The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was the team’s first double-digit loss of the 2022 season.
With the exception of a Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that saw the Jaguars jump out to a 14-0 lead early before quickly blowing that advantage, Jacksonville was ahead or even in the fourth quarter of every game through the first nine weeks.
The Chiefs didn’t need to come-from-behind against the Jaguars late or stave off a furious rally. Instead, Kansas City cruised out to a 20-0 lead while Jacksonville blew drives into Chiefs territory and opportunities for points.
Here are “five” studs and duds from the Jaguars’ Week 10 loss:
Stud - S Andre Cisco
Chiefs fans won’t like to hear it, but Cisco was great on Sunday.
The huge hits he laid on JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marques Valdez-Scantling on consecutive drives pissed off just about everyone in Arrowhead Stadium, including Chiefs players. But officials decided neither hit was a penalty and they instead counted as pass breakups on a pair of third downs (although one was negated by a defensive holding call).
Cisco finished his day by intercepting Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars still couldn’t keep Mahomes from recording 331 passing yards and four touchdowns, but Cisco did the most to get the Chiefs offense off the field.
Dud - The Jaguars pass rush
Mahomes was sacked 14 times in the five games leading up to Week 10. Then on Sunday, the Jaguars defensive line made the Chiefs offensive line look like a quintet of All-Pros.
Josh Allen couldn’t snap his streak of sackless games, which is now at six, and there wasn’t much pressure generated by Travon Walker, Arden Key, or Dawuane Smoot either.
Mahomes was hardly touched as he sat back and picked apart the Jaguars secondary.
Jacksonville could stand to add more talent to its pool of pass rushers, but using a pair of top 10 picks to land the duo of Allen and Walker should be yielding much, much more results.
Stud - WR Christian Kirk
Kirk’s first quarter drop down the field was costly and blew the Jaguars’ opportunity at an early lead against the Chiefs.
But for the rest of the game, Kirk was the best receiver on the field for either team. He finished with two touchdown grabs and his first 100-yard game with the Jaguars since Week 1.
While Kirk would be helped out by a deep threat who can stretch the field vertically and free up the middle field (like Calvin Ridley, perhaps), he’s still on pace for over 1,100 receiving yards and double-digit touchdown grabs.
The Jaguars paid a premium for Kirk and it’s tough to argue he’s not playing up to that lofty number so far this season.
Stud - QB Trevor Lawrence
The Jaguars’ second-year quarterback couldn’t out-duel Mahomes, but the 27-17 loss wasn’t on Lawrence.
Lawrence completed 72.5 percent of his passes and recorded 259 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 26 rushing yards.
Those total could’ve been higher if Kirk didn’t drop what should’ve been a huge gain and possibly a touchdown, or if Cam Robinson didn’t walk into the end zone and earn an ineligible man downfield penalty that wiped out an Evan Engram touchdown.
Ten games into his sophomore campaign, Lawrence has 13 touchdowns, six interceptions, and an 89.7 passer rating. That’s a big step up from the 71.9 rating he posted as a rookie.
Dud - The Jaguars offensive line
Through the first nine games, Lawrence was sacked only 12 times. On Sunday, he was sacked five times by a tenacious Chiefs pass rush that caused problems all game.
Brandon Scherff and Jawaan Taylor were bullied by Chris Jones and several Kansas City blitzes got home. Lawrence did relatively well to get rid of the ball when he could and scramble back to or across the line of scrimmage when possible, but there was only so much he could do.
Both Taylor and Cam Robinson picked up ineligible man downfield penalties that wiped out completions with the latter’s penalty negated a touchdown.
The Jaguars’ line has been among the best in the NFL for much of 2022, but that wasn’t the case Sunday.
