Coen says he wants the Jaguars to ‘close out games on our terms’

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen says he will continue to be aggressive when determining how the team should try to close out games.

The Jaguars slipped to a 31-27 road defeat against Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday having led for most of the match at the Paycor Stadium in Ohio.

While the Jags are +225 to win the AFC South division after the defeat, they returned to Jacksonville knowing they had produced an excellent performance.

The Bengals drove 92 yards on 15 plays in the final four minutes, with back-up quarterback Jake Browning scoring on a one-yard sneak with 18 seconds remaining.

The Jaguars had the ball at the Bengals’ 12-yard line with just under five and a half minutes remaining. They led 27-24 and had the chance to put the game to bed.

However, after a tackle for a loss on first down, an incompletion and a nine-yard run, Coen boldly decided to go for it on fourth down.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s pass to Brian Thomas Jr fell incomplete, handing the Bengals the chance to piece together their game-winning drive.

When asked why he had been so adventurous in that situation, Coen insisted he felt it was the right move to make given the factors he needed to consider.

“That was a combination of data and gut where you’re saying, okay, who’s on the other side, other quarterback, your opposing quarterback on the road, to go up six there,” Coen said.

“We’ve watched that scenario play out too many times in my game management meeting for me to not feel a hundred percent confident with that decision.

“You watch so many opportunities where you do that, you go up six, you kick it off, they get the ball at the plus 30-to-35-yard line, and now their mindset is touchdown.

“So, you go down and they go down and score, and you lose by one point. You guys would all be killing me today anyway.”

“I want to be aggressive and give ourselves a chance to go close games out on our terms but, each week, those decisions definitely could change.

“It could be based on the weather, based on where we are and the game, how our guys are playing, how their guys are playing, the quarterback, all those things, how our defence is playing.”

Having defeated the Carolina Panthers on the opening weekend, the Jaguars could arguably count themselves unfortunate not to have followed up against the Bengals.

Coen stressed that a 15-play, 92-yard drive in the final four minutes was an unlikely occurrence and insisted he would make the same decision again.

The Jaguars have a chance to make amends this weekend when they welcome divisional rivals Houston Texans to the EverBank Stadium.

The Texans were beaten 14-9 by the Los Angeles Rams in their season opener, before slipping to a 20-19 defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend.

They will fancy their chances of bouncing back on Sunday having edged two tight contests against the Jaguars last season.

Despite the disappointment in Cincinnati, the Jaguars’ head coach believes his team has the capacity to bounce back when they face the Texans.

“We definitely did some really good things in that game on Sunday and ultimately didn’t close it out,” Coen added. “That’s the frustrating part. We do need to learn how to win as a team in 2025.

“It’s a whole new everything and every team needs to come together in those moments. This is a great test for us to see how we respond going into a big divisional game.”