Overlooked takeaways from the Chiefs win over Jaguars

Let’s take a look at some important yet overlooked aspects of the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10.

The Kansas City Chiefs put up a strong effort in a home win over the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Despite making a few early mistakes, the Chiefs largely settled in on both sides of the ball to take care of business against a young but talented Jags team that played scrappy football and showed promise after getting themselves into an early hole.

For some players, it was a. big day of individual celebrations as well and those stories deserve to be told. Kadarius Toney caught his first touchdown in the NFL and so did Noah Gray. Marquez Valdes-Scantling also found his first touchdown outside of Green Bay, and Carlos Dunlap joined the 100 sacks club. And of course, Patrick Mahomes had another MVP-caliber afternoon.

But as the Chiefs moved to 7-2, it was also a day where a few important takeaways were on display that should not be overlooked. Let’s look at some.

Instilling Confidence

Everyone always points out that Andy Reid is a player-friendly coach, someone who most guys want to play for and be around and learn from because of the strong organizational culture that he’s able to build. But what’s under the hood of that is sometimes hard to define.

On Sunday, Chiefs Kingdom saw a great example of what yields that player-positive culture. Most leaders feel the short leash they are on each week in the NFL and pass on that tension to the players under their care, which means if someone makes a mistake, it can often become a mental hurdle that lingers well beyond the actual play itself is over. Such is life in the NFL and in many ways, it makes sense.

For the Chiefs, however, Isiah Pacheco is an ideal rookie who showed what playing for Andy Reid can be like. Pacheco fumbled the ball early in the first quarter for the Chiefs against the Jaguars, and given the committee approach employed by the team out of the backfield, it would have made complete sense for the Chiefs to move on to Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Jerick McKinnon the next series. In fact, many fans expressed such a hope.

However, Reid not only went back to Pacheco immediately on the next drive, but he did so on the very next offensive play. From there, Pacheco not only earned the most carries of anyone but he put up very positive production. He ended the game with 16 carries for 82 yards to lead the team.

Coming away from this game, Pacheco was able to prove himself valuable and put a quick mistake behind him the moment after it happened. A positive culture is a beautiful thing.