StcChief
10-04-2007, 06:54 AM
Scout's analysis
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Why To Watch
The Jaguars are coming off a bye week and are anxious to find out if they can continue the trend of winning away from home after beating the Broncos on the road in Week 3. They have not been clicking on all cylinders and hope that they have been able to fine-tune their offense over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, Kansas City appears to be rebounding after a poor start by winning their last two games against Minnesota and at San Diego . This will be only the second home game for the Chiefs and they are very hard to beat at Arrowhead Stadium.
When the Jaguars have the ball
Rushing: The Jaguars thrive off of their running game and need to be able to move the ball on the ground in order to have their passing game function. After having the third-ranked rush offense last year, the Jaguars have slipped to No. 13 after Week 4, averaging almost 125 yards per game. The Jags will want to feed both RBs Fred Taylor and backup Maurice Jones-Drew the ball often against the Chiefs. Jones-Drew, especially, has not been making the explosive plays that the Jaguars were famous for last year. And he is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, which is well-below his 5.7 yards per carry average from last year.
Against the Chiefs, who own the 19th ranked run defense you can expect the Jaguars to keep the ball on the ground and make Kansas City prove that they can stop them. The Chiefs are giving up an average of 118 yards per game (4.2 yards per carry) and gave up 132 yards to LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego , on Sunday. They have two stout run stoppers in DTs Ron Edwards and Alfonso Boone, but defensive ends Tamba Hali and Jared Allen are built more for rushing the passer than stopping the run. Plus, their linebackers are more athletic than powerful run stuffers who can take on blockers, shed and make the play in the hole.
Passing: If the Jaguars are able to establish the ground game their play-action passing attack can be effective, if not threatening. With just the 22nd ranked passing attack the Jaguars are averaging 196 yards per game. QB David Garrard is the seventh ranked QB in the league with a 103.8 rating. His 10 touchdown throws compared to zero interceptions is very impressive. What head coach Jack Del Rio wants above all else is to have his quarterback avoid turnovers and Garrard appears to be fitting the bill very nicely.
WR Dennis Northcutt, who was signed away from Cleveland , is leading the team in receptions with 11 and he he has an average of 15.4 yards per catch. He has provided a much-needed level of consistency that has been missing from their wide receivers. Other than Northcutt, Garrard appears to be looking to his tight ends and running backs in their short passing game. Kansas City owns the fifth ranked pass-defense, giving up just under 168 yards per game while coming up with five interceptions (4th best) and 11 sacks (9th best). If Jacksonville is able to find some success with their short passing game it will make it difficult for the Kansas City pass rush to get into stride and pressure the QB into interceptions.
When the Chiefs have the ball
Rushing: The Chiefs, who owned one of the most potent ground games in the NFL last year, are now ranked 30th in the NFL averaging under 80 yards per game. RB Larry Johnson, who averaged 4.3 yards per carry while gaining 1789 yards in 2006, is averaging a mere 3.5 yards per carry while totaling 263 yards after four games. There is definitely something missing in their running game. however, Johnson did manage to show some life, this past Sunday, as he gained 123 yards on 25 carries against the San Diego Chargers for an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Much like the Jaguars, head coach Herm Edwards wants to run the ball effectively, using the pass to keep the defense honest and will pound the ball as often as he can. Jacksonville 's run defense has been one of the stingiest in the league over the past few years, but has slipped to the bottom third of the league this year, giving up 137 yards per game. They showed signs of turning it around before this past week's bye holding Travis Henry and the Denver Broncos to a mere 47 yards on the ground (2.6 yards per carry). Defensive tackles John Henderson and Marcus Stroud can be extremely difficult to run against and do a great job of protecting their linebackers who are free to run to the ball and make plays.
Passing: Chiefs' QB Damon Huard is currently the 21st ranked passer in the league with a QB rating of 79.6 and the Chiefs are ranked 19th in the league with 205 yards per game through the air. Like so many teams, the Chiefs need to establish some kind of effective running game to make their play-action passing attack effective. Tight end Tony Gonzalez is the Chiefs' leading receiver and offensive coordinator Mike Solari does a great job of moving Gonzalez around in the formation, lining him up as a TE, as an H-Back or even out wide, like a WR.
WR Dwayne Bowe, who was their first-round pick in this year's draft, has been everything they expected him to be averaging over 16 yards per catch on 18 receptions. Huard does a good job of playing within the system and distributing the ball, but does not have a real strong arm. Look for the Chiefs to try and attack the middle of the field, looking for Gonzalez and Johnson as the Jaguars own one of the better sets of corners in the league. CBs Brian Williams and Rashean Mathis do a great job of containing opponent's wide receivers while the Jaguars' front-four are able to pressure the pocket. They currently own the third-ranked pass defense giving up just over 150.7 yards per game.
Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt is averaging 46.6 yards per punt, but his net average is just 33.3 indicating that the Chiefs' coverage is not up to par. Jacksonville's punter Adam Podlesh, their fourth-round draft pick this year, is averaging 38.6 yards per punt with a net of 34.6. Since taking over for Justin Medlock, PK Dave Rayner has been very effective while making seven out of nine on field goals and appears to have enough of a leg to kick off effectively.
With Northcutt handling the punt returns for Jacksonville and Eddie Drummond for Kansas City , it appears to be a wash. Jones-Drew, who averages 32 yards per kickoff return for Jacksonville , as opposed to Drummond's 21.5 per return, gives the Jaguars the advantage.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Why To Watch
The Jaguars are coming off a bye week and are anxious to find out if they can continue the trend of winning away from home after beating the Broncos on the road in Week 3. They have not been clicking on all cylinders and hope that they have been able to fine-tune their offense over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, Kansas City appears to be rebounding after a poor start by winning their last two games against Minnesota and at San Diego . This will be only the second home game for the Chiefs and they are very hard to beat at Arrowhead Stadium.
When the Jaguars have the ball
Rushing: The Jaguars thrive off of their running game and need to be able to move the ball on the ground in order to have their passing game function. After having the third-ranked rush offense last year, the Jaguars have slipped to No. 13 after Week 4, averaging almost 125 yards per game. The Jags will want to feed both RBs Fred Taylor and backup Maurice Jones-Drew the ball often against the Chiefs. Jones-Drew, especially, has not been making the explosive plays that the Jaguars were famous for last year. And he is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, which is well-below his 5.7 yards per carry average from last year.
Against the Chiefs, who own the 19th ranked run defense you can expect the Jaguars to keep the ball on the ground and make Kansas City prove that they can stop them. The Chiefs are giving up an average of 118 yards per game (4.2 yards per carry) and gave up 132 yards to LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego , on Sunday. They have two stout run stoppers in DTs Ron Edwards and Alfonso Boone, but defensive ends Tamba Hali and Jared Allen are built more for rushing the passer than stopping the run. Plus, their linebackers are more athletic than powerful run stuffers who can take on blockers, shed and make the play in the hole.
Passing: If the Jaguars are able to establish the ground game their play-action passing attack can be effective, if not threatening. With just the 22nd ranked passing attack the Jaguars are averaging 196 yards per game. QB David Garrard is the seventh ranked QB in the league with a 103.8 rating. His 10 touchdown throws compared to zero interceptions is very impressive. What head coach Jack Del Rio wants above all else is to have his quarterback avoid turnovers and Garrard appears to be fitting the bill very nicely.
WR Dennis Northcutt, who was signed away from Cleveland , is leading the team in receptions with 11 and he he has an average of 15.4 yards per catch. He has provided a much-needed level of consistency that has been missing from their wide receivers. Other than Northcutt, Garrard appears to be looking to his tight ends and running backs in their short passing game. Kansas City owns the fifth ranked pass-defense, giving up just under 168 yards per game while coming up with five interceptions (4th best) and 11 sacks (9th best). If Jacksonville is able to find some success with their short passing game it will make it difficult for the Kansas City pass rush to get into stride and pressure the QB into interceptions.
When the Chiefs have the ball
Rushing: The Chiefs, who owned one of the most potent ground games in the NFL last year, are now ranked 30th in the NFL averaging under 80 yards per game. RB Larry Johnson, who averaged 4.3 yards per carry while gaining 1789 yards in 2006, is averaging a mere 3.5 yards per carry while totaling 263 yards after four games. There is definitely something missing in their running game. however, Johnson did manage to show some life, this past Sunday, as he gained 123 yards on 25 carries against the San Diego Chargers for an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Much like the Jaguars, head coach Herm Edwards wants to run the ball effectively, using the pass to keep the defense honest and will pound the ball as often as he can. Jacksonville 's run defense has been one of the stingiest in the league over the past few years, but has slipped to the bottom third of the league this year, giving up 137 yards per game. They showed signs of turning it around before this past week's bye holding Travis Henry and the Denver Broncos to a mere 47 yards on the ground (2.6 yards per carry). Defensive tackles John Henderson and Marcus Stroud can be extremely difficult to run against and do a great job of protecting their linebackers who are free to run to the ball and make plays.
Passing: Chiefs' QB Damon Huard is currently the 21st ranked passer in the league with a QB rating of 79.6 and the Chiefs are ranked 19th in the league with 205 yards per game through the air. Like so many teams, the Chiefs need to establish some kind of effective running game to make their play-action passing attack effective. Tight end Tony Gonzalez is the Chiefs' leading receiver and offensive coordinator Mike Solari does a great job of moving Gonzalez around in the formation, lining him up as a TE, as an H-Back or even out wide, like a WR.
WR Dwayne Bowe, who was their first-round pick in this year's draft, has been everything they expected him to be averaging over 16 yards per catch on 18 receptions. Huard does a good job of playing within the system and distributing the ball, but does not have a real strong arm. Look for the Chiefs to try and attack the middle of the field, looking for Gonzalez and Johnson as the Jaguars own one of the better sets of corners in the league. CBs Brian Williams and Rashean Mathis do a great job of containing opponent's wide receivers while the Jaguars' front-four are able to pressure the pocket. They currently own the third-ranked pass defense giving up just over 150.7 yards per game.
Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt is averaging 46.6 yards per punt, but his net average is just 33.3 indicating that the Chiefs' coverage is not up to par. Jacksonville's punter Adam Podlesh, their fourth-round draft pick this year, is averaging 38.6 yards per punt with a net of 34.6. Since taking over for Justin Medlock, PK Dave Rayner has been very effective while making seven out of nine on field goals and appears to have enough of a leg to kick off effectively.
With Northcutt handling the punt returns for Jacksonville and Eddie Drummond for Kansas City , it appears to be a wash. Jones-Drew, who averages 32 yards per kickoff return for Jacksonville , as opposed to Drummond's 21.5 per return, gives the Jaguars the advantage.