The Good, Bad and Ugly From Jaguars’ Loss to Chiefs

What were the highs and the lows of the Jaguars' loss to the Chiefs?

There is no arguing the fact that Week 2 was one of the worst offensive performances that the Jacksonville Jaguars have had under head coach Doug Pederson.

The 17-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs came on the same day that the Chiefs had a limited Travis Kelce, nearly 100 yards in penalties and multiple turnovers that gave the Jaguars instant scoring position. But no matter what the Jaguars tried on offense, nothing stuck. 

"Just because I think it was that struggle all day, just maybe not getting in rhythm or in-sync, even in the passing game, just being off. Timing of routes, depth of routes, the protection being a little off, helping out when the backs can help out on D-ends, being able to do all of that," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday. 

"It just felt like that was the struggle and then ultimately trying to make a play, you press just a little bit, coaches try to do the same thing. We try to make a play or try to make a call that’s going to get us a chunk play and really we all need to stick with the gameplan.”

So now that the film has been reviewed and the game combed over, what stood out the most during the loss? We go over the good, the bad and the ugly below. 

The Good

To start with, the Jaguars did as good of a job against Travis Kelce as they ever have. Yes, Kelce caught a touchdown on an off-script play in the red-zone, but that is nearly a given. On his other eight targets, he caught three passes for just 15 yards. He may not have been 100% healthy, but the Chiefs still fed him the ball considering no other player had more than five targets. 

Despite Kelce being on hand and being given a large volume of targets, the Jaguars held him mostly in check. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins specifically had two pass breakups on both of Kelce's targets against him in coverage. It may not have been the usual elite and dynamic Kelce, but it was still a stellar performance from the secondary against the All-World tight end.

Credit should also go to left tackle Walker Little. While the other four starters on the Jaguars' offensive line all gave up three pressures each, Little allowed zero pressures in 52 pass-blocking snaps. Little has turned into a legitimate anchor on the Jaguars' offense through the first two weeks of the season.

The Bad

It was a day to forget for Trevor Lawrence and his pass-catches. Lawrence had several misses from the pocket on Sunday, both between the 20s and in the red-zone. Lawrence was 2-of-12 for 71 yards on passes over 10 yards, going 1-for-6 between the numbers. Lawrence had open targets and missed them, let the pressure impact him, and ultimately just wasn't nearly as sharp as he was the week before. 

He wasn't alone, though. The pass-catchers had a rough go at it in their own right, dropping four passes and missing several toe-drag opportunities in the red-zone. Zay Jones was held without a catch for the first time in his Jaguars career and missed on two potential touchdowns, while Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley each shared two impactful drops. 

The Ugly

Why didn't the Jaguars do more to help Anton Harrison? The rookie right tackle was completely dominated by All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones, who the Chiefs flexed to defensive end to give him a chance to terrorize the rookie. Harrison allowed three pressures, two sacks and another near sack to Jones, but the Jaguars never helped their rookie tackle. The chips from tight ends and running backs were nonexistent, and Harrison and the offense paid the price.