Just as they made short work of the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, the Kansas City Chiefs did it again, this time on the Jags home turf at TIAA Bank Stadium. Andy Reid’s record in season openers improves to 6-1 as the Chiefs Head Coach, following the team’s 40-26 romp on the Jaguars.
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins led the charge on offense, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and one more in the fourth.
During the team’s postgame press conference, Watkins spoke about the first touchdown he scored to open things up for the Chiefs offense.
“I wasn’t supposed to get the ball, but I looked at Pat (Mahomes) and he looked at me, I caught it and I ran as fast as I could and it felt great,” said Watkins.
Watkins spent the entire offseason training in order to get his body back into shape following a series of injury-plagued seasons and he was a target for quarterback Patrick Mahomes all day, totaling 9 receptions for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Jacksonville defense was the only unit Mahomes didn’t throw a touchdown against last season, but he continued where he left off at the end of 2018, by completing 25 of 33 passes for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Chiefs fans were left holding their breath when Mahomes suffered a leg injury that caused him to limp towards the team’s sideline but was soon back on the field with his left ankle wrapped with tape. After the game, Mahomes assured everyone during the post-game press conference that it was just a minor ankle sprain and that he’s going to be just fine.
Kansas City did, however, lose wide receiver Tyreek Hill to a shoulder injury suffered in the first half. Hill was taken to a local Jacksonville hospital after the game where he reportedly suffered an injury involving his collarbone that will not need surgery but may cause him to miss a few weeks.
Chiefs Head Athletic Trainer Rick Burkholder left this statement on Tyreek:
“Tyreek Hill had an injury in the game where he landed on his shoulder. He had a sternal clavicular joint injury which is where your clavicle comes into your sternum. Those can be injured coming out of the front, up top or in the back. If it goes posteriorly or back, it becomes a medical issue for us so that we worry that there are more problems. His came back posteriorly and he didn’t have any medical issues but we still transported him to Baptist Medical Center [Jacksonville] and we turned his care over to Brett Frykberg who is an ortho-trauma physician. Scott Mullen, one of our physicians from the Kansas University Health System, is with him. He’s being treated there to reduce the dislocation of the injury. We don’t have any more update on that. This is a good time to realize that the National Football League under Jeff Miller, Allen Sills go to great lengths to pull in emergency medical, emergency action plans for stadiums like this, and because the Jaguars had a plan and we followed their plan, he was able to get care without any complication. That transport is under the care of an ortho-trauma physician now. We’ll give you an update in the next day or two.”
Before leaving the game, Hill recorded 2 receptions for 16 yards.
Jasonville saw a few of their own players leave early as well, starting with quarterback Nick Foles who left the game with a broken clavicle he sustained in the first quarter. The injury took place when Defensive tackle Chris Jones landed on top of Foles, moments after he threw a pass that would become a 35-yard touchdown to receiver D.J. Chark Jr.
Foles was replaced by rookie Garner Minshew II out of Washington State who played surprisingly well completing 22 of 25 passes for 275 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.
The Jags also lost a piece of their defense when tempers flared over the top in the second quarter. Linebacker Myles Jack was ejected from the game for throwing punches in the Kansas City endzone.
Jacksonville struggled to keep their emotions in check for most of the game, committing 10 penalties for 71 yards.
The Jags frustration continued as linebacker Damien Wilson forced running back Leonard Fournette to lose control the football on a 3rd and 2 in the third quarter. Kansas City’s Bashaud Breeland recovered the fumble to get the ball back for the Chiefs offense. Mahomes would take the Chiefs down the field on the ensuing drive that would lead to Damien Williams going up the middle for the one-yard score.
Defensive end Frank Clark also got a turnover late in the fourth quarter, intercepting Minshew on the Jacksonville 17-yard line. The play would lead to Kansas City setting kicker Harrison Butker up to kick a late field goal and add three more points to the Chiefs point total to wrap things. However, Minchew would respond by leading the Jags on a late touchdown drive to make the final score 40-26.
The Chiefs will now travel to Oakland to play the Raiders, who open their season on Monday Night Football against the Denver Broncos.
