Turnovers: Chiefs, Jaguars Are Quintessential Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object

Meanwhile, Jacksonville leads the league in takeaways (13), interceptions (nine) and turnover margin (plus-nine).

“Yeah, they catch the ball well, first of all, and they work,” head coach Andy Reid said Thursday. “They're disciplined in their lanes, on their zones, drops, opportunistic on tipped balls. And then they've stripped out a couple balls. They go after you. You’ve got to make sure that you're aware of that as you play them for sure.”

Fundamentally sound

Mahomes is aware. The quarterback noted that NFL teams don’t get that many takeaways in four games in accidental fashion.

“First off, very fundamentally sound,” Mahomes said Thursday. “And when you have a fundamentally sound defense that's that talented with the amount of players that they have at every single level of the defense, that's a hard defense to go against.

“And they do a great job attacking the football. They're causing the turnovers, not like the turnovers are just happening there. They're punching the football, they're tipping passes, they're intercepting the football, and they get their hands on it.”

Keeping hands on footballs might be even more of a challenge on Monday night. The forecast currently calls for 40 percent chance of thunderstorms and 75 degrees, the perfect recipe for slippery footballs.

“The guys have done a nice job keeping it high and tight when needed,” Reid said, “and not having tipped balls. All the things that kind of lead to those. And then, this is a potential weather game, so you add that into it, too. You got to make sure that you really take care of the football.”

Fumbles few and far between

So far this season, the Chiefs have fumbled four times, but that includes two backward passes in the Week 3 win over the Giants, including the remarkable recovery Mahomes made to prevent a touchdown. Isiah Pacheco hasn’t fumbled since the Super Bowl 58 win over San Francisco. He’s gone 152 straight touches without one.

“It'll be a great challenge for us,” Mahomes added. “We have to make sure that we're really fundamentally sound as well, and we can't give them any opportunity because they're capitalizing on them.”

During Steve Spagnuolo’s time as Kansas City defensive coordinator (2019-present), the Chiefs are 41-1 (.976) when winning the turnover margin. Including a 5-0 mark in postseason, the Chiefs have captured 39 straight victories under those circumstances, their last loss coming Oct. 13, 2019.