Chiefs OC Matt Nagy is walking a fine line preparing his unit for what the Jaguars do best on defense
The Jaguars have quietly had one of the best defenses in the NFL this season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars may have the toughest defense that the Kansas City Chiefs will face so far in the young 2025 season.
Not a lot of people would have predicted that just one month ago. However, Jacksonville leads the NFL in forced turnovers with 13, ranking first in interceptions with nine, and fourth in fumble recoveries with four.
Jaguars’ defense is well coached
While speaking to the media on Friday, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy discussed how impressed he is with Jacksonville’s defense at every level.
“The word when I first started watching them on Monday morning was opportunistic,” Nagy said. “On the back end, there’s a lot of tipped footballs. Sometimes those tipped footballs are at the line of scrimmage with defensive linemen, and some of these that you’re seeing are in the intermediate levels.
“I think what’s impressive is these DBs, safeties, corners, even linebackers, they adjust well to the ball, and instead of dropping the interception, they make the play. They do a good job in zone, reading the quarterback’s eyes in the middle of the field. The more you see that, you see the taking the ball away, and their strip tackles. When you’re doing that and making that happen, you’re being taught that. It’s a credit to their coaching staff, and then it’s a credit to the players executing.”
Chiefs’ offense must balance being aggressive and cautious against Jacksonville
Kansas City’s offense has been very aggressive this season, going for it on fourth down the second-most times in the NFL (10), and converting the most (9). Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been consistently taking shots downfield, even when the offense was without wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
Nagy and Mahomes are now faced with balancing pushing the ball downfield, but also taking what the Jaguars’ defense will give them. The Chiefs’ offense has also thrived in the quick-passing game, as Mahomes is averaging the second-fastest time to throw among all QBs this season at 2.53 seconds.
The Jaguars are a heavy zone coverage defense, so watch for pass catchers such as Travis Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Hollywood Brown to find the soft spots. If they’re successful, that will open things up for guys like Worthy and Tyquan Thornton down the field.
Kansas City Chiefs News
Keeping the offense hot and 4 more things to watch for during Chiefs’ Week 5 MNF matchup against Jaguars
We identify five things to watch for during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 5 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football.
