The Kansas City Chiefs sought to continue their winning ways on Monday Night Football against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The crucial matchup pits Kansas City against one of the young, up-and-coming teams in the AFC on a prime-time national stage, creating the ideal atmosphere on the road to send a message to the league.
Patrick Mahomes was efficient to start the game, but ran into issues with Jacksonville’s defense that performed as advertised. A Travis Kelce touchdown reception opened the scoring, but aside from that and Mahomes’ run for a score, there was little movement until the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs’ defense held tough for the majority of the game, applying pressure on Trevor Lawrence and securing sacks (by Jaylen Watson, Charles Omenihu, and a shared sack from Leo Chenal and George Karlaftis) in the process. Kareem Hunt’s touchdown run evened the score following a clutch interception from Trent McDuffie. Lawrence’s late second scramble to the endzone clinched the devastating loss for Kansas City.
Check out how some of Kansas City’s stars fared in the Chiefs’ loss to Jacksonville:
Stock Up: Tyquan Thornton
Thornton continues to show the football world he’s a budding star in the wide receivers room with another standout performance on Monday night. The former second-round draft pick finished with four catches for 90 yards.
Stock Up: Trent McDuffie
An All-Pro performance from McDuffie, who broke up passes, collected two tackles, and had a game-changing fourth-quarter interception.
Stock Up: Kareem Hunt
The running game was put back on track with Hunt’s performance against a tough Jaguars defense. He finished the game with 49 yards rushing, averaging 7 yards a carry, and two touchdowns, one of which was the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Stock Down: Jack Cochrane
Multiple penalties on special teams from Cochrane were crucial in the game, but none bigger than the last holding call in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs attempted a comeback.