3 discouraging stats from the Jaguars loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs

1. The Jaguars registered 21 pressures but no sacks vs. the Chiefs

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow recently talked about how the impact sacks have might be overblown. Similarly, most defensive coaches won’t probably mind not getting after the quarterback as long as they can consistently apply pressure up front. On the other hand, sacks aren’t meaningless, as they can stall drives and kill momentum.

Against the Chiefs, Jacksonville registered 21 total pressures but didn’t once sack Patrick Mahomes. In fact, Mahomes had no issues moving the ball in spite of the pressure the Jags’ applied. Even when they successfully managed to flush him out of the pocket, he found ways to make plays with either his arm or his legs.

It didn’t matter that he suffered an ankle sprain. The Jags weren’t able to bring him down. As Michael DiRocco of ESPN noted, they couldn’t take advantage of a prime opportunity. Jacksonville managed to pressure Mahomes on 54 percent of his dropbacks before he hurt his ankle but only 16 percent after the injury.

In the Jaguars’ defense, Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL and they aren’t the only team that has struggled to slow him down. Even when Jacksonville got close to him, they came away empty-handed.

Still, the Jags’ inability to bring the heat against the Chiefs is not acceptable and if they want to keep up with the best of the bunch, they will need to figure out how to contain the likes of Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen.