JACKSONVILLE – Team reporter Kainani Stevens each week during the 2025 regular season will speak with a media member covering the Jaguars' opponent.
Up this week:
ESPN Kansas City Chiefs reporter Nate Taylor on the Chiefs as they enter Monday Night Football against the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium.
Question: The Chiefs had a tough start, 0-2, but now they're looking again a little bit like the Chiefs we know from the past years. Impressive win over the Baltimore Ravens. Are the Chiefs back?
Answer: I think so. It's a fun matchup to look forward to because I think both teams are playing well entering this game. I think the Chiefs do look like a version of what we anticipated before the season started. Much of that involved wide receiver Xavier Worthy coming back and playing well against the Ravens. Over the last three games, the Chiefs defense has been one of the better units in all of football. So, this is a matchup that features two of the best defenses, especially the last couple of weeks, taking the football away. This should be a fun, exciting game. And what better time for the Chiefs to look the part than right before Monday Night Football?
Q: Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, his defense … they're always scheming something up. You don't really know what it's going to be. The Jaguars have been loving running the football lately and I'm sure they're going to try to do that on Monday night. What do you expect to see from the Chiefs defense?
A: There's an honest argument to be made that this (Travis Etienne Jr.) is going to be the best running back that Chiefs have seen so far this season. That includes Saquon Barkley with the Philadelphia Eagles, and last week with Derrick Henry. Spagnuolo is someone who loves to blitz, but the best way to counter that is having a successful running attack and being successful on first down. For Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence's sake, it would be nice if Etienne continues to keep his pace. This is a great matchup. Do safeties make the proper angle on Etienne? If they don't, he goes right past him and into the end zone. So for safety Bryan Cook, defensive back Chamarri Connor and safety Jaden Hicks, they're going to have to be absolutely on point when it comes to coming down and making the tackle. It makes third down even more interesting because you won't be in third-and-long situations. That is usually when the Chiefs can be aggressive and most tenacious versions of themselves on defense.
Q: Flip to the other side of the football. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes always dangerous. Do you feel the offense is back rolling the way it wants to now that Worthy is back?
A: I would really not encourage anyone to watch the first three Chiefs' games on tape because it was so different last week with Xavier Worthy back. This is now the version of the Chiefs that they have been practicing with since OTAs and training camp. The speed element opens things up so much for tight end Travis Kelce, wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, and the guys who are going to work the middle of the field. You don't have to be so reliant on Mahomes to be a superhero in terms of creating those highlight-worthy plays. I think for the Jaguars, you get one game tape of film to really understand where Worthy can be in the backfield and obviously on the perimeter. They've also moved him into the slot to get favorable matchups. On Monday night It's going to be a great test for them. The Chiefs did score 37 against Baltimore, but this is a much better Jaguars defense. Mahomes is starting to feel comfortable in the pocket, which means he can start to spread the football around. That makes the Chiefs a little bit more unpredictable because I think the first three weeks, they were very predictable without having that speed element that Worthy provides.
Q: Do you have any X-Factor matchup that you're watching in this game?
A: I do. Not only am I excited to see Jauars rookie wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter and interested to see how the Jaguars use him, but I would also love to see Travis Hunter and [Chiefs cornerback] Trent McDuffie have snaps against one another. We know how talented Hunter is, but McDuffie is an All-Pro cornerback. Someone that, I think Travis Hunter should emulate in terms of footwork, hips and identifying the routes and the concepts. It's not every day you face a cornerback who's this good at receiver as well. The Chiefs' defense is really relying on blitzes. McDuffie is the team's second-best defensive player. He sort of cuts the field in half so that Spagnuolo can get as creative as he wants on blitzes. I just want to see what it's like for Travis Hunter to see one of the better cornerbacks in the league in 2025. Just let me see one man-to-man matchup between two very talented players.
