Liam Coen isn’t about to hand Josh Allen a personal reason to beat his team. When the Buffalo Bills travel to Jacksonville for the AFC Wild Card round this Sunday, they will face the Jacksonville Jaguars team revitalized by the rookie head coach. After a difficult 4-13 season last year, the 40-year-old Coen led an incredible turnaround, finishing the regular season with a 13-4 record and the AFC South division title.

Ahead of his playoff debut, Coen appeared on The Rich Eisen Show to discuss the upcoming matchup. During the interview, Eisen jokingly asked if Coen would follow the lead of Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton and refer to the Bills as a “small market team.” Coen was quick to shut that down, giving a firm “no shot” to the idea of providing Buffalo with any extra motivation. 

“He is not going to hear that, man. There’s no shot. No shot,” Coen said. “I’m not giving him any of that, man. We were in 2022, we played him in a home opener in LA, and we were on the silent count at home. So remember how they travel.” 

Coen further explained that he has far too much respect for the Bills’ fan base to underestimate them or their impact on the game.

So, what is the “small market team” comment about? The drama traces back to Week 16 of the 2025 season, when the Jaguars traveled to Denver and handed the Broncos a 34-20 loss. In the days leading up to that game, Payton had attempted to compliment Jacksonville by noting that while they are a “smaller market” team, they were playing very well on tape. 

“As you look at them and you watch the tape, it’s a smaller market, but you see a real good team,” Payton said.

While Payton later clarified that he meant the team deserved more national attention, the Jaguars’ locker room took it as a slight. Coen immediately seized the comment, using it as a ‘rallying cry’ to motivate his players by leaning into the underdog narrative.

That motivation clearly fueled a historic run for Jacksonville. Following the win in Denver, the Jaguars continued their dominant play, eventually beating the Tennessee Titans 41-7 in the final week of the season to clinch the AFC South title. This victory marked their eighth straight win and their 13th of the season, the second-most in franchise history. 

In the upcoming game between the Bills and the Jaguars, history is on the line as these two franchises meet for the 21st time. While their overall head-to-head record is perfectly split at 10 wins each, Jacksonville has dominated its previous postseason encounters. The Jaguars and Bills have met twice before in the AFC Wild Card round, and Jacksonville has come out on top both times. 

With a trip to the Divisional Round at stake, the Jaguars are looking to maintain that perfect playoff record against Buffalo.

Jaguars face a defining challenge against the Bills

In just one season, head coach Liam Coen has orchestrated a historic turnaround for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a disappointing four-win season in 2024, Coen led the team to a 13-4 record and an AFC South title in his first year at the helm. 

The Jaguars enter the postseason as the AFC’s No. 3 seed, carrying the momentum of a seven-game winning streak into a highly anticipated Wild Card matchup against the Bills this Sunday.

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The upcoming game at EverBank Stadium presents a significant challenge, as the Jaguars face a Buffalo team that has made seven consecutive playoff appearances. Led by 2024 MVP Josh Allen, the Bills bring a wealth of postseason experience and one of the league’s most explosive offenses.

Despite the difficulty of the task, Coen expressed deep respect for Allen and the Bills organization during a recent interview, noting that his team is eager to test their league-leading run defense against Buffalo’s top-ranked rushing attack.

“Huge respect for Josh and really the Buffalo Bills, “ Coen said, “I mean, they’ve won at so many different levels and have won a lot of critical football games over the years. He’s the man. I mean, he’s [Allen] just a total freak that plays the game. He’s a football player who also happens to play quarterback, right?

“We’re going to have a huge test for us this week. I mean, when you’ve got the best running offense coming into town, we’ve got a good run defense. I mean, that’s what you hope for. You hope for those matchups, and you’ve got two great quarterbacks going head-to-head.”

A key to Jacksonville’s success has been the remarkable development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence. After struggling with interceptions early in the season, Lawrence found his rhythm under Coen’s guidance, throwing 15 touchdowns and only one interception over the final six games. This transformation has turned the former No. 1 overall pick into a top-tier playmaker just in time for the playoffs.

This weekend’s matchup serves as a defining moment for the ‘new-look’ Jaguars. It is an opportunity for Coen and Lawrence to prove that their regular-season success can translate to the playoff stage.