JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s best start in seven years gets a litmus test in prime time on Monday night.
The Jaguars have perhaps the league’s best defense but a big challenge awaits — Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
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The Jaguars (3-1) haven’t beaten the Chiefs (2-2) since 2009 and have never beaten Mahomes (0-4). They’ll get another shot to do that at EverBank Stadium at 8:15 Monday night.
“The operation he owns. He owns the whole thing. He can see it pre-snap, make adjustments, tell the guys to run different routes if he doesn’t like the look that he is seeing. Then obviously, the accuracy within the timing and rhythm of a play,” Coen said of Mahomes.
“He’s very accurate and then when he does probably do what he does best is getting on the move and being a passer. Remaining a passer first, being able to obviously make throws this way, that way (arm motions), this way, over his head. Yeah, he is very impressive and it’s a great challenge for our guys this week.”
The Monday night glare
Jacksonville is in the NFL’s premier TV slot for the 18th time and third consecutive season. The Jaguars are 7-5 at home on Monday night. For the rest of the country, it’s an opportunity to see how different the Jaguars look under Coen than they did in Doug Pederson’s disastrous final season in 2024.
The Jaguars were hammered by the Bills 47-10 on the road last year. They lost to the Bengals in overtime in 2023. Prior to that, Jacksonville hadn’t played on “Monday Night Football” since 2011.
“Huge, just a great opportunity, like we talked about in the team meeting today to go play a cleaner 60 minutes and see what happens, guys,” Coen said. “Like we have done so many good things. It is truly about us getting better, improving, taking the next step in all three phases and just go trust it and play. This is going to be a blast.”
What has gone right
The Jaguars have been on a defensive tear this year. First-year coordinator Anthony Campanile’s unit has forced a league-high 13 takeaways. They are one of just three teams in the last 30 years to have three or more takeaways and allow fewer than 400 total yards in the first four games of the season. The 1996 Packers and 2002 Eagles are the other teams.
Linebacker Devin Lloyd is playing the best in his four-year career (in a contract year, too). He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors this week. The sacks haven’t come enough, but the pressures by Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker have contributed to some of those takeaways. Walker had wrist surgery this week and his game status for Monday is up in the air.
Can Jacksonville continue that same success against Mahomes? Coen said the Jaguars know that the Kansas City star is going to make a head-turning play at some point in the game. Coen’s focus is to flush whatever unbelievable play Mahomes makes and move on to the next snap.
“Like we just got to go and huddle up, call the next play, refocus, understand that they got good players too and they’re going to make some, and that’s football,” Coen said. “That’s football and if we’re going to have a mentally tough team that we’re trying to continue to preach, that has to be a part of handling adversity, handling a difficult play, and being able to move on. I think that’s part of the identity of our team.”
Running back Travis Etienne and the offensive line have clicked. Etienne has shown big play ability at times during his career, but not at this pace. His 394 rushing yards are third in the NFL and rank behind only Leonard Fournette’s start in 2019 (404) for more yardage in the first four games in Jacksonville history. Coen did wonders with Tampa Bay’s offensive line and rushing attack in his lone season there, helping the Bucs go from last in the league in 2023 (88.8 yards per game) to fourth (149.2).
The Jaguars want to own the ground game and supplement it with the pass.
What needs work
Penalties have been a major issue, with an NFL-high 38 flags being enforced against the Jaguars. They committed a season-high 12 against San Francisco in Week 4.
The passing game as a whole has been more cold than hot. According to Pro Football Reference, Trevor Lawrence has 16 dropped passes by his receivers. That’s double the number of the next closest quarterback. Jacksonville receivers have produced one touchdown catch (Dyami Brown). Tight end Hunter Long has a couple touchdown grabs, with Etienne and rookie Bhayshul Tuten catching the others.
Brian Thomas Jr. has started poorly, catching just 12 of his 32 targets. Rookie Travis Hunter hasn’t been a major factor on offense either (13 catches, 118 yards). Lawrence said making the explosive play is “going to happen,” but it just hasn’t quite clicked yet.
“Definitely a little frustrated. Obviously, that’s something that you want to do well, you want to feel like you come out of the game and as a quarterback, that’s a huge part of my job obviously,” Lawrence said. “I mean it’s running the whole offense and getting us in the right play and all that stuff, but it’s throwing and catching too and I take responsibility for the throws I might miss or the ones where we’re not on the same page, me and wideouts or tight ends or whoever it is, and I just think there’s a lot of meat on the bone that we’re leaving out there.”