The Jacksonville Jaguars offense was stuck in neutral Sunday in a 17-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.
There were opportunities for the Jaguars against the defending Super Bowl champs. Kansas City turned the ball over three times and Jacksonville made three trips into the red zone. The Jaguars settled for two field goals on the first two of those chances, though, and turned the ball over on downs with the third.
Buy Jaguars TicketsJaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence wasn’t very sharp and frequently overthrew his receivers. The third-year passer completed 22 of his 41 passes for 216 yards.
On the other side, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 29-of-41 passing with 305 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Here’s how it all went down in the Jaguars’ home opener loss:
Jaguars MVP of the game: Safeties Andre Cisco and Rayshawn Jenkins
As much as the Jaguars were stuck in the mud, the high-flying Chiefs offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard either. Kansas City connected on only two pass plays for more than 20 yards, punted four times, and turned the ball over three times.
The relatively sluggish day for Patrick Mahomes and co. was a credit to the Jaguars’ safety duo who both showed up big Sunday.
Cisco dropped an early interception, but made up for it with a second quarter pick. Jenkins was all over the place underneath, finishing with eight tackles.
Chiefs MVP of the game: DT Chris Jones
Patrick Mahomes racked up yardage and threw a couple touchdown passes, but it was the Chiefs defense that saved the day for Kansas City.
At the heart of it all was Chris Jones, the Chiefs’ star defensive tackle who held out through camp and missed Week 1. He finished with 1.5 sacks in his season debut and was a huge reason why Travis Etienne Jr. managed only 40 rushing yards on the day.
Jaguars play of the game: Andre Cisco's interception
.@JoshAllen41_ with the pressure, @andrecisco7 with the PICK!#KCvsJAX on CBS pic.twitter.com/pEk1roatu8
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 17, 2023
The Jaguars offense didn’t do the defense any favors.
Jacksonville kept Patrick Mahomes in check early and got three takeaways. One was Cisco’s second interception of Mahomes in his career, which was helped by Josh Allen applying pressure in the backfield.
It was over when ... Calvin Ridley bobbled a 4th down pass in the end zone
The Jaguars’ last chance at a game-tying touchdown came and went with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter. After rolling to his left, Trevor Lawrence looked for Ridley in the back of the end zone. The receiver tried to keep his feet in bounds, but the ball briefly bounced free.
While Ridley eventually hauled in the pass, it was after he fell out of the back of the end zone.
Stat that says it all: 0 touchdowns on 3 red zone trips
If you come at the king, you best not miss. And the Jaguars missed a lot.
Jacksonville blew three chances at getting into the end zone, failing to score any touchdowns on a trio of red zone trips. The Jaguars settled for field goals on the first two and turned the ball over on downs on their third trip in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
What's next?
The 1-1 Jaguars will stay in Jacksonville and host the Houston Texans in a Week 3 home game at EverBank Stadium.
The Texans, who selected C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson with the No. 2 and No. 3 overall draft picks in April, fell to 0-2 on the year with a 31-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
