. Williams, Herndon and the Jaguars safeties will need to be confident, but not headstrong in how they guard their opposing WRs.
According to Pro Football Reference, Mahomes made seven throws that could be considered “poor.” Combine that with five total drops, and that’s a struggling offense.
However, it wasn’t due to an amazing pass rush that Mahomes was making those throws. He was only hurried once and was never sacked. What Detroit did do was consistently compress the pocket but not collapse it. Mahomes had to get rid of the ball, but he rarely had a chance to escape the pocket, so he instead forced throws to an underperforming WR core.
Considering how strong Josh Allen looked against a talented pair of Colts tackles, he and Travon Walker should be thinking about a similar approach. Rack up the pressures (Lions DE Aidan Hutchison had 7 against KC despite not getting a sack), but don’t give Mahomes a bail-out by overcommitting.
There are also lessons to be learned from Detroit’s offensive performance against the Chiefs. It was honestly a mediocre day at best for a talented Lions offense, but they found consistent success thanks to the wide receiver duo of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds.
On targets to his top two WRs, Lions QB Jared Goff completed a fine 10 of 16 passes, but each completion yielded an average of 15.1 yards. In an offense that was focused on running the ball (34 rushing attempts and 118 rushing yards,) the Lions’ top two options beating the KC corners was the primary source of big plays.
There will be chances for Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence to pick up big chunks downfield. Calvin Ridley ought to find plenty of space against the Chiefs corners, but the same should go for Zay Jones and Christian Kirk. At some point, something will have to give and Lawrence will be responsible for spotting those openings.
Much of this analysis has focused on what the Lions did well, but it’s worth noting that Detroit’s rushing attack could’ve been improved, namely by getting running back Jahmyr Gibbs more touches.
As he usually does, NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger highlighted one of Gibbs’ impressive moments and called for more touches. The lesson for Jacksonville? Don’t be afraid of going outside with Travis Etienne (and Tank Bigsby, depending on the circumstance.)
The Chiefs have a strong defensive line, similar to what the Jaguars saw last weekend against the Colts. Running into it is something you have to do, but the Lions looked most dangerous as a rushing offense when they were able to get Gibbs to bounce out.
Etienne and Bigsby both have the capability to take a small amount of space and turn it into a big play, but the Jaguars need to repeatedly abuse that. If it doesn’t work early, there’s no reason to eliminate the counters, stretches or designed plays to get the RBs the ball on the outside.
There are legitimate areas where the Jaguars are a mismatch for the Chiefs, primarily in the position player areas. Jacksonville has a better secondary and a better wide receiver group, but making that count is easier said than done.
The Jaguars will have to be at their best to win this one. KC is hungry, angry and should be closer to full-strength after missing Kelce and DE Chris Jones in Week 1. But the template has been set, and Jacksonville doesn’t have to be perfect to beat the Chiefs. They just need to play to their strengths.
