Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins won the game on Sunday with an interception that he returned for a touchdown. After the thrilling, 40-34 victory by Jacksonville over the Cowboys, Jenkins explained the final play by phone to PFT.
If you watch the play (and you probably should so that the rest of this makes sense), you’ll see that Jenkins initially took a step toward following Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. Jenkins then diagnosed the play, thanks to preparation and coaching.
“We knew they liked the mesh concept, especially when in those gotta-have-it situations,” Jenkins said of the Dallas offense, which faced a third and four in overtime. “So, I knew once the running back flared out and my [defensive end] took him, I knew that freed me up. I can get my eyes back inside for any other, like, anything else crossing. . . . Dak [Prescott] tried to throw the ball. I don’t know what happened. Honestly, I think it just bounced off his chest. . . . It fell basically like in front of me. I had to reach out, get it and, I had to win that game.”
Jenkins credited the coaches for having them ready for that moment.
“Our coaches did a great job this week in preparing us for seeing those type of looks,” Jenkins said. "[Prescott] wanted to clear out the flat defender if we were in any zone, he wants to clear out the flat defender to that side and then bring the receiver on the under right where he just cleared that flat defender. So, I knew that he was going to read that under receiver coming back. and I didn’t know it was going to be ricocheted, but I was planning on getting a big hit.”
There was no hit to be made, because the ball popped up to Jenkins, who scored the game-winning touchdown.
“I just wanted to get that touchdown, man, and just end that game. . . . As soon as I caught that ball, the only thing that was in my head was six. The other thing that was in my head was, ‘I hope one of these fast receivers isn’t behind me.’”
At least one of them was (as the attached picture shows), but not close enough to make a difference. Jenkins delivered the win, thanks in large part to the coaching and the preparation.
The other side of the coin, obviously, is that the Cowboys are a little too predictable in those spots. They’ve developed a clear pattern, the Jaguars cracked it -- and that’s one of the reasons why the Cowboys lost the game.
