How Doug Pederson counter-punched the Chargers right out of the playoffs

The Jaguars were able to execute the third-greatest postseason comeback in NFL history because Doug Pederson knows how to counter-punch.

In this Super Wild-Card Weekend, the Jacksonville Jaguars overcame an atrocious first half for an incredible 31-30 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

In the first half, Trevor Lawrence played some of the worst football of his entire career. His team was down 27-7, and he threw four interceptions and had a 24.5 rating through the first eight series.

Luckily in the NFL, it’s a game of two halves. In the second half, Lawrence threw three touchdowns and rallied from a massive deficit to win his very first playoff appearance.

Head coach Doug Pederson had this to say about his team’s resilience, “I mean, it’s everything. That’s just what I told them at halftime, it’s kind of like our season. We’ve put ourselves in a hole at times, and we’ve worked ourselves out of it at times. Just to have the resiliency and the fight and the desire and the ability to continue to play, because it could have easily gone the other way, and that’s what I’m so proud of these guys for. Everything is on the line, and they go out and get the job done.”

Jaguars’ historic wild-card win is a testament to the power of belief

This wasn’t the first game of the season where Pederson rallied his team back from a deficit to a victory:

There were certain offensive tactics that allowed the Jaguars to begin controlling the ball through the air. Right before the half, Pederson and his staff noticed some key defensive assignments that they decided to attack, which began their epic comeback.

Let’s dive in and let the film tell the story!

How Doug Pederson has weaponized the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick dives into how Doug Pederson has weaponized Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense.

New head coach and offensive shot-caller Doug Pederson has completely transformed the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense. The last time the franchise has won back-to-back games of 20+ points or more was in the year 2000. The offense is currently sitting fifth in the NFL in Football Outsiders’ DVOA (opponent-adjusted efficiency) metric.

Which has actually been the best DVOA through three games, ever!

Pederson has managed to call a well-balanced offense with a 55% passing play percentage. Also putting him in seventh in EPA per play efficiency.

In the passing game, Pederson is effectively using play-action stemming from the run game paired with a quick passing offense to move the chains. According to Pro Football Focus, among quarterbacks who have had a minimum of 100 dropbacks, Trevor Lawrence is getting the ball out fourth quickest at an average of 2.4 seconds. Since Lawrence is getting the ball out quicker it also puts him at the top of the league when it comes to sack percentage, 1.77% of plays.

The offense is running like a well-oiled machine.

Let’s go to the film and diagnose how Pederson is using the run game to open the passing game, and vice-versa!

How Doug Pederson is already saving Trevor Lawrence from another disastrous season

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick dives into the Jaguars All-22 and breaks down the concepts Trevor Lawrence had at his disposal.

Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t come away with a win in their second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, the starters were up 13-0 shortly after the first quarter began.

The Jaguars accumulated points on each of their first three drives as they finished the first quarter with 42 rushing yards and 86 passing yards while converting a total of eight first downs.

Head coach Doug Pederson was able to exploit the Browns’ defense in several different ways, and more importantly, he remained aggressive when the offense had the ball in their hands.

“Things that I’ve studied over the years is that the teams that score early and build that lead in the first half, tend to win games more than lose games. It’s an aggressive mindset,” said Pederson.

Most importantly, we saw concepts from Pederson and his staff that were far more beneficial to Lawrence than anything Urban Meyer’s crew gave him in the Jaguars’ disastrous 2021 season.

Let’s go to the film and see what concepts and play calls tailored to Lawrence’s strengths!

Trevor Lawrence and James Robinson lead the Jaguars to their first win

Trevor Lawrence and James Robinson take over on a key drive in the third quarter

The Jaguars pulled off a win for the first time this season, and ended their twenty-game losing streak while in London against the Dolphins. It was a nail-biter as Jaguars kicker Matthew Wright tied the game in the fourth quarter, and then won the game 23-20, with a 53-yard field goal as time expired.

Trevor Lawrence went 25 of41 for 319 yards and a touchdown; and running back James Robinson had 17 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Both players made some key plays down the stretch to seal the game. These two playmakers have had their highlights throughout the season but it never seemed to be at the same time. Today, they both contributed to the win.

Early on into the game, the Jaguars offense seemed to struggle getting the ball moving because of some key drops and false-start penalties. But as the half was coming to a close Lawrence throws up a ball to Marvin Jones, who is able to come down with it as he is one-on-one against cornerback Noah Igbinoghene.

This touchdown gave the Jaguars momentum as they were only down by a field goal to get the ball back after the half.

Opening the third quarter, Lawrence made two crucial passes downfield to keep the ball moving, which this ended up being the drive that kept the Jaguars in the game.

Then on second-and-long, Lawrence made a big throw to Jamaal Agnew to keep the chains moving.

At this point in the drive, it was important for the Jaguars to run the ball, as they have one of the top running backs in the league and they needed to keep the drive going. It pays off as Robinson uses his vision and downhill speed to get the offense to the one-yard line, and then punchef it in to put the Jaguars up 17-13.

The Jaguars stayed on the gas throughout the third quarter, keeping the ball on the ground as continued to feed Robinson to keep the clock moving.

In the fourth quarter, the defenses for both teams were making stops. So with 3:40 left in the game, kicker Matthew Wright ties it up 20-20. Oddly enough the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t make a single field goal attempt all year.

So with one minute left and the Jaguars getting the ball back after their defense makes a fourth-down stop, the offense needed about twenty yards to get in field goal range.

With only :05 seconds left on the clock the the Jaguars draw up critical fourth down passing play as they notice the Dolphins defense playing off-coverage.

Just like that Lawrence gets it out on a quick slant to Laviska Shenault Jr. It was the one moment that the Jaguars needed their rookie quarterback to make a play. This right here put the Jaguars in field goal range to win the game 23-20.

If there was any doubt before about Lawrence being the guy, there should no longer be after this performance today. As long as they continue to feed running-back Robinson, the offense should have no trouble moving the ball down field with these two playmakers.