The Jacksonville Jaguars???!!!
Breaking Down Jacksonville's Dominating Offensive Performance vs. the Broncos
You don’t just walk into Denver and drop 34 points on one of the best defenses in the NFL by accident. Liam Coen and the Jaguars had a great plan for attacking the Broncos, and that led to a huge win in front of a stunned Mile-High crowd.
Trevor Lawrence was outstanding once again and now has 14 total touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and has played to a 120.8 passer rating over his last 4 games. But one of the keys to Jacksonville’s success on Sunday was little-know receiver Parker Washington (who quietly leads the Jags in receptions and yards this season).
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Even so, he doesn’t typically get the attention from defenses that Brian Thomas and Jakobi Meyers do. And that was at the center of Jacksonville’s game plan according to Liam Coen:
“We weren’t sure who [Pat] Surtain would match, whether it would be B.T. [Brian Thomas] or Jakobi [Meyers]. And a lot of things were kind of set up for Parker to have a day and to be one of the #1 targets of today. So that didn’t just happen. We prepared that way all week. Wanted to get him involved early. And he had a look in his eye from a very early start that he was gonna have a big day.”
Washington finished with 6 receptions for a career-high 145 yards and a touchdown, while Thomas and Meyers combined for just 6 catches and 63 yards.
The Jaguars’ first touchdown of the game was a great illustration of how Coen was looking to get Parker the ball.
This was a 3rd-and-4 from the Broncos’ 12-yard line, a money down/red-zone situation. These are the most critical situations of the game, and the Jaguars excelled in them all afternoon. They finished 8-of-15 on 3rd down and 4-of-5 in the red zone, both of which played huge roles in the outcome.
On this play, they came out in an empty formation with running back Travis Etienne on the perimeter to the right and tight end Quintin Morris to the inside of him. The Broncos matched up with linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga, an indicator of man coverage:
To the left, the Jaguars had Brian Thomas on the perimeter, Jakobi Meyers on the inside, and Parker Washington in the middle. Pat Surtain would take Thomas, Riley Moss would take Meyers, and that left Ja'Quan McMillian on Washington:
This play was designed specifically to go to Washington. Thomas would run a hitch on the outside, keeping Surtain low near the first-down marker. Myers would run a whip route, taking Moss inside. Washington was left with a ton of room to run his slot fade:
Lawrence looked towards Washington right away, saw McMillian with his back turned, and delivered the ball for 6:
5 of Washington’s 6 receptions would come on 3rd down (each of which would be conversions). That would include receptions of 63 and 24 yards on quick-out routes where Washington would make defenders miss and pick up a ton of YAC.
His career day was one major reason why the Jaguars were able to come out of Denver with the win.
But Liam Coen didn’t just use Thomas and Meyers as decoys to get the ball to Washington. He found ways to scheme other receivers open as well.
On this next play, check out how he got the ball to tight end Brenton Strange on a unique play design.
The Jaguars came out with 6 O-linemen, 1 back, 1 tight end, and 2 receivers. Tight end Brenton Strange motioned into the backfield before the snap and aligned offset to the left: