We close out NFL Week 5 with Patrick Mahomes in Duval and Trevor Lawrence at a crossroads. The Jacksonville Jaguars have come with some sauce under new head coach Liam Coen — they’re 3-1, fresh off a convincing road win and are one late game flag from an undefeated start. Lawrence now gets a chance to elevate his Jags toward the top of the AFC, and he has a national audience to show out for Monday night.
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On the other side, the Kansas City Chiefs have turned into the AFC’s bullies. They’re the surly, brutish kid who’s been held back a few grades in every John Hughes movie. After a narrow pair of losses and a round of talking head chatter, the league’s latest dynasty is coming off consecutive wins and are oddsmakers’ favorites in Jacksonville.
Here are a few notes, oddities and props (mostly fake ones) to prepare for “Monday Night Football.”
How to watch Chiefs at Jaguars
ABC is free over the air. “Monday Night Football” also streams with ESPN Unlimited, the network’s new DTC subscription service.
Milestone watch: Patrick Mahomes
The three-time Super Bowl MVP put up four touchdown passes last week. That locked him in as the fastest player in league history to reach 250 regular-season TD tosses (116 games, breaking Aaron Rodgers’ mark of 121).
Mahomes also has 298 touchdown passes in 137 total games (including the playoffs, which he’s had a timeshare in). He’s now two scores away from breaking another Rodgers record as the fastest quarterback to 300 career TD passes.
The real prop: Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence’s longest completion is listed at 34.5 yards on BetMGM. At first look, that doesn’t sound too tough for a quarterback at home and with Brian Thomas Jr. as WR1. Here are the Jacksonville QB’s longest completions, by week: 24, 40, 46, 28.
Now, here are the Kansas City’s longest completions allowed, by week: 33 (Justin Herbert), 28 (Jalen Hurts), 26 (Russell Wilson), 24 (Lamar Jackson). Four vastly different passers, one stingy result. Never, ever sleep on a Steve Spagnuolo defense.
Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Lawrence is low on intended air yardage — coming into Week 5 at 22nd, one spot above Spencer Rattler and just three above Bryce Young. YAC (yards after catch, also a fun noise to shout intermittently) is a roll of the dice, but through four games, the disciplined Chiefs defense ranks in the top 10 in YAC prevention. Under feels like the call, at least to this correspondent, who is wagering with Prowler Puffs.
Prowler Puffs? Is this about the throwback jerseys?
Absolutely. The Jaguars are wearing their teal “prowler” uniforms that recall the franchise’s original look. These threads evoke ’90s nostalgia like seldom few things can. They are the Sugar Ray of jerseys. The midfield logo and sideline wrapping match, a full commitment to recreating 1996 in a high-humidity vacuum. To ensure we don’t miss kickoff, let’s all set our watches to PROWLER TIME, which looks like “Living Single” and tastes like Fruit by the Foot.
The Chiefs will wear their usual road whites.
What will Joe Buck wax poetic about?
Our guess? Jacksonville’s in-stadium pool. The listening public has been deprived of Buck’s official poolside etiquette for too long. Research for this paragraph included web searches for “Joe Buck pool,” “Joe Buck swimming,” “Joe Buck chlorine,” and “Joe Buck stance on inflatable tube floats.” He did go jet skiing last year, so we know he’s not afraid of water. Maybe Troy Aikman will give a stern address to anyone caught running on the pool deck or splashing too recklessly.
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What will the awkward in-game graphic be?
Gut feeling, but let’s say something pairing the rookie Coen, young offensive savant and pass game tinkerer, with the sage Andy Reid, a creative force across decades. Reid was a first-time head coach in 1999 … when Coen was in middle school.
What will the mascots do?
An NFL mascot presiding over its home stadium looks like something between a guard dog and a court jester. If we were to plot all the mascots on axes to measure those two qualities, Jaxson de Ville would fall all the way to the “jester” line, with a custom bungee jumper and an air horn.
Jaxson de Ville should be up, down and all around Monday night’s broadcast. (Photo by David Rosenblum / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Chiefs fans travel well, and there will be a conspicuous amount of red in Monday’s crowd, even if KC Wolf is likely to stay home. Jaxson will surely skydive from the upper deck before kickoff (he always does), then proceed to squabble up with front-row visitors.
Some love for the other mascot, KC Wolf, from my scene-stealing mascot rankings: “KC Wolf benefits from the omnipresence of his team. Is this guy a system mascot? Absolutely not. There’s a reason why he was the first NFL mascot to make the Hall of Fame (class of 2006).”
What will the Brothers Manning do?
They’ll interview Glen Powell, temporarily known as “Chad Powers.” Yes, one of Hollywood’s rising lead actors is playing a character based on a viral skit. It’s a brave new world, with Aldous Huxley replaced by Omaha Productions. Powell’s charm is an inevitability at this point, and to his credit, he seems to genuinely like football. Both Manning brothers serve as executive producers of the Hulu show. Eli was apparently quite critical of Powell’s dropback form.
Peyton, noted country music lover and general pop culture omnipresence, will probably give his opinion on the new Taylor Swift album.
Are you ready to hear the name “Travis”?
Terrible news for folks who don’t like how “Travis” hits the ears. The Chiefs have Travis Kelce, who is of course one of the sport’s biggest stars and now one of commercial music’s main muses. Kelce drew 22 targets in the first four games, and he still gets early looks in the red zone.
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The Jaguars have two unavoidable Travises (Travisii?) of their own. Travis Hunter is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a headliner of the 2025 rookie draft class. You’re liable to hear his name called at any moment, because he plays all over the field (58 percent of the offense’s snaps, 39 of the defense’s).
And Travis Etienne Jr. is enjoying a bounce-back start to 2025. He averaged 3.8 yards per carry two years ago, and 3.7 last season in a reduced role. Through the first four weeks, Etienne is putting up a league-best 6.1 yards per carry, on more than 16 rushes per game. He might be the lead candidate for Monday’s “Travis of the Game.”
Fantasy fusion team
Players to wear both jerseys, via Pro Football Reference:
- QB: Chad Henne, 2012-22
- RB: Jamaal Charles, 2008-18
- WR: Andre Rison, 1996-99
- WR: Chris Conley, 2015-20
- TE: James O’Shaughnessy, 2015-21
The combined offensive line would have current Chiefs starting OT Jawaan Taylor, who signed with Kansas City in 2023. He just got engaged this week. Props in the comments for Jawaan Taylor!
Chiefs at Jaguars odds
BetMGM has K.C. as one-possession favorites, due to its stout defense, improving pass game and championship core. The Jags are 3-1 against the spread so far, while the Chiefs are 2-2.
Ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Top photo of Trevor Lawrence and Patrick Mahomes: Courtney Culbreath / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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