'Missed opportunities': Jaguars suffer all-too-familiar fate against Chiefs, lose 27-17

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'Missed opportunities': Jaguars suffer all-too-familiar fate against Chiefs, lose 27-17

Demetrius Harvey, Florida Times-Union · The Florida Times-Union

Mon, Nov 14, 2022 ·

10 min read

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missed opportunities.

It's never a good thing when the players and coaches repeat the same thing over and over again ad nauseam following any given game.

As the clocks hit 0:00, though, it was far too easy to tell what the theme of the day would be for the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) after they fell 27-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs (7-2) in Week 10 of NFL action at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, a crowd that's perhaps the best in the league.

Too many mistakes. Too many missed opportunities.

Ultimately, that's what cost Jacksonville the game — a game in which the team stole four possessions from the Chiefs, three via turnovers and one on the opening kickoff, an onside kick opportunity that Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game was part of the plan from the get-go.

More game coverage:

Game recap: A look back at Jaguars vs. Chiefs
Jags-Chiefs takeaways: Jaguars can't slow down Mahomes, fall 27-17 to Kansas City Chiefs
'How is that not a penalty?': Twitter reacts to Andre Cisco's big hit on JuJu Smith-Schuster

"That's the game for me," Pederson said after the game on Sunday when asked about the missed opportunities.

"It comes down to missed opportunities and it's a learning opportunity for our football team. Create takeaways, and you get a great play on special teams — and really special teams kind of kept us in, I mean the return game was outstanding today and I think we even had a turnover on special teams. We've gotta score more, more points off of those takeaways."

The Jaguars scored just seven points off three takeaways Sunday.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid greets Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, right, after their NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 27-17. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

'Unable to capitalize': Jaguars' bright moments overshadowed by dull mistakes

The Jaguars' offense entered today's game with the understanding they'd have to play well in order to keep up with one of the best offenses in the league, the Kansas City Chiefs.

They were unable to do that, however, punting on five of the team's first six drives of the contest.

"We were unable to capitalize," said Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk following the game on Sunday. "You can't expect to come in and play a crappy first half and expect to come out here, even in the second half, try to walk away with a win.

"[The Chiefs are] a playoff team year in, year out. And for us to get to that level, we have to be able to be at our best and kind of limit the turnovers and missed opportunities."

Kirk finished the game with a team-high nine catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The Jaguars' first opportunity came with 11 seconds to go in the first half. The team obtained the football with 46 seconds remaining and was able to put together a five-play 61-yard touchdown drive.

"It's always encouraging and I feel like we've been able to do it all year," Kirk said about being able to move the ball on offense. "You know, we get into those gotta-have situations and put together a drive and capitalize to give ourselves a chance. We've been able to do it but, you know, we got to do it on a more consistent basis."

Consistency has been lost on the Jaguars all season, but especially when it came to the team's loss against the Chiefs. Kicker Riley Patterson entered the game having missed just two field goals all season (13 of 15) but missed two — including a 41-yard kick at the end of the first half — on Sunday.

"Just missed two kicks and obviously can't do it, can't give up points. These are the missed opportunities that we're talking about," Pederson said when asked if the kicks were a function of bad mechanics or otherwise.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson watches from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The missed opportunities created other opportunities for the Chiefs, too. A missed field goal allowed the Chiefs to start on their own 41-yard-line, ultimately scoring an 18-yard touchdown, for example. The momentum was sapped before it could even get going for Jacksonville's offense.

Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson said after the game that playing "complementary football" is something the team will have to do a better job at moving forward.

"The defense goes on the field, gets an interception, we [the offense] should be able to go, take that field position, and go right back down the field," said Robinson. "We just got to develop it. We got to do a better job of developing that. And I think ultimately, that's just the next step for this thing."

The Jaguars were able to score a touchdown off the heels of a Jaguars safety Andre Cisco interception, but it was ultimately too little, too late for the team. Jacksonville scored with 5:26 remaining in the game but was still down 27-17.

They never got the football back.

Run game, pass protection stunts offense

It wasn't just a lack of making the most out of the opportunities given to the Jaguars on offense, but also a lack of a rushing attack, that never quite got going when needed on Sunday.

After three-straight games with at least 100 rushing yards, Jaguars running back Travis Etienne rushed for just 45 yards on 11 carries. The team as a whole rushed just 16 times for 75 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) runs with the ball as Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams (23) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

"It's a little bit of them and obviously a little bit of us and we gotta pride ourselves a little bit more on running the ball and kind of controlling it a little bit," said Pederson.

"But [the Chiefs] did a nice job of just controlling the line of scrimmage at times. It's something we gotta clean up. Obviously, we get time now this week to look at some stuff and get ready for the back half of this year."

Despite seven drives in Kansas City territory, the Jaguars put up just 17 points. Two drives in KC territory ended in punts, two ended in missed field goals and three ended in scores.

"They were getting some pressure and doing some things up front [that] kind of limited us getting the run game going, getting Travis going," said Kirk. "Anytime that happens, it hurts us a little bit. You got to rely on the pass a little bit more." Ultimately, Kirk said, it goes back to the team "shooting ourselves in the foot."

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 29 of 40 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked five times, nearly half of the total number of sacks the team has given up thus far this season (12). He was hit six total times.

Jacksonville Jaguars guard Brandon Scherff is seen on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

When asked about the run game, Lawrence said that there were times in which the Chiefs seemed to have a beat on the Jaguars, where they were expected to go.

"Today I feel like they had a really good plan for stopping the run," Lawrence said in postgame. "It's obviously something that we do well and we still hit a few, but there'll be a lot of stuff to learn from on tape. I thought there were times when they kind of beat us to the spot just cause it felt like they had a good idea of where we were heading."

The Jaguars totaled 315 total net yards on Sunday, including 174 total net yards during the first half.

'He's one of the best': Jaguars struggle to get home against Mahomes

The Jaguars struggled to do much of anything against Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense on Sunday. After the game, Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins said that there were some blown coverages against the Chiefs on the touchdown tosses.

That appeared evident to anyone watching, especially on Mahomes' first three scores of the day.

One play went to Kadarius Toney , who was left all alone in the end zone for a six-yard strike, Marquez Valdes-Scantling , who also appeared to be by himself on an 18-yard snag and to tight end Noah Gray on a 13-yard score in which he was left alone after briefly being covered by outside linebacker Josh Allen before he fell off of him.

The Chiefs also scored with All-Pro TE Travis Kelce on a seven-yard pitch and catch TD. He also wasn't well covered on the play, with no one within reach of slowing him down on one of his easiest TD receptions this season.

Mahomes finished the game by completing 26 of 35 passes for 331 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He targeted 10 players, completing passes to nine. Mahomes got out of the pocket seven times for 39 yards, including a 19-yard run during the first half. The Jaguars, though, were able to limit him in the second half of the contest.

"Great player, does a great job outside the pocket and that's where a lot of the big plays come from and it's hard to defend, gotta play snap to whistle and he's probably one of the best in football at them," Pederson said about Mahomes' ability to escape pressure and make plays when it appears to be dead.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) escapes the grasp of Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Travon Walker (44) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

The Jaguars didn't just struggle to slow down Mahomes, though. The team wasn't able to get off the field on some drives due to a lack of push against the run. The Chiefs totaled 155 yards on the ground, including 82 yards on 16 carries for rookie running back Isiah Pacheco.

In the end, Jacksonville surrendered 486 total net yards, 26 first downs, allowing KC to convert 7 of 10 third downs and the team's fourth-down opportunity. That was the difference or at least one of them.

"I would say we just sometimes we didn't rush together. Some people got out their gaps at times. But in the second half we cleaned it up," Jaguars defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot said after the game about Mahomes' outing on the ground, noting that the team played more of a three-rush front during the second half.

"We got him running around a little bit, exactly what we wanted to do. Keep him in the pocket, keep him in a place where he still has to pass and we buttoned up in the second half."

Bye-bye for now: Jaguars get a week off

The Jaguars will be off for a week in Week 11 of NFL action, finally able to take a much-needed break as they get ready for the final seven games of the season. Through 10 weeks, the team has won just three games, unable to take advantage of some of the opportunities afforded to them.

Now, they get a chance to reset, gather their ultimate thoughts, and come back out on the other side with some renewed energy. The miscues haven't been due to a lack of effort, Pederson said, but it's something they'll need to correct for the final seven games of the year.

"We've played 10-straight weeks now and so the team needs a break at this time," said Pederson. "It's a good time for it to step away and I told them to regroup and really think about the first 10, but more importantly, I wanna think about the next back half of this or third of this season and really focus on that cause I still think, and I believe that our goals are still in front of us.

"We made it a little bit harder today, but I think if we continue to improve anything's possible moving forward."

The Jaguars will play next in Week 12 of NFL action against the Baltimore Ravens at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82 .

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars fail to rise to the challenge, fall 27-17 against Chiefs

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