rr CONTROVERSY IN NFL: Kansas City Chiefs star heavily criticized by fans for “quitting” in a pivotal game against Jacksonville Jaguars, causing team morale to plummet and the results to be disastrous!.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones chases Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in Week 5.
The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars on an absolutely bizarre play to close out Week 5, as quarterback Trevor Lawrence tripped and fell taking a snap on the goal line, only to get back up and scramble his way past a loafing Chris Jones.
The NFL’s social media team shared a video of what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. And the footage further exposed Jones’ lack of effort on the final defensive play for KC.
Before long, several NFL sites and news outlets called out Jones for seemingly standing around aimlessly as Lawrence stumbles, falls, stumbles again, and then breaks a tackle to find the end zone.
“Chris Jones looked like he quit on this play,” NFL news site uSTADIUM posted after the loss.
Similarly, Underdog NFL commented sarcastically: “Chiefs DT Chris Jones with the all-out effort to stop the TD.”
“JPA” football agreed that this was “questionable effort” from Jones, and long-time sports T.V. personality Jim Rome said: “Chris Jones just selling out with the game on the line. Love to see it!”
Several fans also weighed in with similar thoughts, as Jones was absolutely roasted on social media for failing to give it his all in a critical moment.
Jones has not exactly filled up the stat sheet in 2025. Granted, as the superstar of the KC defensive line, the three-time first-team All-Pro does face his fair share of double-teams, but he’s managed to overcome extra attention throughout his career.
This season, that hasn’t really been the case, and it certainly was not the story on Monday night as the Jaguars scored 24 points in the second half to steal the game from the Chiefs.
After mostly being blanked again on October 6 — finishing with 1 tackle and 1 QB hit — Jones now has just 1.0 sack and 6 QB hits through his first 5 starts.
The $158 million man has also been outplayed by defensive end George Karlaftis in the “QB pressures” department, according to Pro Football Focus. And his lack of impact is beginning to frustrate some of the fans around Chiefs Kingdom.
“Chris jones I love you, but your effort on this play with the game on the line genuinely makes me want to punch a hole in my wall,” a KC fan wrote following Week 5, calling the defense on the last touchdown “pathetic.”
Another fan chimed in that “Chris Jones makes way too much money to be so nonexistent this season.”
And those two users weren’t alone. At the end of the day, the players with the highest salaries always take on a large portion of the blame when things go wrong. But Jones made it too easy for his critics this time.
One of the first things you learn as a child playing sports is to play through the whistle. Jones didn’t do that on Lawrence’s final touchdown run, and it’s a bad look for the 2-3 defending AFC champions.
Outside of a few big plays to wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter, the Chiefs mostly contained the Jaguars’ passing attack on Monday night, and they did a good job with running back Travis Etienne.
The issue was containing Lawrence whenever he utilized his legs.
The Jaguars QB finished as Jacksonville’s leading rusher, with 10 scrambles for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Etienne only carried the ball 12 times for 49 rushing yards.
It seems the Chiefs‘ defense underestimated Lawrence’s speed heading into Week 5. Ironically, the same scenario occurred on the other side of the football, as Patrick Mahomes led all KC ball carriers with 60 rushing yards and 1 touchdown.
Running back Kareem Hunt did end up scoring 2 touchdowns despite rushing for fewer yards than his QB — although he did outpace Isiah Pacheco.
