Jags Pound Chiefs 31-6

One time with speed, another time with power, Fred Taylor showed the league how potent a force he could be this season.

The Jacksonville tailback ran for touchdowns of 16 and 86 yards Thursday night to lift the Jaguars to a 31-6 exhibition victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The first run came when the second-year player out of Florida slid through the right side of the line and easily sloughed off three potential tacklers for a 16-yard score and a 7-0 lead.

"We found out how good he was last year," Jaguars tackle Tony Boselli said. "He's an explosive back. He can do a lot of things from a lot of different places on the field. I'm glad he's on my team."

Taylor, who rushed for 1,223 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in his rookie season, finished with seven carries for 105 yards. The two touchdowns came after three runs in which he barely crossed the line of scrimmage.

"That's the run game," coach Tom Coughlin said. "You just have to keep running the ball. You can't be discouraged by a situation where you're not successful. One time not successful doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to do something good the next time."

Under new coordinator Dom Capers, the Jaguars (2-1) got a solid game as well from their revamped defense, showing all kinds of blitz packages and playing 3@1/2 quarters of shutout ball before giving up a late garbage touchdown. It was a stark contrast to last week, a 27-20 loss to the New York Giants in which Jacksonville gave up 269 passing yards in the first half.

"Jacksonville threw every blitz they had at us," irst-year Chiefs coach Gunther Cunningham said. "You can't prepare a team for that type of blitzing with just two days of practice. They hadn't blitzed that much in the first two games. I guess they took it out on us."

The Chiefs (1-2) played their first-unit offense into the third quarter, but neither Kimble Anders nor Bam Morris, the two backs competing for the starting job, had much luck in Cunningham's attempt at smashmouth offense.

Anders finished with 11 yards on three carries and Morris rushed nine times for 37 yards, giving him 53 yards through three exhibition games. The weak offensive effort came on top of a seven-point output last week in a loss to Tampa Bay.

Elvis Grbac finished 7-for-20 for 57 yards with two interceptions. Backup Warren Moon fared better, going 14-for-22 for 162 yards and a touchdown mainly against Jacksonville's second team.

The Chiefs came into the game with several injuries and missing their first-round draft pick, offensive lineman John Tait, who has indicated he may hold out the season.

"It's only preseason," Chiefs receiver Andre Rison said. "We're all right. When we get some starters back, it will make a difference. In the preseason, you'll have your ups and downs. This was a down."

Jaguars defensive end Tony Brackens had two of the team's six sacks, one forced fumble and another tackle for a loss, all in the first eight minutes of the game.

After starting cornerback Dave Thomas left with a broken nose, first-round draft pick Fernando Bryant replaced him and came out with an interception and an all-around solid coverage game.

Cornerback Aaron Beasley had a sack and a pretty interception in which he got one hand on Grbac's pass and brought the ball in while falling down on the sideline.

"We keep learning the packages and getting better," Beasley said. "It's really coming along."

In addition to Thomas' injury, Jaguars offensive lineman Leon Searcy left late in the first half after suffering a blow to the knee.

Meanwhile, one of Kansas City's few bona fide threats on offense, tight end Tony Gonzalez, left on the last play of the first quarter. He was diagnosed with a sprained right knee.

Quarterback Mark Brunell and the rest of the Jaguars offense was solid, as well. Playing most of the first half, Brunell finished 7-for-13 for 71 yards and one touchdown, an 8-yard throw to Kyle Brady for a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.

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