In this episode, Taylor reacts to the Kansas City Chiefs NFL divisional round playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. When he talks about the Chiefs, He breaks down how they won, how Patrick Mahomes looked before and after his high ankle sprain and how Travis Kelce and the rest of the team rallied around him to get the win. When he switches over to the Jaguars, he lauds the performance of the team down the stretch of the season, what he sees for Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson going forward and how he would remake the roster for next year.
In this episode, Taylor reacts to the Kansas City Chiefs NFL divisional round playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. When he talks about the Chiefs, He breaks down how they won, how Patrick Mahomes looked before and after his high ankle sprain and how Travis Kelce and the rest of the team rallied around him to get the win. When he switches over to the Jaguars, he lauds the performance of the team down the stretch of the season, what he sees for Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson going forward and how he would remake the roster for next year.
Taylor: What's up, everybody? It's the Roundtable sports podcast. My name is Taylor McLean. We've had another round of playoff action in the books for the 2022 two season. It was an exciting slate of action, and the only thing that's depressing about it at all, despite my Cowboys losing for me, I'm sure everyone else enjoyed it, is that there's only three more games left. That is if you don't count the flag football game for the Pro Bowl, which actually I'm more excited about than I would be the actual Pro Bowl. So seems like that's something they probably got right, especially when they included the Manning family in that scenario. But I digressed. Today we're talking about the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was an exciting game. It was a close game, maybe closer than the line or people probably thought it was going to be. Obviously there are some reasons for that that we'll go over. Definitely a game worth talking about with two teams that are worth talking about going forward. Before we get into it, let's give a shout out to the sponsor, Evergreen Power Solutions. They're a concierge power company. They're going to go in there, shop around, get you the lowest rate they possibly can at this time, so they'll get you savings in the short term, and then long term, when it's time to renegotiate, they'll go back in there, try and get you a lower rate, or keep your rate the same. If they're not able to get you a lower rate, So you're not participating in the ups of what could be increasing energy prices going forward. So give them a call, 886-6586, use prompt number two and let them know that the Roundtable Sports Podcast and Taylor McLean sent you. Now let's get on to the football. And I have to say that both AFC games met my expectations. Maybe not as far as how they went. I did expect the Chiefs to win, and I knew that the Bingles could win their game. But I also wasn't betting the money line or anything for the Bingles. It's not that I was all that confident that they should win, it's just that I thought that the Bingles could win if their offensive line could hold up. And the coaches film just now came out on that game, so I'm looking forward to looking through that. But I watched it on this game and the Jaguars put up a fight that they should absolutely be proud of. And if some things go their way versus not bouncing their way, then they could absolutely be in the next game playing the Bingle. So the Jaguar should be proud and the Chiefs should also be proud, obviously, for getting the win, but also gutting out the Patrick Mahomes injury and being able to overcome that and still win the game against what is a game opponent that has a solid head on its shoulder, both from a quarterback and a head coach standpoint. When Patrick and the Chiefs came out, they looked like they were primed for a really big day. And if you only took the first drive where the Jaguars punt and the Chiefs go out and score their first touchdown, and you just took that sample size very small and extrapolated that over the game, then this is a buttwoping of massive proportions. To the Jaguars credit, they didn't let one score get them down, and they were definitely game opponents on this day. But if Patrick wouldn't have gotten hurt, and had he played the way he looked in that first drive, I think the Jaguars would have been in big trouble. Patrick was all over the place. He was running and getting away from the rush, which the Jaguars did a decent job of getting Patrick on the move and getting him off his spot throughout the game. And it was easy for him in the beginning to be able to execute those plays, and then at the very end, they roll him out without even any run action. He moves everybody and moves the linebackers and gets them out over their skis as far as where they are on the field. And then all of a sudden, he slips it into Travis Kelsey just a small bit across his body, and Travis is able to score the touchdown. The first drive also showed that they were going to be able to feature Travis Kelsey throughout the game, who had a monstrous game. He had an NFL record, 14 receptions. It's a record for the playoffs. Jason Whitten had more receptions in a game during the regular season. I believe his was 20, so a little bit more than 14, but maybe it was 18, I can't remember exactly. But regardless, Travis set the postseason record and was all over the field, linebackers and safeties alike, he was breaking them off and finding open space for him to sit down in or to run into. And Travis and Chad Henny alike peppered him with targets, and he produced in a big way and was a big part of what separation the Chiefs could create against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who aren't a great secondary necessarily. Like, I think the Bingles probably have a better secondary overall, or maybe just a better secondary plan. I think the safeties are definitely better. But regardless, Jacksonville has put a lot of things together and I think have found some contributors in their safety in their secondary going forward, campbell especially. But at the same time, I would have liked to have seen the Chiefs be able to create more on the outside than they were able to today. Granted, they didn't have to necessarily as much because they had Kelsey working the linebacker in the second level so well, because they had Travis Kelsey working the linebackers in the second level so well. But it would have been more encouraging to see more of the wide receivers and everything get loose and get more plays. Even though Valdez Scantling made a play, juju made a play when it counted, and that led to scoring drives. Kadarius Tony also had some nice run after the catch there, so they contributed. But I think that if they would have had Patrick moving around more and being able to be his mobile self, then that might have been different and there might have been more plays for the Kansas City Chiefs to have made it with those guys. But as it stood, Kelsey really showed out and showed us what it looks like to watch a hall of Fame wide receiver work his magic out there, because they just really didn't have any answers. He was running sharp routes and getting the separation and getting the space that they needed to create these scores and to create these plays. And of course, I keep talking about Patrick on that second drive he gets rolled up on, which didn't feel like a dirty play in the moment, nor did it look that way when I watched the film either. It was just an unfortunate play, and it goes to protecting your quarterback and not letting him get hit, and what a premium there is on that. The Line did a pretty good job of protecting Patrick for the most part. The Jaguars are absolutely capable of rushing the passer, and they tried to get after Patrick especially, and it was a lot easier when he was more of a stationary target like he was after that play. 21 pressures is not a bad amount. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get any sacks off that, even having Patrick not be able to go very fast or move very well after the injury, he did scramble once. I mean, he was trying to do Patrick things, but you could see him hopping around, especially when he had to really stretch it out to run a certain running play and get the ball to Pacheco. He would kind of hop around a little bit and show that there was something hurting in there. They've called it a high ankle sprain, and I haven't checked out his ankle or the reports or anything, so I can refute them. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a little bit more than that or if there was something wrong with the situation in there. We'll probably won't know because it's pretty easy just to kind of push it all together with the high ankle sprain, and it doesn't really do them a whole lot of good to elaborate on it exactly. We think he's going to play. We don't think he's going to be 100%. They don't really have to say much more than that. But it didn't look good the way he was moving. Even though he was still able to do Patrick things, it allowed the pass rush to kind of know where he was going to be and tee off a little bit more, but to the Chief's credit, they also played within themselves during that time and didn't try to get too cute. They continued to work Travis Kelsey, they continued to get the ball out of Patrick's hands pretty quickly and also run the ball. I have to give Isaiah Pacheco a lot of credit for the way he looks out there and the way he's run the ball this season. It's not perfect, and I think there's still some upside as far as him choosing holes and as far as the way that he fits into the offense and knows the offense. And just overall, there's room for growth here. But I love how hard and how fast he runs with the ball. And it was never more apparent than on the Chad Henny drive. After Patrick gets rolled up on, he tries to play for a little bit, and then they bring in Chad Henny after Walker Little gives up a sack and then gives up the tripping that forces the Jaguars to punt, and they get the ball down to the two yard line. And you've brought in Chad Henny, and it's a big time situation. You've got the score to ten to seven after they're able to get the field goal off the Patrick drive. And just like they did with Patrick after they were hurt, they ran plays that would get the ball out of Chad Henny's hands, not force him to make a bunch of reads. They got it to their playmakers, who got a little extra. It wasn't a big run after the catch a thon, necessarily. They just had to make plays. They ran the play that Chad Henny got the first down on in the game versus the Browns. That was a big play at the time. And then Travis Kelsey also gets a first down, and then they get a roughing the passer on top of that right after that. And of course, they mix some nice Pacheco runs in there up front. And that's what I was getting at with talking about Pacheco being a solid runner. And then he runs up into the line, kind of gets stuck behind his own guys for a little bit, but then shows the wherewithal to cut out and break out to the side, and he gets the Chiefs down to the end zone, and then Kelsey caps it off with a touchdown. And of course, his receptions were littered throughout the drive as well. And you put all that together, and that's a really balanced, solid game plan by the Chiefs, who had to scramble a little bit after coming out and looking like a lion there in that first drive. They really had to adjust themselves to Chad Henny's credit. It's not like he came out there and let the world on fire as a passer or anything, but he made smart plays, he made the right plays. And they got that critical touchdown to put themselves up two scores. And the Jaguars do a nice job get the field goal before half time to make it 17 to ten. But it was such a big drive to have the Chiefs be able to go down there without Patrick in there, allow him to kind of convalesce a little bit, get his situation right, and then go in at half time up a score rather than being tied. And then, of course, Patrick comes out in the second half. And I said earlier that he wasn't moving around good, but he was moving better than what he looked like up when he first heard it and when he was kind of moving around very gingerly out there. They probably retaped it. They haven't really said anything about did he take anything at half time, but he definitely looked to be moving better at that point. I thought that Patrick at this point did a pretty good job of kind of keeping himself out of the fray. The Jaguars were able to keep things close and had a nice drive, had the big play to Zay Jones, got the touchdown with ETN well called drive. They kind of finally looked like themselves. But that was kind of a theme throughout as well, that the Kansas City defense was doing a good job getting pressure on Trevor throughout this game. And really a little bit later in the game, there were a couple of plays away from them being right in this game. Patrick, to their credit, settles down, gets locked in, makes some throws from the pocket, hits Kelsey, hits Juju, makes the one footed throw to MVS to get the touchdown. And then if the Jaguars after that were able to keep the Agnew fumble or maybe Trevor doesn't throw that interception then they could have been in it once those things had happened. Then they were playing against too much time, even with the field goal. There just wasn't enough time at that point. Once they kind of squandered those two possessions, I don't put a ton of faults. Agnew did make the bad play. He didn't get hit all that hard. And then Trevor on his interception, justin Reid, got right in his face immediately, and Trevor did just kind of throw it up. That much is true. But still, Jalen Watson had to make a one handed interception to put this game away, essentially, even though Jaguar still had some time once that had happened, as I said, the time was just against them, and there wasn't probably going to be a way for them to get that done. To the Chiefs credit, they did and get a first down and everything to press things, but it was a little too late. And of course, if you're a Chiefs fan, you're excited to get the win. Maybe you're just relieved to get the win. You probably expected it, but had to sweat it out a little bit more than what you would expected to with the Patrick injury. I have to say that the injury is not good for the situation going forward, obviously, but you have to be encouraged with how nearly all of the peripheral pieces from the offensive line pacheco and McKinnon, maybe you're a little underwhelmed with the wide receivers, but they still made plays when they needed to. And I think that was more of a function of Patrick being hurt, not being able to create that time down field to really make the big plays with them. They still made plays when they had to, so you have to be excited about everything that's going around Patrick, and that probably gives you a little bit more of an ability to get by this. But you still have to be a little pessimistic that if Patrick is not working at his full powers, then the Bingles are going to be a big problem when they beat Kansas City. So much recently with the game. On Saturday. Obviously, Patrick gets the most amount of time possible to rest the injury, and should they get by the bingles, then they're going to have the bi week, so to speak, where they play the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl. So you have to think that he would be in a little bit more control and be able to be more of his full realized self in that game. But it's going to be a pretty big ask to get by the Bengals without Patrick being able to move around. I asked my friends, is it weird that it kind of felt like he was this year's Tom Brady with a better arm when he got hurt because he was still able to maneuver around and everything but his quickness? And speed had been taken away from him and he wasn't able to roll out and really create the time like he's capable of when he's rolling around at full strength. And it doesn't feel like an unappet comparison because it's just different when you're able to rush towards a steady object that you know where it's going to be. They call it a statue. Patrick is not a statue back there, but like Drew Bledsoe got played out of the league because they knew where he was going to be and they could rush towards that point. When you have one of those guys that are hyper mobile, then you have to be kind of rushing your lanes when you do that so the offense gets additional time. They're not going to have to do that with Patrick in the upcoming game, possibly with there only being a week of recovery, I got to think he's going to look better, but he's also going to be prone to re injure it if he was to get it hit. And it definitely gives me some pause for their chances going forward, but I think they'll have a chance. I think this evens the odds a little bit. And actually at this time, when I'm recording this on Monday, night. The odds have actually finally shifted to the Bengals being favored despite being on the road. But while you're a little let down that you're going to have to play through that, I absolutely think you have the ability to play through that. The defense is playing well. Your front seven is looking nice and it's at full strength. Chris Jones, Frank Clark had a nice sack. Bolton is all over the field. Naughty split a double team. They tried to double team. He just anchored through and got a nice sack. There was a bunch of big plays there. They've got big Duffy back, they've got Reed back. He got the big pressure to get the interception even though he didn't have the best of games. So I think you have a nice chance here, especially if Snead and Watson are going to play the way they did on the outside, too. Watson had the beautiful one handed interception, and while Trevor under through that ball, no doubt about it, it still took an immaculate play to get that done. And that's part of what allowed Kansas City to drain that remaining clock off and get this win. The Mingles are going to be tough, no doubt about it, and they just handle the Bills, which I can't wait to watch, that the coaches film is out on that, so I'll be doing that tomorrow first thing, so look forward to that part. And of course, we'll all be looking forward to this Mingle's Chiefs game on the Jaguar side. I know you're disappointed, but it really does feel like you were playing with house money to have gotten to this point. Trevor Lawrence said, we set a new standard and we're not going to settle for anything less. Obviously, there's more out there for us and we're just excited to get that opportunity again. That's what you want to hear from your quarterback. And I think we saw flashes of what Trevor can be fully realized in this postseason in this season. And the fact that he was able to extend what he had built up in the regular season after a lost season last season with Durban Meyer is a testament to his competitiveness and to Doug Peterson surrounding him with an offensive scheme that allows him to take advantage of what he does and what he's good at. I would have liked to have seen Trevor run more. It seemed like it was late in the game before he really got going, running the ball. And really, that was a season long thing that I think he could have used his athleticism more and gotten more yards and pumped this offense up a little bit, especially in moments where he was a little unsure. What? To do, which there was way less of those moments this season, which is, once again, a credit to Doug Peterson, too, in addition to Trevor working really hard and getting that right. And if they can continue to build up the roster because they were missing Cam Robinson. That was a problem. Walker Little was better than I expected, but still not very good. So that was a problem throughout the rest of the season once Cam went down and they were talking about maybe bringing back Juan Taylor, I hope that they're able to upgrade that position, because I don't really like him a ton. He's fine, but to pay him anything that is above average would probably be a mistake in my estimation. Tackles are hard to come by, no doubt, but I feel like they can do better, and that's something they should strive for across the line. Sherf is a little older, but still solid, and I like Cam Robinson. If he's able to come back to where he was coming off the injury, then I think they should be fine with the number that they're paying him at this point. He's not super duper top in, but they missed him at this point, marvin Jones is basically out the door and they needed to replace his snaps anyway. He's okay, but he's on the backside and not worth what they were paying him. And they're going to send that money directly to Calvin Ridley, who is going to come in off the suspension. And I've been saying that adding him to Christian Kirk and Zay Jones makes them a formidable three wide receiver unit there, even though none of those guys are big guys who can go up and get it, necessarily. They all have skills in that range, kind of, and with that much speed on the field, they're going to be a tough cover because they proved to be better at the point of contact than I expected. And he has a tremendous amount of speed. Having him be your third guy would be a big development for the offense. Of course, Christian Kirk actually played up to his contract. From what we saw. Wide receiver contracts go over the top of his a little bit with AJ. Green and Devante and Tyreek. That looks a little bit more reasonable now that we've seen those contracts. It's a little bit of an overpay, but, oh well, that's only because of his size. Doesn't allow him to win every match up. So he's not like a true number one. But maybe if you can bring Calvin Ridley over the top of that, maybe you bring back Evan Ingram at the right price. Maybe you draft somebody that is a little bigger, that can be a little bit more in line and up the seams, like your Gronks, like your Kelsey's, like, that would be a huge fit for them to have somebody that they don't have to kind of hide on the backside when it comes to blocking. As a tight end, he's more of a wide receiver, so his number will be interesting, but I think he is additive to the offense, so plenty of places to add on the offense. Build up the offensive line for Trevor ETN is good to go. I like James hasty, too. He made some plays throughout this game, so I think he's a solid number two for the offense. And then you have Snoop Connor, who you drafted, who can be kind of a bigger back when you need him, and kind of back up those two too. So it feels like you're in good shape there. You might end up cutting Jamal Agnew, not because of the fumble necessarily, but because you're going to need the savings. You're already 14 over the salary cap, although you have an easy fix for that by cutting Griffin. That saves you 13 of the 14. Then you can kind of work from there. Agnew would save you 4.7. That's kind of a lot for a returner who doesn't have great hands, as it turns out. So that's why you see him more as a Gadget guy than you do a wide receiver. Kind of wish they still had Leviska, and I would have liked to have seen what he could have done as the Gadget guy, as more of a bigger Gadget guy. So that's too bad, but it is what it is. Once again, they need to add on the linebacker level and the secondary level as well. The linebackers are just young. They might be all right there, but the secondary level, that's definitely something to look at. But I digress a little bit because I want to praise the Jaguars as well. Winning season won seven of their last nine six game streak that had come from behind victories with Tennessee, Dallas and the Chargers involved. They won the AFC South for the first time since 2017, and they won eight games as underdogs, including the third largest playoff comeback in history when they beat the Chargers. And final stat on that part for the Jaguars fans to be proud of the first team to come back from the first pick and then win a playoff game. So all positive things, and then you've got Trevor. I've believed since I saw Trevor last year that he had franchise ability, and we just got to see more and more of it this season. Doug Peterson calls a beautiful game, and as long as they're able to continue to grow as an offense, then they shouldn't be good here. That can be a problem for offenses year to year, that you're not able to repeat the same success because the league catches up to your play calling. But they innovated. They did new things, and I think there's a lot of room for growth here. They're not all that far off from trading Jalen Ramsay and trading off some of their talent and trying to rebuild off of some really poor drafts there for a while. So the fact that they were able to get to this point, coming off to number one overall two worst team in the league seasons in a row, that's impressive. Stuff. And it's big time due to the team overall coming together and ETN, and it's adding a whole bunch of things in a whole bunch of ways. But it's also because Doug Peterson and Trevor work really well together. There's a lot more easy throws in this offense. There's a lot of things they can still unlock as a tandem. And I think you have to be excited if you're a Jaguar fans, about the future. And now it'll be on this organization to draft better and to put guys around Trevor to give him an opportunity to succeed. And I believe they've done just that so far. But they've got to keep doing it. They've got to keep drafting. It's all about progressing and moving forward because as soon as you start standing still, that's when you don't beat the Chargers or you don't have the ball bounce your way and then you move backwards and then your quarterback is upset. It all kind of can snowball on itself. So this is a nice jumping off point for Trevor and for the team going forward. But I have higher expectations for Trevor. If he wants to be the elite of the elite, if he wants to be Patrick Mahomes, if he wants to be Joey B, then he's got to build on this. He's got to continue to bank the experience of seeing these different things and being able to be better the next time he sees it and make the tight throws and throw guys open and looking guys off and just all the things you're able to do as you get more comfortable out there. He's got to continue to advance those skills and become a higher level of Jedi. It's not like you set in as a Jedi, right? And then you're doing everything right up front. No, you study, you learn. You get out there with your teammates, you get their chemistry with Calvin Ridley, get stronger. You get in the lab, you watch the film, you work on stuff with the offensive coordinator. You try and innovate. You watch film on other guys to try and emulate their game. Trevor has that, like, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes level ceiling. He's got that. He just has to advance more because he's not there from a mental aspect yet. But when you see some of the throws that he makes throughout the Chargers game, throughout this game, there's some big boy throws in there. He's got plenty of arm strength to make all of them, and he just has to work on the decision making portion of it, which advanced light years from where it was last season when everything was hard and everything was working against him. Now he finally got some stuff working in his favor, and we saw what we saw this season, and now the expectations that Trevor has for himself and that we have for him have been raised because he's one of five guys that I would want to. Have going forward. It's Patrick, it's Joe, it's Josh Allen, it's Justin Herbert, and it's Trevor Lawrence. And honestly, instinctually, I think that Trevor is better than Justin Herbert. I think that Justin might have just a little bit better physicality, like he's a little bit bigger and maybe he has a little bit better arm. But Trevor showed us some things this season that it's not a given that it's always going to be that way. And Trevor has just as much physical upside when you calculate in that he's a little bit faster than Justin. He's just not as substantial. He's a little skinnier, but they both have the height, they both have the gun, and the sky is the limit for both of them. And I would trade DAC and three first round picks for any of one of those five guys to try and give myself a chance going forward. If I'm the Cowboys, that's kind of my line for Eliteness. I wouldn't do that for Tom Brady just for one more shot with his late last season, but he's of that ilk as well. That Elite guys, and there's a big chasm between them and the second level, and then there's a big chasm between the second level and then Kurt Cousins and the rest of them. So Trevor has that kind of upside now. It's just on him to build on it, and I'm excited to see what he can do going forward. If you've gotten to this point and haven't done so, download the podcast, let me know that you're here and listening, like and subscribe if you're on YouTube and listening, that certainly helps me out a lot. And I'm going to be going strong this season and next season had got to a million views on YouTube. This year got about 1.5 on the other platform. So we're certainly feeling strong and I appreciate your support. Definitely look for more videos this week and throughout the off season. We're going to be going into everything as we get the information from free agency and all that. But also we're going to finish up strong with these last couple of weeks and look at some games intently like we did today. So look forward that and have a great rest of your day.