How Liam Coen adjusted to Houston's run defense in Week 3

One of many reasons for Jacksonville's Week 2 loss was its non-commitment to the run game. Trevor Lawrence dropped back to pass 42 times, despite the team holding a steady lead and reaching 135 yards on 25 non-quarterback rushes (5.4 YPC).

Considering this, and that their next opponent's defensive weakness was its interior, the Jaguars figured to run the shit out of the football in Week 3.

The Texans were ready.

Anytime Liam Coen's offense put multiple tight ends on the field, DeMeco Ryans' defense matched with heavy personnel and five-man fronts.

This was unexpected. Since the start of last season, no team has defended multiple TE sets with 4 DL - 2 LB - 5 DB personnel more than the Texans, according to Sports Info Solutions.

Houston's success against the run in lighter personnel allows Ryans to leave five defensive backs on the field in almost any situation.

Jalen Pitre is a large part of that success. Considered among the league's most versatile safeties, Pitre is the only NFL defensive back with at least 300 tackles, 15 TFLs, 20 PBUs, 5 INTs, and 1 sack since 2022.

Against Jacksonville on Sunday, Pitre played 75.7% of defensive snaps, the lowest of any game in his career that he didn't leave early.

3 of the Jaguars' first 4 rush attempts used heavy personnel. Each time, the Texans responded by replacing Pitre with a bigger on-ball defender. Those 3 carries went for 4 yards.

Coen wasn't going to be able to play bully ball like he might have hoped. Runs out of three-receiver sets against nickel packages weren't working either; the Jaguars gained 7 yards on 3 such carries in the first half.

"Early in the first half, we had a bunch of runs called and then they had some blitzes and different looks," Coen said after the game. "They came out in a five-big package to our 12 personnel which was unscouted. We needed to adjust to that at halftime, which we did."

Here's what they did.