Jaguars Up-Down drill from KC Chiefs game: Defense up, offense down and more

Taking a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Jaguars’ 17-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at EverBank Stadium.

Up: Mike Caldwell’s defense

So many past disappointments over Jaguars’ losses have largely been laid at the feet of a suspect defense that allowed too many big plays and third-down conversions. Not this time.

The defense did a solid job of limiting the damage by tight end Travis Kelce (4 catches, 26 yards), though he did have a 9-yard touchdown and two other receptions wiped out by penalties.

It’s not often the Chiefs get held to 17 points, tied for the fifth-lowest total in QB Patrick Mahomes’ 96 career games (playoffs included) and second-fewest in a victory.

Limiting KC to four third-down conversions in 13 attempts set a tone for an impactful day.

Gene Frenette: Jaguars' offense 'kind of embarrassing' in humbling 17-9 home loss to Chiefs

Down: Sputtering offense

Between head coach Doug Pederson, offensive coordinator Press Taylor and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, there’s a lot of blame to go all around for a unit that never found the end zone.

Whenever the Jaguars reached the red zone, incompetence set in. They ran 10 plays after getting first downs at the KC 17, 14 and 1, but Lawrence went 0-for-7 passing and also got thrown for a 3-yard loss on a designed QB option keeper.

Pederson defended Taylor’s play-calling in his postgame news conference. Lack of execution by the players is probably the biggest reason for the offensive failures, but Pederson saying he thought Taylor “did a nice job today” was probably something better left unsaid given the lowly numbers.

Up: Takeaways taking off

For the first half of the 2022 season, the Jaguars struggled to come up with interceptions or fumble recoveries with any regularity. But things continue to trend in a positive direction as the Jaguars recovered two of four Chiefs fumbles and also got an interception from safety Andre Cisco.

That’s six takeaways in the Jaguars’ first two games and 17 in their last seven regular-season games.

Darious Williams diving to punch the ball loose with his right hand from Chiefs wide receiver Justin Watson before his left knee touched the ground, a fumble that Foye Oluokun recovered, was one of the most impressive defensive plays of the day.

Down: Trick-play danger

It’s always nice to see creativity in play-calling, an unpredictable wrinkle now and then. But the Jaguars asking Christian Kirk, the day’s top receiver with 11 catches for 110 yards, to throw a pass all the way across the field in traffic is probably not a good idea.

On second-and-10 from midfield, Kirk took a lateral from Lawrence, then had to loft the ball over several defenders to get it to Travis Etienne, who was swarmed for a 1-yard loss.

Speaking of second-guessing plays, going for it on fourth-and-5 in the second quarter from the KC 45 in what had been a defensive struggle to that point, not an offensive shootout, seemed a bit too bold by Pederson. Why risk giving the Chiefs great field position when punter Logan Cooke could pin them around or inside the 10-yard-line? Sure enough, Chris Jones sacks Lawrence for a 5-yard loss and KC getting the ball at midfield led to their first score and a 7-3 lead.

As for the Lawrence option keeper on first-and-goal at the 1, we've seen that work before, but the Chiefs' defense blew it up for a 3-yard loss that was part of a nightmarish red-zone day.

Up: Jawaan Taylor yellow

On a day where the Chiefs had 12 enforced penalties for 94 yards, nobody had a more difficult time avoiding the yellow flags than KC right tackle Jawaan Taylor, the former Jaguar who was given a four-year, $80 million contract.

Taylor was hit for five penalties –— two for holding, two for false starts and another for illegal formation by lining up two deep behind his center.

Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid pulled him out of the game for a few plays to allow Taylor to hit the reset button. He killed one Chiefs drive in the third quarter by picking up two holding penalties in three plays.

Needs Improvement: Jaguars report card from Chiefs game: Offense gets an F, other facets were OK

Down: Playing uphill

Among the more distressing trends the Jaguars have been unable to reverse in losing their last seven games to Reid’s Chiefs is constantly playing from behind.

When the Jaguars grabbed a 3-0 lead on a Brandon McManus field goal early in the second quarter, it was the first time they were ahead of KC since taking a brief 2-0 lead on a safety in the 2013 season opener, which they lost 28-2.

The Jaguars did hold that three-point lead for 12:32, but trailed the last 30 minutes, 27 seconds. In those seven games against Reid’s Chiefs, the Jaguars have never been tied or held a lead in the second half.

Down: Empty running game

Once again, the Jaguars struggled to get any kind of running attack going, but didn’t exactly stay committed to the ground game. There were only 14 designed runs that went for a respectable 63 yards, led by Travis Etienne (12 for 40 yards).

Trevor Lawrence had four scrambles for 29 yards, but on his only designed run from the KC 1, he was thrown for a 3-yard loss and the Jaguars never got in the end zone. In their first two games, the Jaguars have 53 carries for 179 yards for just a 3.5-yard average. Backup running backs and dependable short-yardage guys Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson had one lousy carry between them.

Up: K’Lavon Chaisson

The Jaguars’ 2020 first-round draft pick has come under a lot of criticism, and rightfully so, for having just three sacks in his first three seasons, the lowest total for any pass-rusher selected in the first round over the past decade.

But the fourth-year Jaguar from LSU did something none of his teammates have done in the past three meetings with the Chiefs: he sacked Patrick Mahomes.

Unfortunately, the joy of that 7-yard loss on the first play of a KC drive was short-lived as Mahomes then led his team on a 50-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-3 lead the Chiefs held the rest of the game.

Down: Offensive line

The Jaguars’ inability to run the ball effectively reflected poorly on the offensive line creating running lanes, but their pass protection was even more suspect.

Rookie right tackle Anton Harrison often had a bad matchup against the NFL’s best interior pass-rusher, Chris Jones, who had 1.5 sacks.

Jones’ penetration on another Lawrence drop back led to another sack for teammates George Karlaftis and Mike Danna.

The Chiefs had four sacks and seven quarterback hits after collecting just one and four, respectively, in a Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Up: Sun glare

The Jaguars were hoping the Florida heat in September would provide a bigger advantage than it turned out to be. However, there was one instance where the sun’s rays gifted three points to the Jaguars.

A high hanging punt by Logan Cooke forced KC punt returner Richie James to look up into the sun and the ball bounced off his right shoulder, with the Jaguars’ Tim Jones recovering the loose ball at the KC 17.

That led to a 32-yard Brandon McManus field goal for the Jaguars’ only lead at 3-0.

Down: Fourth down

The biggest difference in the outcome came down to the Jaguars going 0-for-2 on fourth down and the Chiefs converting both of their attempts on fourth down.

Jones sacked Lawrence on fourth-and-5 from the KC 45, and that failure led to the Chiefs taking over at midfield and driving for their first TD.

It was aided by a fourth-and-2 conversion in the second quarter when Clyde Edwards-Helaire eluded a tackle by safety Rayshawn Jenkins behind the line, then gained 10 yards.

KC also converted a fourth-and-1 from the Jacksonville 30 early in the fourth quarter and ended up kicking a field goal.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Judging the good, the bad and the ugly from Jaguars game against Chiefs