Here is who national experts are saying will win Chiefs-Jaguars game
It’s finally game day for the Chiefs.
The long wait since the end of the AFC Championship Game is over, and the Chiefs will take the field against the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Kickoff is at noon and the game will be shown on CBS (Ch. 5).
Forty-five NFL experts from around the nation made picks for the game, and 38 believe the Chiefs will win. Here is the breakdown and what those pundits wrote about the Chiefs.
All of USA Today’s six writers picked the Chiefs: Jori Epstein (45-41 final score), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (28-21), Jarrett Bell (27-20), Nate Davis (27-16), Lorenzo Reyes (31-26) and Mike Jones (31-27).
Five of the eight CBS Sports writers think the Chiefs would win: Jared Dubin, Jason La Canfora, Ryan Wilson, John Breech and Dave Richard. Will Brinson, Jamey Eisenberg and Pete Prisco picked the Jaguars. Prisco predicted a 21-20 Jaguars victory. Here is a snippet of what he wrote: “The battle between the Chiefs offense and the Jaguars defense is one of the treats of the weekend. Can the Jaguars slow down Patrick Mahomes and company? They won’t stop them, but I think they will slow them some.”
Nine of ESPN’s 10 experts predict the Chiefs will win: Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Mike Golic, Mina Kimes, Jason Reid, Louis Riddick, Kevin Seifert, Seth Wickersham and Trey Wingo. The Jaguars were the pick for Dan Graziano.
Seven of the eight Pro Focus Football writers predicted a Chiefs win: Neil Hornsby, Steve Palazzolo, Bruce Gradkowski, Nathan Jahnke, Solomon Wilcots, Jeff Ratcliffe and Austin Gayle. Sam Monson went with the Jaguars.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and Michael David Smith both picked the Chiefs. Florio predicted a 31-20 final score and wrote: “Although the Jaguars will be a much better team in 2019, there will be no regression in Kansas City.” Smith predicted a 21-20 final score, and he wrote: “The Jaguars’ defense should bounce back this year, and the Chiefs might not put on quite the show that a lot of people are expecting in Week One.”
All eight of the Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback writers believe the Chiefs will prevail: Andrew Brandt, Mitch Goldich, Jonathan Jones, Bette Marston, Mark Mravic, Kayln Kahler, Conor Orr and Jenny Vrentas.
Todd Haislop of the Sporting News picked a 30-28 Jaguars win. This is an excerpt of what he wrote: “Jacksonville has Josh Allen to rush QBs like Mahomes and make life easier on its Jalen Ramsey-led secondary, a potentially lethal combination. On the other side of the ball, the presence of Nick Foles isn’t as important in this game as the availability of Leonard Fournette, who the Jags can use to control the clock and keep Mahomes off the field as much as possible.”
Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com predicted a 24-22 Chiefs win. Here is part of what he wrote: It’s easier to imagine the Jaguars’ defense slowing down reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes because the unit did it a year ago. Mahomes was picked off twice during a game in which the Chiefs’ offense scored just 23 points, recording its third-lowest offensive efficiency of the regular season, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA. This game, then, could come down to Nick Foles versus Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs defense. These are the unknowns.”
Former Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who is with the NFL Network, picked Jacksonville to win. He wrote in part: “The Jaguars’ defense slipped from its 2017 form last season. It bounces back quickly by holding reigning league MVP Patrick Mahomes to less than 200 passing yards.”