The Kansas City Chiefs, led by MVP favorite Patrick Mahomes, will be hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the divisional round.
The two teams met midway through the season with the Chiefs taking a 27-17 victory.
The Jaguars have been one of the most aggressive, hard-hitting, physical teams in football this year.
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The Jags delivered a few big hits during their Chiefs game, and Mahomes wants to do a better job this time around in not setting up his receivers to get hit.
“Yeah, they're a fast, physical team," Mahomes said. "They fly around. They fly to the football. I got to do better in not leading guys into hits like that. So I'll try to protect my receivers the best I can, but we're going to still be aggressive. We're going to throw the ball down the field when we get the opportunities to.
"But it's all going to start with up front. Our guys blocking their defensive line, which has a lot of great players there. So, I'm just going to do whatever I can to have success every play that I get the opportunity to.”
Patrick Mahomes thinks the only thing different about the Jaguars is their confidence
While Mahomes and the Chiefs are familiar with the Jags after beating them earlier in the year, he knows they're the same team but with more confidence.
“I think the only difference is they might just have a little bit more confidence because they're winning football games right now," Mahomes said. "But they're a talented team.
"I knew that the first time we played them, you can see the talent that they had. They were flying around to the football. They made a few mistakes here and there, and that's why we kind of got the win the first time.
"But we understand how good this football team is and how much of a challenge it is going to be for us to go out there and try to find a way to get a win. And so, we're trying to prepare ourselves the best way possible that we can find a way to win it there on Saturday.”
The two will face off on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to the AFC championship round against the winner of the Bills-Bengals game.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs, and H/T Sportskeeda.
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