Preparation comes in different shapes and sizes, and the advantages shift on a week-to-week basis.
For the Jacksonville Jaguars, this week in their matchup against the Houston Texans, they’ll have plenty of film to review that could give them the upper hand.
Conversely, so does Houston, but with a twist.
The Jaguars will take on the Texans at EverBank Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 21, their first AFC South matchup of the year. They’ll do so with the Texans coming off of games against two eerily familiar teams — the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both places that are Jaguars head coach Liam Coen’s old stomping grounds.
Coen was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024, and he was with the Rams from 2018-20 and 2022 under his former mentor Sean McVay.
While the advantage is likely small, coaches and players will take any edge they can in a game of inches, such as the NFL.
“We’ve got some good formations to work with, things that we formationally, conceptually, things that we obviously have and want to sometimes deploy that it really helps us get a good look at maybe how they’ll adjust, how they’ll play certain formations, certain motions, certain concepts, what’s been helpful, what hasn’t worked, things like that,” Coen said Wednesday.
“Those are all very beneficial to have. So, it gives us just a little bit different inventory, especially going into only having two weeks but those are two weeks of good tape for us.”
The Texans lost both matchups. In Week 1, the team lost 14-9. On Monday Night Football in Week 2, Houston lost 20-19.
While those aren’t highly productive outings from a scoring perspective, the Buccaneers still totaled 25 first downs and 360 total net yards.
Furthermore, Tampa ran 72 snaps compared to Houston’s 46 on offense. They rushed for 169 yards. In Week 1, Houston and Los Angeles posted eerily similar numbers. However, the major advantage L.A. had in that contest was on third down, a 54% conversion percentage compared to 22% for Houston.
Now, the Jaguars will have an opportunity to adjust to how the Rams and Buccaneers attacked Houston and how Houston adjusted to their variations on offense.
How the Houston Texans could take advantage of Jacksonville’s system
The value isn’t completely one-sided. The Texans also played against two teams that deploy a similar offensive scheme to Jacksonville. And there are differences between the personnel that the Rams and Buccaneers have.
In Week 1, Rams receiver Puka Nacua caught 10 passes for 130 yards. In Week 2, while he didn’t have quite the same performance, Mike Evans caught five passes for 56 yards. They were able to find a balance in their pass-to-run ratio.
It illustrates that attacking Houston in different ways could be the key to success this week, and it won’t eliminate the Jaguars from operating in a certain way.
“They ran for 170 yards and also hit some screens that ended up being explosive plays and game-changing plays,” Coen said of the Buccaneers.
“I think that’s kind of the balance you’re hunting up when you’re talking about trying to neutralize darn good rushers and edge players to help these OL, like that’s another way that you’re helping the offensive line to not just sit there and say, we’re going to drop back 40 times and put these guys in a position to just go tee off and do what they do best.”
Jacksonville also doesn’t necessarily have the advantage that L.A. and Tampa have. Nacua is a 6-foot-2, 212-pound physical receiver who can line up anywhere on the field. Meanwhile, Evans is 6-foot-5, 231 pounds and has blazing speed that defenses must account for.
The Texans will also have the advantage of knowing how Jacksonville’s offense runs beyond playing the Texans and the Rams. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans ascended within the NFL ranks with the San Francisco 49ers. That team played the Rams twice a year. The coaching trees have a lot of intersections, but the Jaguars hold the element of surprise.
Jaguars could catch Texans off guard on Sunday
While Jacksonville won’t be running anything that Houston hasn’t seen from one time or another, the team does have one element of surprise — Coen.
The Jaguars haven’t shown everything the team will run. They have different personnel than Coen was used to coaching, and different personnel than what Ryans was used to coaching against.
But Coen’s way of thinking and his play-to-play breakdowns don’t necessarily emulate Houston or San Francisco. He will have an opportunity to catch the Texans off guard.
For instance, here’s a snippet of what Coen said about how the team might diversify its screen game.
“We’ve tried to detail the heck out of those. Because every look and every screen is different in its own entity and so whether somebody blitzes, we don’t block blitzers, we just want to level up and go get our eyes inside this week, or hey, when they blitz, the next player that you’re going to look for is now up or outside this week, trying to detail those things up for these guys so that they’re prepared for any of those looks that can come up,” said Coen.
“Is it a screen that we like verse zone better or is it a screen that we like verse man better and some of those things and trying to set them up formationally.”
Part of Coen’s scheme is using motion to “undress” a defense, meaning to figure out what the defense will actually deploy at any moment. The onus for that will be on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and on his execution of understanding what is going to happen.
Against Houston, they’ll need a great plan to execute their mission of winning.
“We have got to have another sound plan when it comes to protecting the quarterback but also in the run game, manufacturing different ways to manipulate those guys,” said Coen.
“Like I said, it takes all 11, but specifically the way that they want to roll off and come off the rock and play. Talented, got a lot of respect for the way that those guys play the game and can be very disruptive.”
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: What’s an advantage the Jaguars have this week against the Texans? Coen explains the value
Reporting by Demetrius Harvey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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