Kansas City Chiefs (1-6) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) – week 9 preview

November 8, 2:24 AMKansas City Chiefs ExaminerDan Rose

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The Chiefs look towards getting their second win of the season on Sunday in Jacksonville.
kcchiefs.com

When: Sunday, November 8, 2009, Noon kickoff (CT)
Where: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, FL
Broadcast: TV – CBS - Announcers Bill Macatee and Steve Beuerlein; DirecTV channel 706
Radio: SIRIUS: 108 (KC), 91 (Jax.). XM: 106 (Jax.), Chiefs radio network

Admit it, Chiefs fans, there’s a little piece of you that can’t help but think that our boys may travel down to Florida on Sunday, play their best game of the season, and beat an incredibly inconsistent Jaguar team. You’re thinking that they’ll put the chaos of the Larry Johnson bye week drama behind them and take it out on the Jags. You’re thinking that because Jacksonville has a worse pass rush than the Chiefs do, Matt Cassel won’t be running for his life and will play great.

Then again, some of you are thinking that nothing changes. The Chiefs haven’t won in Florida since Nixon was President (at least it seems like it’s been that long). The Chiefs will give up 200 yards rushing to Jaguar running back Maurice Jones-Drew and Kansas City will lose its seventh game of the season. And Todd Haley will drop another dozen televised “F-bombs” on the sidelines before his head explodes like a bad Monty Python skit.

Call me the blind optimist, but I’ve got the feeling that the Chiefs are going to take out a ton of offensive frustration on the worst defensive team we’ve played all year. I think Haley will stop trying to be gimmicky and cute with his play calling and call a more conservative game. And I think the Chiefs will leave Jacksonville with a 27-24 victory.

Here is my take on what Chiefs fans should be watching for in this game:

1. Will Jamaal Charles be the answer to a dormant running game? With Larry Johnson suspended, Haley has no other option than to let Charles run the ball. Even if Charles fumbles the ball, Haley can’t afford to bench him, so Charles should be getting around 20 carries in this game. Plus another five or six pass receptions from Cassel. If Charles can get over 100 total yards, with a little help from Dantrell Savage and Kolby Smith, the Chiefs can win.

2. That little guy is Maurice Jones-Drew. Fantasy football players have been drooling over the pint-sized Jones-Drew for the last couple of years, but the average football fan has no idea that he’s the second-best running back in football. He leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns and should get at least two more against the Chiefs, but if Kansas City can hold him to under 150 yards, they can beat this Jacksonville team.

3. Let Matt Cassel throw the ball downfield! The biggest reason that the Chiefs downfield passing game is non-existent is because Cassel has less than 4 seconds to throw the ball on every play. Our offensive line is that pathetic. And because he has no time to throw, the receivers don’t have time to run their routes downfield. However, the Jaguars have the fewest sacks in the league and cannot put pressure on opposing QBs. It would be nice to see Cassel hit Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers deep downfield a few times.

Whatever happens, I'm pretty sure that none of the players will be Twittering their thoughts after the game.  Just a hunch.