Somewhere in Riverside, a Jaguars fan is still catching their breath from Sunday. Liam Coen’s team needed an Ameer Abdullah kickoff return and a Cam Little 57-yarder as time expired to win ugly across the pond, 19-17 over the Eagles in London.
It was a great finish, but it never should have come down to that. Jacksonville outgained Philadelphia 408-232 and still trailed with eight seconds left, and the main reason is a problem Coen has to own: the Jaguars were flagged 13 times for 100 yards, a week after 13 penalties for 125 yards at Cincinnati.
The flags are costing the Jaguars points
Penalties are up across the league this season, so some of this is the environment. Through Week 4, the NFL logged 963 accepted penalties, the most at that point since 1978. But Jacksonville’s flags are landing at the worst possible moments.
In Cincinnati, a holding call wiped out a 44-yard Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run and a roughing-the-passer penalty erased a Travis Hunter interception. In London, the Jaguars went 0-for-3 in the red zone, and three pre-snap penalties on one fourth-quarter first-and-goal helped turn a sure score into a turnover on downs. We already covered the red-zone gambles. Delay-of-game and false-start flags inside the 5-yard line point back to preparation, and preparation is on the head coach.
Coen didn’t dodge where the game slipped away.
“When you just boil it down to where we could have maybe made that game not where it ended up being was offensively in the red zone,” Coen said Monday, via the team’s website.
The Jaguars became the first team since the 2011 Seahawks to win consecutive games with 13-plus penalties in each. Nobody should want to try for a third. Coen summed up Sunday with “It ain’t pretty, but it’s gritty,” and grit has carried them, but it is a thin margin for a team that has stayed top five in every major power ranking.
The defense is good enough to hide plenty. Jacksonville is allowing 14.0 points per game, second in the NFL, and ranks third in defensive EPA per play at Sumer Sports. The Eagles ran for 22 yards on 18 carries. Trevor Lawrence threw for 331 yards and two touchdown passes. The talent to win the AFC South comfortably is already in the building.
“One of the craziest games, maybe the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve been in some pretty wild ones,” Lawrence said, per The Associated Press.
Houston is next, Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET at Wembley Stadium on NFL Network. The Texans are 1-4, just added Marvin Harrison Jr. and have won three of the last four meetings. Jacksonville also has to manage Anton Harrison’s knee injury and a new long snapper, which means more moving parts up front.
A two-game lead in the AFC South is a gift. Coen’s job this week is to keep his team from handing a desperate division rival the free yards it will need to steal one.
More on the Jacksonville Jaguars
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- Three Things to Know About Texans Heading Into Week 6 vs. Jaguars
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