Jaguars 31, Chiefs 28
Q. Down 14-0, what did the team show you in terms of overcoming adversity and where does this one hold a spot for you in terms of its thrilling nature?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, really that's the theme, I think, and that was what we talked about as a team. Although we would like to make things very interesting, and it wasn't perfect by any means, but the resiliency is really what I think this team has and has continued to show.
There was really no flinch or blink when you're down 14-0. I think early on we might have had a little bit of bright eyes in a kind of big game that you can understand a little bit in some ways.
But got down early, made an effort to come back. The guys stuck with it. Halftime, Devin Lloyd shows up again with a huge play. Really took all three phases. I thought all three phases really impacted the game.
A ton of stuff to correct, but the toughness and resiliency is really something I'm proud of.
Q. What was going through your head on that last touchdown --
LIAM COEN: Throw it away (laughter.)
No, he got stepped on and he's coming out of it and you're like, oh, my gosh, throw it away so we can have another down. Man, what an individual effort. Obviously tough moment where -- I can only imagine where he was at in that moment on the ground, but to get up, break, what, three tackles or whatever it was, two tackles and shed some dude off and go run it in the -- that's an unbelievable individual effort.
Yeah, we'd love it to be cleaner and just make it a nice executed play, but at the end of the day, it's about winning, and I'm proud of the toughness that he showed at the end of that game.
Q. You mentioned Devin. What has he meant to this defense over the last however many games?
LIAM COEN: A playmaker, a guy that has just gotten better and better every day, and he's put it on tape through training camp. He's put it on tape throughout the season. Really proud of Devin as a competitor, as a leader. He's somebody that is walking around the facility with a chin up and really confident right now for a reason.
He popped out. That was one of our zero blitzes that he was one of the guys that shows to get the O-line to kind of squeeze, and then he pops out to the passing strength over there and just had another unbelievable play in a critical moment for us. Really proud of Devin.
Q. What did tonight show you about Trevor that maybe you didn't know or weren't sure about?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, they -- I've known the competitor in terms of being with him for a short time, and then obviously going back to some of the games where he's made comebacks, and I have a lot of respect for that. But to see him tonight use his legs the way he did, take some shots while he was running, make a critical throw to BT down the sideline to put us in a position.
Made a huge throw to Dyami on the left sideline to put us, I think, inside the 10-yard line. Yeah, it's a goofy finish, but what a tough moment for him, to be able to say -- he wasn't going to lose, and that's kind of really what it comes down to. He wasn't going to lose.
He made an unbelievable individual effort that hopefully can continue to springboard us.
Q. Does a win like this over the Chiefs tell the rest of the league you guys are legit, or are you worried about putting too much on it?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, it's a -- we won today, tonight. It's a huge moment for our team, for our organization. We have yet to play clean for 60 minutes. Not that you always play 100 percent clean, but we did cut down on some of the penalties.
We still had a few operational issues that frustrate you. But I do think we did play a little cleaner at times tonight. It wasn't perfect, as we know. We've got to go clean up a lot from the tape to go and be ready on a short week especially, so I think this week will kind of show us a little bit more about where we're at.
But huge win. Huge win for us, especially with the one-score game thing. That team has historically won the majority of their one-score games, something that obviously was a struggle for this team last year, and proud of the guys.
Q. You mentioned the wide eyes right out of the gate. Do you think that was just a little bit too much thinking about the moment and maybe the opponent?
LIAM COEN: Nah, they were just juiced. You should have heard our locker room pregame. It was mental. I didn't real have I to go in and say anything before the game. Foye did that for me. They were very juiced. I think it was a little bit more to do with maybe overexcitement, over-enthused for the moment rather than looking around scared. I don't feel like it was that by any means. I think we maybe just had a little bit too much juice going.
You saw us miss more tackles than we had in weeks past. That speaks to guys just a little bit out of control.
Q. Two more on Trevor. The throw to Thomas, the old quarterback in you, how high level was that?
LIAM COEN: That's a high-level throw. That was a double move, kind of an under pump to BT. We put him to the field, put the formation in the boundary, motioned across so he could see the coverage, gave a single high safety; Trevor did a great job holing the post middle with his eyes and laid a dime in there, over the shoulder, exactly where that ball needs to be. It's him or nobody in that moment.
Really big moment for Trevor and for our offense, something obviously we hadn't shown the ability to be extremely explosive through the pass thus far. I did think we took some steps in some ways, but the throw to him, the throw to Dyami, I didn't think he was nothing but cool in that last drive. I'll say that.
Q. Did you sort of have to pick him up at all in that first half when he crosses the line of scrimmage and has a turnover and --
LIAM COEN: No. Look, sometimes it goes your way. The sneak, obviously that's something that's a learning moment for us because we had kind of the tush push going and you don't really want to go over the top when you've got somebody pushing you there. That's a good learning moment for us.
But I didn't ever really see a worry in him. I actually saw a fiery competitor throughout the day, honestly, on the sidelines. I saw a guy that was kind of pissed off at times for some of the things that went down the way they went down. There was no blaming, there was no pointing the fingers. I just thought he stepped up in a critical moment at the end of the game there.
Q. What does Monday night mean to you, and did you watch a lot of Monday Night Football growing up, and who were some of your favorite commentators over the years?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, I remember the Brett Favre game specifically is one that always sticks in my mind. I think it was the one right after his father passed away. It was Monday Night Football where he throws that one on the sideline that somehow gets caught and -- I grew up watching Monday Night Football, NFL obviously my entire life, and have been fortunate enough to coach on Monday night a few times but had not won in a while on Monday Night Football.
Last year we played this same team in Tampa last year on a primetime game, didn't come out with a win. So to have this moment personally is phenomenal, but I'm really proud of this coaching staff and these players.
Q. Brian obviously a big catch at the end, drawing the penalty in the end zone, coming back for the ball. What can you say about him and his resiliency?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, he was locked in all day. He made a couple of plays early and then we just didn't really have a rhythm to keep getting those guys touches. I thought a bunch of guys made a play, though. If you look at that whole crew, BT specifically making that play at the end of the game, drawing the penalty in the end zone, huge. Made a big one for us earlier, Travis Hunter makes plays, Parker Washington scores a touchdown, Dyami makes a catch.
That whole group did make plays in this game to help us go win. Now it's about taking the next step as a receiving corps and a quarterback and the pass game in general to go take some confidence from this and keep building.
Q. Passing offense, Brent went down, but season high, 7 for 9, to Hunter and to Thomas, Jr., for 144 yards. Yet you're down 14-0, didn't panic, 26 pass attempts, 25 rushing attempts. Just your overall thoughts on this offense?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, tried to -- everything we do is to try to stay balanced. Now, sometimes the run versus the pass just starts going in different directions for different reasons, but we did try to stay the course. They did a nice job stopping some of our mid zones, so we tried to get the ball on the perimeter a little bit. Ended up getting over 100 in the game rushing, which was a benefit. We did need to keep running the football.
But our O-line has continued to protect at a high level. They've continued to be able to allow us to run the football when we need to. Trevor obviously helped us out big time with using his legs.
I think although not perfect, again, the offense, I'm proud of the red zone and the 3rd downs. We had the one red zone obviously over the top, but we would have been 4 for 4, and we were our best, I think, this year on 3rd down, which was something we really wanted to emphasize going into this game.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports