The Kansas City Chiefs can know one thing heading into this weekend's Divisional round: the Jacksonville Jaguars will not give up.
Last week's comeback win against the Los Angeles Chargers was the second-biggest turnaround in NFL history, having trailed 27-0 at one stage and 27-7 at halftime before winning 31-30, but that sort of rally is becoming commonplace for the Jaguars.
They head to Arrowhead Stadium on a six-game winning run but have been down at halftime in three of those games.
The Jaguars have been down by double-digits at halftime in six games this season, yet they have recovered to win three times. No other team have three comebacks from 10-point halftime deficits this year, with that tying a league-wide single-season high since Jacksonville entered the NFL in 1995.
There was understandable focus following the Chargers game on quarterback Trevor Lawrence's recovery as he followed four interceptions without a touchdown with four TD passes without a pick.
However, the relentlessness of this never-say-die Jaguars team might be best epitomised by its defense.
That unit gave up just three points after halftime against the Chargers, setting the stage for Lawrence to lead the offense back into the contest. Across their past four games – all wins – opponents have scored a combined nine second-half points.
Regardless of any lead, the Chiefs – and particularly the Chiefs' offensive line – will be made to work right up until the final snap on Saturday.
The Jaguars have registered 319 QB pressures in 2022, behind only the Miami Dolphins in that regard (325), while their pressure rate of 43.9 per cent leads the league.
That pressure rate was up at 46.8 per cent against the Chargers – albeit the Chargers have allowed comfortably more QB pressures than any other team this season (357).
But Justin Herbert, clearly a man used to passing under pressure, was restricted significantly by the Jaguars' pass rush.
He entered the Wild Card matchup with a completion rate of 64.9 per cent when throwing under pressure – the second-best mark of QBs with 100 or more such attempts – yet completed only seven of his 15 attempts against the Jaguars (46.7 per cent) despite having an open target on 12 of those passes.
As the tide really turned in the second half and this harrying took its toll, Herbert was 10-for-19 on all attempts and was sacked twice.
The Chiefs will consider themselves a very different prospect – with some justification.
They have this year allowed a pressure rate of 37.0 per cent, which is below the league average of 38.5 per cent, and Mahomes has actually already faced this Jacksonville defense at Arrowhead once this year.
Although Mahomes' completion rate of 57.1 per cent under pressure is below the league average of 58.3 per cent for the year, he completed eight of 12 attempts against the Jaguars (66.7 per cent).
That was one of the six games in which the Jaguars were down by 10 or more at halftime, and without effectively getting to Mahomes, who threw for 331 yards and four TDs, a second-half effort fell short.
Indeed, each of the Jaguars' three 10-point second-half comebacks this year have come at home. They are 3-0 in Jacksonville in such scenarios but 0-3 on the road. Going into Kansas City will make a repeat extremely tough.
Yet the last time the Chiefs blew a double-digit halftime lead was in their last playoff game.
The Cincinnati Bengals went to Arrowhead for last year's AFC Championship Game, trailed by 11 points through two quarters and won in overtime.
That win saw Joe Burrow – the first overall pick a year before Lawrence – really announce himself on the biggest stage. However, the Jaguars' hopes of claiming their own underdog victory may rely more on their success in stopping the elite QB on the other side of the field.
'The band is back together' – Smith-Schuster and Hunt help Chiefs stay perfect
JuJu Smith-Schuster declared "the band is back together" after helping the Kansas City Chiefs stay perfect for the season with Monday's 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 130 yards as the Chiefs overcame the absence of injured receiver Rashee Rice to make their first 5-0 start since 2018 – the team's first campaign with Patrick Mahomes as their starting quarterback.
Kareem Hunt also excelled, rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown – his first score for the Chiefs since they released him six years ago, before bringing him back last month.
Smith-Schuster, meanwhile, returned to the team in August, having played a key role in their 2022 Super Bowl-winning season.
Speaking after the victory, the former second-round draft pick said: "It's pretty cool getting the guys back. I'd say it's like the band is back together."
The Chiefs are one of just two teams, alongside the Minnesota Vikings, to boast a 100% record for the season.
Quarterback Mahomes hailed the impact of both Smith-Schuster and Hunt after their latest win, comparing the former to his favourite target, tight end Travis Kelce.
"It's a credit to not only the guys and how hard they work, but coach [Andy] Reid and just knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions," Mahomes said.
"Kareem just runs extremely hard. He gets every yard out there, catches the ball, does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win.
"[Smith-Schuster] fits in well in this offense and so he did a great job today. It was cool to get those guys going.
"Trav is kind of one of a kind, but he [Smith-Schuster] has a good feel for the entire concept of the play and so he knows how to get into the open spots.
"He did a good job today of beating man when they played man and finding windows to get big catches."
NFL: Champion Chiefs down Saints, move to 5-0
Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards, Kareem Hunt rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and the Kansas City Chiefs remained unbeaten with Monday's 26-13 win over the scuffling New Orleans Saints.
The reigning two-time Super Bowl champions also got four field goals from Harrison Butker and a rushing touchdown from rookie Xavier Worthy to join the Minnesota Vikings as the only teams to start this season 5-0. It's the first time the Chiefs have won their first five games in a campaign since 2018, Mahomes' first season as the team's starting quarterback.
New Orleans has now lost three straight following a 2-0 start and had starting quarterback Derek Carr exit in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury.
Carr threw touchdown passes to Rashid Shaheed and Foster Moreau before departing, but was held to 165 yards on 18-of-28 passing. The Saints managed just 220 total yards against a Kansas City defence that also intercepted Carr on the game's opening possession to stop a drive inside Chiefs' territory.
The Chiefs marched 78 yards in 10 plays following the turnover to take a 7-0 lead on Hunt's 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. They extended the margin to 10-0 on Butker's 26-yard field goal early in the second.
Shaheed hauled in Carr's deep pass for a 43-yard touchdown to get New Orleans on the board with 8:36 left before half-time, but two more Butker field goals sent Kansas City into the break owning a 16-7 advantage.
The Saints closed the gap again early in the fourth quarter, as Carr capped an 8-play, 65-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Moreau with 14:16 remaining. Kicker Blake Grupe missed the extra-point try, however, to keep the Chiefs' lead at 16-13.
Kansas City responded on the ensuing possession, though. A 50-yard completion from Mahomes to JuJu Smith-Schuster moved the Chiefs deep into New Orleans territory, and Worthy slithered into the end zone from three yards out on a hand-off three plays later to push Kansas City's lead to 23-13 with under 12 minutes to go.
Premier League MD7: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
There were plenty of thrills and spills across the board in the Premier League as matchday seven ran its course.
Manchester City and Arsenal both had to come from behind to beat Fulham and Southampton respectively at home, while there were eight goals scored as Brentford overcame Wolves 5-3, with six of those strikes coming in the first half in west London.
Liverpool kept themselves ahead at the summit thanks to a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, while Manchester United stopped the rot by holding Aston Villa, albeit they have now tallied up their lowest points total after seven games of any Premier League season.
Leicester City, meanwhile, grabbed their first win of the campaign, while Anthony Gordon endured a miserable return to Goodison Park with Newcastle United. In the final fixture of the weekend, Brighton stunned Tottenham, forging a second-half comeback to win 3-2 at the Amex Stadium.
So, after all that, who were the unlucky, and lucky, teams based on the underlying metrics?
Lucky winners: Leicester City
Leicester finally got their first top-flight win of the season on the board, as they edged out Bournemouth 1-0 thanks to Facundo Buonanotte's excellent run and finish.
But, it's fair to say it was something of a smash-and-grab for Steve Cooper's team at the King Power Stadium. Leicester had just six shots, with only two of those hitting the target, and they tallied up just 0.79 expected goals (xG).
On the other hand, Bournemouth had 19 attempts, creating five big chances (a tally bettered only by Brentford's eight and West Ham's nine this week) and accumulating 2.16 xG.
Bournemouth only have themselves to blame for wasteful finishing – they got just two of their efforts on target – but the Cherries can still consider themselves unfortunate.
Unlucky losers: Newcastle
Determined to impress against his former club, Gordon fluffed his lines when his big moment arrived as Newcastle drew 0-0 with Everton on Saturday.
With James Tarkowski having conceded a penalty by recklessly pulling the shirt of Sandro Tonali, Gordon stepped up to the spot, but Jordan Pickford guessed the right way.
While Everton wanted a penalty of their own in the second half, the Toffees were largely second-best and that is backed up by the metrics. Even discounting Gordon's spot-kick, Newcastle finished with 1.26 xG and 14 shots. The hosts accumulated 0.67 xG and had eight attempts.
Lucky winners: Man City
It's not often that the champions are given a run for their money at home, but Fulham did just that.
Indeed, Fulham finished with 2.6 xG at the Etihad Stadium, the fourth-highest total across the league this weekend, while they created five big chances.
Pep Guardiola has said he is not concerned by Man City's unusually open defence, but he will want to see better from his team in that regard after the international break.
Going forward, City benefited from three excellent finishes - two from Mateo Kovacic and one from Jeremy Doku. Their 1.57 xG came from 20 shots, though they created only one big chance.
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