The Jaguars were able to take advantage of the Eagles’ poor clock management to pull out a late victory in last Sunday’s game in London, but their mistakes cost them a chance to take firmer control of the game early in the fourth quarter.
A pass from Trevor Lawrence to tight end Brenton Strange landed the Jaguars at the Eagles’ 1-yard line with less than nine minutes to play, but they burned a break before getting the next play. After a false start and a short run, the Jaguars settled for a pair of late-game penalties around an incompletion and eventually fumbled on fourth down to end the drive without any points.
The Jags had another delay of game in the first quarter, and coach Liam Coen said Wednesday that the penalties were “directly on me.” He also explained how he can do more to make sure the Jaguars don’t continue to struggle with leaving games on time.
“That was probably one of the the loudest atmospheres I have been for a while,” Coen said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “Especially in those crunch moments where, ‘Hey guys, I can help you with my play calling.’ Maybe shorten it, abbreviate it or call it something a little more simplified down there, where it was in that end zone that got especially loud and some of those critical landings.”
The Jaguars had 13 total penalties against the Eagles and another 13 against the Bengals in Week 4. They won that game as well, but the lack of discipline is something that will likely catch up to them if Coen can’t clear the surgery in the coming weeks.