Jacksonville Jaguars fans were forced to spend four seasons stomaching an absolutely abysmal product after the franchise took a nose dive following the 2017-18 campaign that saw the team advance to the AFC Championship before losing to the Patriots.
However, they were treated to a glimmer of hope when the Jags scooped up Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. His rookie campaign left plenty to be desired, but the quarterback managed to come into his own after Doug Pederson came on as head coach and helped the team punch its ticket to the postseason.
Jacksonville managed to advance to the second round after the Chargers choked away a 27-point lead in their wild card matchup last weekend, and the vibes in the Jaguars locker room have been absolutely immaculate since the QB took some of his teammates to Waffle House to celebrate the comeback victory.
However, Lawrence and Co. will be facing an uphill battle when they head to Kansas City on Saturday to face off against the top-seeded Chiefs in a showdown where the road team is currently listed as a 9-point underdog.
The Chiefs are undoubtedly hoping they’ll be able to capitalize on their home-field advantage, and Lawrence committed what could be a major unforced error on Wednesday when he downplayed the impact he expects the crowd noise at Arrowhead Stadium to have over the course of the contest.
Trevor Lawrence: "I can't imagine Arrowhead will be much louder than Jacksonville" pic.twitter.com/g80azy2TIQ
— BBQ Dom (@RealBBQDom) January 18, 2023
While you could argue the face of the franchise was really trying to give props to the Jacksonville faithful, he did so at the expense of Chiefs supporters who now how some extra motivation to get very, very loud when the two squads take to the gridiron.
We’ll obviously have to wait and see if Lawrence’s comments come back to haunt him, but plenty of Kansas City fans seem to think he’s going to regret giving them even more incentive than they already had.
Someone tell Trevor Lawrence that we made a ref cry cause the noise at Arrowhead lmao
— Girl I Don’t (@URSure816) January 19, 2023
Who will be at the game Saturday? Trevor Lawrence said he doesn’t expect the environment at Arrowhead to be much different than Jacksonville during the wild card round. Need y’all to show this dude 142 decibels
— Arrowhead Live (@ArrowheadLive) January 19, 2023
All of #ChiefsKingdom after they heard Trevor Lawrence talk about the crowd noise at Arrowhead: pic.twitter.com/qIUisW9JTi
— Lauren (@dogmomRN23) January 19, 2023
“I can’t imagine Arrowhead Stadium will be much louder than our fans were here on Saturday.”
– Trevor Lawrence
Oh, you sweet summer child. See you Saturday… #ChiefsKingdom #DUUUVAL
— Krown City King (@KrownCityKing) January 19, 2023
We’ll find out soon enough.