Liam Coen's shoddy 4th-down process comes back to haunt Jaguars late in London

Guys, we're at a weird point in the Jacksonville Jaguars' history. There's no debate that Liam Coen changed the franchise's trajectory overnight and made the Jags a legitimate regular-season darling. However, his recent failures while managing games have put his players in a bind.

Fans and hot-take proprietors often focus on the end result of a coach's process to determine whether or not they made the right moves. If a play caller converts a fourth-and-3 from his own 37-yard line, he's a gutsy gambler who believes in his guys. But if his offense doesn't get it, he's an idiot who just gave the other team phenomenal field position. That's not how process thinking works, though.

Nick Saban's famous philosophy states that we're supposed to be focused on the journey it takes to get to the final outcome. Yes, we all want to be winners, but are we willing to do what it takes to be winners for as long as it takes?

Coen has turned the Jags into a winner. Again, that isn't a debate. That being said, his game management on fourth downs has been baffling at best and catastrophic at its worst. With a tough batch of games against some explosive opponents left on the schedule, it may be time for Jacksonville's Ol' Ball Coach to revisit how he traverses the rest of Jacksonville's gridiron odyssey in 2026.

Despite the hurdles, Liam Coen had a chance to lead the Jaguars to victory

Once again, the Jaguars needed Cam Little to prove that his right leg was blessed by the Lord above. After a string of passes that didn't take any time off the clock or give the offense a decent chance at converting a fourth-and-4, Little booted a 60-yard field goal on what would be the team's last possession of the game.

Jacksonville's secondary was being taken to school all day, so the best path to victory was actually the one that kept the offense on the field as long as possible. Coen's decision to call three consecutive passes took the ball out of his efficient running game's hands; which is egregious when you consider the resources he and James Gladstone invested to make the team's rushing attack more consistent.

On second down, Trevor Lawrence took a long shot to Parker Washington that wasn't necessary. With more than two minutes to go at the time, the Jags didn't need to get a huge chunk of yardage yet. In actuality, they needed to keep getting first downs so they could decide if they wanted to go for the win or surge into overtime feeling strong.

Coen's decision-making before sending Little onto the field hinted that he would go for the fourth-and-4 to keep his offense rolling. His choice to kick at that point in the game negated any benefit of the doubt his critics could've given him, as the Houston Texans scored a touchdown in the first quarter after Coen opted against punting or going for a long field goal and failed the fourth-down conversion.

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Liam Coen's inconsistency is the only thing that's consistent right now

Liam Coen's approach on fourth downs creates extra opportunities to keep the ball but also takes points off the board. Since taking the helm in Jax, the team has dropped multiple games by less than seven points. Losses are inevitable in the NFL, which is why you score whenever you can so you can control the sport's inherent volatility as much as possible.

That being said, the new school's aggressiveness on fourth downs isn't as chaotic as it seems. Keeping the ball in their best players' hands, taking more time off the clock, and increasing their chances of scoring touchdowns instead of field goals are some of the many benefits the new wave of coaches get to experience while sticking to their guns.

Personally, I think Coen's process on fourth downs is an easy fix. When the game's on the line, he has to stick with the girl who brought him to the dance. The Jags would've gotten to overtime if they kept possession and didn't give Houston enough time to kick their game-winning field goal. Sending Cam Little out with 1:55 left essentially asked Jacksonville's worst group of players (the woeful secondary) to save the game on their own.

As the Jaguars begin their bye week, the team's head coach will get a lot of time to reflect on how he'll navigate fourth downs moving forward. Switching philosophies midgame doesn't help anybody, so Coen will have to figure out which shield he'd rather be carried out on as the push to repeat as AFC South Champions continues.

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