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Last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs were in a tough battle for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft — a battle the Chiefs won by tiebreaker. Kansas City’s terrible team was a far more repairable situation, and they were immensely more aggressive trying to fix their problems than the Jaguars.
Outside of the draft and a new coaching staff headed by Gus Bradley, the Jags have done next to nothing to cure what ailed them in 2012. This season will likely see them in another climb to the top of the draft board.
While the Jaguars have a much less talented roster than KC, they do have a couple of advantages in this game. First, they’re at home. Jacksonville isn’t exactly known for their hostile environment, but at least they don’t have to deal with a Kansas City fan base that is dying for something to cheer for.
The second advantage is they know who they are. The Jags have basically the same core group of players they have had for the past couple of seasons, whereas the Chiefs have replaced over half of their roster, including eight starters. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses and the better chemistry could work to Jacksonville’s benefit in this game.
Depending on where you look, the Chiefs are about 3.5-point favorites in this game. There are few other places where KC would be able to start the season as favorites on the road, but this spread makes sense.
There are a lot of uncertainties with the new-look Chiefs, and where Kansas City has questions, the Jags have answers. The problem is most of Jacksonville’s answers are pretty bad. The Chiefs are a much more talented team with a lot of potential. I’ll take KC in this game 30-20.
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Aaron Charles is a Kansas City Chiefs writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on twitter @aaroncharleskc or add him to your network on Google
