Week 5 Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Location: Arrowhead Stadium

Time: 1 PM/ET

Matchup to watch: Jaguars secondary vs. Tyreek Hill & Travis Kelce

OKAY, HERE WE GO. What can we say about this game? It’s the #1 offense vs. the #1 defense. A battle between arguably the two best teams in the AFC. This is a big game.

Kansas City’s top ranked offense is led by second year star QB Patrick Mahomes and RB Kareem Hunt. Besides Hunt, the Jaguars also need to stop big plays from Mahomes and his receiving weapons. TE Travis Kelce and WR Tyreek Hill must be stopped in order for the Jaguars to win this game. The secondary can’t allow any big plays from these two guys.

First, Hill, probably the fastest player in the league, can absolutely take the top off a defense. The pairing between him and Mahomes was a match made in heaven. Mahomes has the strength to sling it far, and Hill has the speed to catch up to it when no one else can. This can be hard even for an elite defense like Jacksonville’s. So what are they going to do to stop Hill? Can Jalen Ramsey actually keep up with Hill? It is funny because we never say that. But Hill is no ordinary receiver. I would expect a lot of double team coverage on him. Ramsey or Bouye will probably draw the coverage on Hill, with Barry Church or Tashaun Gipson providing safety help. Personally, I have been looking forward to this matchup since last season. This will be a good challenge for the Jaguars.

Second, Kelce, arguably the best tight end in the league, has a knack for making big plays and scoring touchdowns. Kelce has a good blend of strength and speed that makes him so good. Who in the secondary will stop him? You can probably guess, or not? The man who is in charge of stopping him is this week’s sleeper player to watch. Read below.

Sleeper player to watch: Tashaun Gipson

Back in Week 2, before the Jaguars faced the Patriots, many were thinking that Jalen Ramsey would be in charge of covering Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. However, as we all saw, that wasn’t always the case. Tashaun Gipson was the man covering Rob Gronkowski. Not Jalen Ramsey.

After the game, Gipson said:

“I have never wavered, because I feel I have never met a tight end I couldn’t cover. I have been doing this since last year and it’s a matchup I was excited about. He [Gronkowski] wasn’t excited about it as I was, because I am just Tashaun Gipson.”

This tells you all you need to know about the mentality that Gipson has coming into this game at Arrowhead against Travis Kelce. Many were surprised to see Gipson do so well against Gronkowski.

Don’t be surprised this time if he fares well once again. Gipson has proven and continues to prove that he is one of the best safeties in the league.

Prediction

Jaguars win relatively big with a score of 31-16. The Jaguars defense tops the Chiefs offense and forces Mahomes to make mistakes. Blake Bortles and company will do enough against a poor Chiefs defense to win the game.