The Kansas City Chiefs jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter Sunday when wide receiver Kadarius Toney was left wide open near the right sideline.
On Monday, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said headset issues were partially to blame for that defensive breakdown.
“We got caught, actually, about two plays in a row there our defensive headset went down,” Pederson said. “We had to make a call on the fly, and communication was two different calls on the field, so there was a missed assignment.
“You try to hand signal it, which we try to do, but with the time running and breaking the huddle, Foye [Oluokun] does a nice job of getting the guys lined up anyway, and being in that environment, it was just a little bit loud and couldn’t hear all the calls. It’s unfortunate.”
Pederson said the pair of defensive plays in the first quarter were the only two Sunday when the headsets were down. He also said it’s on Jaguars coaches to prepare for contingencies like headsets not working.
“It’s the same way on offense,” Pederson said. “If the headset goes down, Trevor [Lawrence] has a handful of plays he can get to right away. We’ve got to make sure that when that happens that the guys are prepared.”
While the headsets may have contributed to the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the day, that can’t be blamed for the other three or just about all of the 486 yards of total offense racked up by the Kansas City offense.