Coen Talks Monday Night Football Matchup vs. Chiefs: "Huge" Opportunity

Oct 02, 2025 at 05:15 PM

John Oehser

Jaguars Senior Writer

JACKSONVILLE – The moment is coming, and the moment is real.

The Jaguars on Monday will play the three-time defending AFC champions in prime time. On national television. At home. With each team on a two-game winning streak.

As opportunities and stages go, it's way up there.

"Huge," Head Coach Liam Coen called it.

The Jaguars (3-1), one week after beating the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers on the road, will host the Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) at EverBank Stadium on Monday Night Football this week.

"It's the next game," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. "It doesn't count for more than the other ones, but it is a big opportunity for us. Everybody's going to be watching, and I think it's a good next step for our team to take, and obviously a good opponent in the Chiefs and a big AFC game. So, it's a big one for us."

It's a big-game stage with a big-game feel. Really big.

"This is why you want to play NFL football, for these type moments," Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd said. "I'm going to enjoy the moment all the way up until the game and when the game happens, you definitely want to live in the moment there as well."

And fans will matter. A lot.

"Third down needs to be crazy," Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. "We just need the energy. If we continue to have that, continue to bring that, continue to believe, not just coming to enjoy, but coming to know we're going to win and cheer like we are.

"I think we feed off that. We're going to continue to play our game and execute at a high level."

Jacksonville Jaguars vs San Francisco 49ers

DE Josh Hines-Allen (41)

For the Jaguars, it will be their second appearance on Monday Night Football since 2011. They lost to the Cincinnati Bengals on MNF in 2023, a game that marked the beginning of a decline that season from an 8-3 start to a 9-8 non-playoff finish.

The feeling is dramatically different this week, with the Jaguars 3-1 for the first time since 2018 – with victories over the two-time defending AFC South champion Houston Texans and perennially strong 49ers the last two weeks.

"It's just a great opportunity," Coen said. "We talked about in the team meeting [Wednesday], to go play a cleaner 60 minutes and see what happens. We have done so many good things. It is truly about us getting better, improving, taking the next step in all three phases and just go trust it and play.

"This is going to be a blast. A ton of respect for the Chiefs."

The Chiefs have played in five of the last six Super Bowls, winning nine consecutive AFC West titles. They also have won the last eight meetings between the teams, with the Jaguars' last victory over the Chiefs, 24-21, in 2009.

The Chiefs beat the Jaguars twice in 2022, 27-17 in Kansas City in the regular season and 27-20 in an AFC Divisional Playoff game in Kansas City. They also beat the Jaguars, 17-9, in Jacksonville in 2024.

"That's a great opp for our whole fan base, the community, the city to come and support," Coen said. "We've tried to put a product on the field each week that our fans can be proud of, can be proud of the way that our players compete, how tough they're playing.

"It's not perfect but I do think our players care and they're trying to do everything they can to put the best product out there for our fanbase."