Last Updated on October 20, 2010 8:31 pm by Anthony Rome
Jaguars vs. Chiefs Preview
KANSAS CITY – The Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t close out one of the top offensive teams in the NFL last week. Back home, the Chiefs’ improving defensive unit may face a far less potent attack.
Kansas City looks to open with three straight home wins for the first time since 2003 on Sunday when it faces a Jacksonville Jaguars team that could start any of four quarterbacks.
Trying to match the club’s best start in 12 seasons and avoid a second straight defeat, the Chiefs (3-2) were outscored 21-7 in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s 35-31 loss at Houston.
The Texans reached the end zone in each of their last four possessions and rolled up 185 of their 421 yards in the final 15 minutes.
The previous week, Kansas City allowed 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter of a 19-9 loss at Indianapolis.
“First of all, it shows us that we’re not quite where we need to be,” linebacker Andy Studebaker said. “We played a good team the last two weeks and we’ve played them well. Had them both down to the wire. (Last Sunday), probably had that one in control. The feeling of having one escape from you makes you realize we’re not where we need to be yet.”
The Chiefs, though, have made major improvements under first-year defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. Kansas City is ninth in the NFL in scoring defense (18.4 points) after giving up 26.5 points per game in 2009. The Chiefs are also yielding 48.0 fewer yards per game this season than in 2009.
“We’re not there yet. We’re in a process,” said second-year coach Todd Haley. “It takes time, but we continue to make positive strides.”
Facing the Jaguars (3-3) could help the Chiefs take more of those steps. Jacksonville, which is ranked 25th in the NFL in yards per game (301.2) and 23rd in points with 18.3, could be without starting quarterback David Garrard and backup Trent Edwards this week.
Garrard suffered a concussion in the second quarter of Monday night’s 30-3 loss to Tennessee, and Edwards injured his right thumb while making his first appearance for the team that claimed him off waivers from Buffalo three weeks ago.
“It’s a pretty bad sprain,” Edwards told the Jaguars’ official website on Wednesday. “We’ll reevaluate it on Friday and see where I stand.”
Although coach Jack Del Rio said one of the two may start against Kansas City, the team signed veterans Todd Bouman and Patrick Ramsey this week as insurance.
Bouman, 38, hasn’t started a game since 2005 with New Orleans, while Ramsey’s last start also came that season with Washington.
With the quarterback situation in flux, the Jaguars might rely more on running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who is 10th in the league with 463 rushing yards but was held to 57 on 17 carries in Monday’s loss.
While Jones-Drew will try to get the Jaguars’ ground game going against the Chiefs’ fifth-ranked rush defense, Kansas City’s league-best rushing attack (164.4 yards per game) has one of the NFL’s top backfield duos in Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones.
Charles (418 yards) and Jones (336) are one of two 300-yard rushing tandems.
The combination of quarterback Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe could also cause problems for the Jaguars’ 27th-ranked overall defense. Cassel was 20 of 29 for 201 yards and three TDs against Houston, while Bowe had season highs with six receptions, 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Cassel threw for 262 yards and two TDs and Bowe caught four passes for 74 yards in a 24-21 loss at Jacksonville on Nov. 8.
The Jaguars have won two straight against the Chiefs, including a 17-7 victory Oct. 7, 2007, in their last visit to Arrowhead Stadium.
By beating San Diego and San Francisco, Kansas City has already matched its total of home wins from the last two seasons combined. The Chiefs went 1-7 at home in both 2008 and 2009.
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