Jaguars' Liam Coen Explains Fourth Down Process vs. Bengals

“It’s a 100 percent a ‘go.’ That’s a 100 percent a ‘go,’” Coen said in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's game, with a sound of frustration in his voice following game that was in the Jaguars grasp and would've put them at a 2-0 mark for the first time since 2018.

Following a Devin Lloyd interception, the Jaguars had the ball at the Bengals' 12-yard line with just under five and a half minutes to play in the fourth quarter, up 27-24 with a chance to put the game away. Then, disaster followed: a tackle for loss on first down, an incompletion, and a nine-yard run. Coen chose to go for it on fourth down, and Trevor Lawrence's pass to Brian Thomas Jr. fell incomplete, creating an empty possession in a critical moment of the game.

Coen had a chance to explain the process on the critical fourth-down play in a media session on Monday. When asked whether he’ll always follow the analytics or trust his gut, the former offensive coordinator stated that it is a combination of both based on the situation, who the other team has on the other side of the ball.

"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, and 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."

Coen further discussed that when it comes down to it, he wanted to be aggressive and give his guys a chance to close out games on their terms. However, those types of decisions could change based on a number of factors, and even if the Jaguars didn't convert, it would've been a challenge for the Bengals initially to drive 90 yards downfield for the go-ahead score, which they went on to do.

"At the end of the day, 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 just 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 defense is playing," Coen said.

"I felt confident that if we did not get that, that it would take a lot for them to go down and drive 90 to go score, and it did, it took them two fourth down conversions and pass interference for them to have the opportunity to go down and score, and kudos to them. They did."

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