Moeller: A LIttle Luck, Perseverance, and Fearlessness Can Shape Jaguars' Season
Memo to Jaguars’ head coach Liam Coen: Take the points.
Second memo to Coen: Thank God for Cam Little.
Third memo to Coen: Good teams have their share of luck.
The football world and most of the rest of the country know what happened in the Jaguars-Eagles' game in London Sunday morning.
The dust has settled from across the pond, and reality has surfaced.
It also could be a microcosm for the rest of their season.
Jacksonville could have lost the game, but they didn’t deserve to lose it. Philadelphia deserved to lose the game, and they did.
Instead, they survived a tussle with their share of stars, notably Trevor Lawrecne, Parker Washington, Bhayshul Tuten, and Josh Cameron to name a few.
They walked away from their first of two London weekends with a sense of relief, but also with a stronger sense of fortitude, confidence, and practicality. The undermanned Eagles held more than their own in the fight, and the crowd for a presumed Jaguars’ home easily was recognized in their sea of Eagles’ green and white.
It certainly was one of more entertaining games with more story lines for the Eagles than the Jaguars.
This game will be circled on their calendar as the one in which they took their game to another level. Coen and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile have grown wiser.
Coen played the role of a high-stakes gambler and initially lost his chips before Little won them back in the end in a dramatic 19-17 victory.
And the Jags had their share of luck shine their way, a trend that usually happens to good teams and ones ready for a deep playoff run.
It’s great that the Jags’ second-year head coach doesn’t often hesitate to go for it on fourth down. But sometimes, it’s better to be safe than aggressive.
However, when you’re in a tight game, kick the field goal. Not once, but twice. Yes, twice on fourth downs inside the five-yard line. Coen decided to get cute with his offense instead taking the three points on both occasions.
In one of those situations, the Jags inexplicably were flagged for three delay-of-game penalties.
Coen’s choices could have come back to haunt him, and it initially looked like a crushing defeat in the first of two games in London.
But then the Jags caught a break on Philly’ bonehead decision to kick to returner Abdul Abduallah.
A play later, Little was a hero with his game-winning, 57-yard field goal that looked easy.
The Jags got lucky, and they can send the Eagles a holiday card. Besides the kickoff blunder, the Eagles failed to run down the clock out before their apparent game-winning field goal.
For the 4-1 Jags, their gut-it-out with dash of luck performance against the Eagles will have lingering effects.
It’s round two in London next Sunday morning against the rival and lackluster Texans, who got their first win against a winless terrible Titans team. Houston, Tennessee, and Indianapolis have three combined wins in a division in which the Jags should have a cakewalk.
From here, it’s about being daring, practical, and lucky. And it helps to have a kicker named Little.
