Chiefs vs Jaguars: KC likely keeping Andre Cisco in mind

A familiar foe will be returning to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday when Jacksonville Jaguars starting safety Andre Cisco comes to town.

A familiar foe will be returning to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday when Jacksonville Jaguars starting safety Andre Cisco comes to town. Cisco, who has been an integral part of Jacksonville’s turnaround in 2022, became public enemy No. 1 last time these two teams faced off back in Week 10.

One of the most bruising battles that the Kansas City Chiefs had over the course of the 2022 regular season came against Cisco when he laid down the law (illegally) on multiple Chiefs players in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Cisco quickly climbed up the list of unlikeable athletes in Kansas City when he put on two brutal hits on JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the span of just a few plays. Both hits were egregious but the one to Smith-Schuster was especially bad as Smith-Schuster was concussed from the hit and forced to miss multiple games afterward.

Almost worse than the hit itself, the officials picked up the penalty flag for unnecessary roughness when it was a clear illegal hit to the head. Yet, somehow Cisco was fined by the NFL $6,612 for the same hit that went unpenalized during the actual game.

The hit to Valdes-Scantling wasn’t much better. It wasn’t as bad as Smith-Schuster’s and not quite helmet-to-helmet but it was a clear upward motion to the head or neck area with the intent to make something happen.

At the time of both hits, the Jaguars were down 14-0 and it seemed rather obvious that Cisco was head-hunting after a frustrating start to the game. He probably should’ve been thrown out or at the very least, given a personal foul for the hit on Smith-Schuster. It sets a bad precedent when a player like Cisco is allowed to run around and put players in danger and face little discipline.

The Chiefs are likely keeping in mind Cisco’s actions from last time as they prepare to face him and the Jaguars once again in a home playoff game. Though you don’t want to see players stoop down to Cisco’s level and do anything stupid to get themselves into trouble, sometimes you can’t stop players from wanting to send a message and show they aren’t going to put up with any of that this time around.

It also wouldn’t be surprising if Andy Reid drew something up going right at Cisco on offense. Reid typically doesn’t like to hold grudges but he can be petty when he needs to and this would be the perfect occasion to do so. After all, Jacksonville does rank 27th in the league in pass yards allowed per game.

Cisco will have to defend a little bit better instead of resorting to trying to injure opposing teams’ players. Otherwise, he’ll be getting a lot more of this from Patrick Mahomes this Saturday.