Monday Morning Quarterback: Jaguars 22, Chiefs 16

Monday Morning Quarterback: Jaguars 22, Chiefs 16
October 18th, 2004 @ 6:45 pm; by Raider Hater
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The Chiefs fell to 1-4 yesterday afternoon in another game that they had no business losing. The offense put together a great fourth quarter comeback and the defense played well for 58 minutes. But unfortunately, the game lasts 60 minutes.

Here are some of my thoughts after this heartbreaking defeat:

I really don’t understand the first half play calling. After wearing out the Ravens great defense with 46 rushes, the Chiefs ran the ball just five times in the first half against Jacksonville.

Johnnie Morton has really come on the last two games and is finally starting to look like the go-to receiver the Chiefs thought they were getting two year ago. Against Jacksonville Morton caught 7 passes for 111 yards.

Priest Holmes was his usual magnificent self. Holmes carried the ball 19 times for 75 yards and caught 4 passes for 47 yards and one touchdown. To bad the Chiefs didn’t use him a little more, especially in the first half.

After being shut out in the first half, Tony Gonzalez made some big receptions in the second half (6 rec. 81 yds. 1 TD) and his blocking freed the way for Holmes on his touchdown reception.

Trent Green showed a lot of guts in the face of a relentless pass rush. His touchdown pass to Holmes in the fourth quarter showed his determination and never-say-die attitude. Green finished the day with a 107.5 quarterback rating.

Good thing Green is so elusive, otherwise he would have been sacked ten times. As it was, the Jaguars got to him six times in a variety of ways. Some of the sacks were due to good coverage and some they just got through the Chiefs line.

As good as the offense looked at times and despite the big numbers put up on the offensive side of the ball, the offense didn’t do enought to win this game. They were given the ball in Jacksonville territory with just over three minutes left and the Jags had no time outs left. One first down would have won it, and they couldn’t get the job done.

That being said, I still like the chances of our offense picking up a 4th and 1 in that situation. Who would you trust with the game on the line; our defense, an unproven kicker, or Priest Holmes running behind the best offensive line in football?

Last year the Chiefs averaged over 30 points a game. If they did that this year the Chiefs would be 5-0.

The defense did not lose this game. They did a good job of stuffing the run and they hurried and harassed Leftwich, but when I can figure out when their blitzing and who’s going to blitz, I guarantee you the Jaguars can too.

Lional Dalton is really playing well, getting great penetration and forcing his blocker into the offensive backfield. He’s a big reason for the improvement in the Chiefs run defense.

Eric Warfield played really well, especially in run support, making some nice open field tackles on Fred Taylor. He’s truly turning into a shut down corner, because no one is throwing his way. But why would they when there’s such easy pickings on the other side of the field?

Which brings me to Dexter McCleon. He got abused all day long. He actually had pretty good coverage several times, but Byron Leftwich just dropped the ball in their perfectly. His lack of size was really evident and Leftwich took full advantage.

Kicker Lawrence Tynes had a bad game, but it happens with young kickers. His misses didn’t necessarily cost the Chiefs the game, but they certainly shifted the momentum.

The good news? The Chiefs don’t have to worry about finishing with the “cursed” 13-3 record again.

This season certainly hasn’t started like we all had hoped, but there’s still a long way to go. Right now, there’s not a team in the NFL that the Chiefs can’t beat, but there’s also not a team in the NFL that can’t beat them. So you might not want to watch the remainder of this season if you have a weak heart, because I see a lot of nerve racking, roller coaster games in the future.