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Doug Marrone On Scouting the Ravens In the "Game Of the Year"

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone sat to watch Monday night's football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns as a coach scouting his next opponent. Instead, he ended up watching as a fan...then again as a coach.

Typically when Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone sits down to watch a game, it’s through the lens of a coach. It’s an occupational hazard and can’t really be helped.

“I look at the games obviously differently,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The late night Sunday games or Monday night games -- and even Thursday games -- allow an opportunity for the coach to get a glimpse into other teams around the league, coordinator tendencies and such. The Jags' coach has people on staff that take the notes for future use when facing certain players and coaches, but the ability to still sit and watch a game live can provide a unique view of upcoming opponents.

“I think around the league, a lot of times now, there’s a lot of microphones being pointed at the field. I think most teams, and it’s not a big secret, always go through the game copies to get cadence, to get alerts and calls, and just match everything up. That’s where I think you can kind of keep a book on each coordinator and each team. This way, as the years go by, coordinators may change jobs but you’re just looking at that lingo and if you can catch something, whether it be hand signals or anything like that. I think people are always looking at that.”

And so on Monday night, Marrone sat and watched the Jaguars next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, as they faced the Cleveland Browns in the Week 14 finale in primetime television. As the game wound on however, Marrone became less of a coach and more of a fan, watching live what has since been dubbed The Game Of the Year by many. 

“I really felt [like I was] on the edge of my seat and it was exciting, there was drama,” Marrone admitted while previewing Sunday’s matchup.

“Lamar [Jackson] goes out and they show him going to the locker room and then he comes back. It was almost like a perfect script to an unbelievable game. I just took a step back in that moment and just really appreciated it like a fan and really enjoyed the game, honestly.”

Jackson—who ran for a game-high 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground in the 47-42 win—missed nearly the entire fourth quarter and ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported it was due to cramping. Speculation arose it was actually some other gastrointestinal issue, but Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II is choosing to believe Jackson, that it was simply cramps.

“I have no clue, man. I try not to dive in anybody else’s personal business like that. I believe in whatever he said,” laughed Minshew on Wednesday.

Anyways, after Jackson returned with just under two minutes left in the game and trailing 35-34 and having only thrown 81 yards through the air to that point, the reigning MVP entered the game on 4th and 5 from the Cleveland 44-yard line. He rolled right, hitting Marquis “Hollywood” Brown for a 44-yard touchdown.

The scramble drill, as it is, is a staple of Jackson’s game and was the difference-maker for the Ravens on Monday night. As soon as Marrone was able to stop watching the game as a fan and return to the tape for game planning, that scramble took on a new look.

“This is how I look at it, I think it’s not difficult to simulate the actions, meaning the scheme, the schematics of it. What is difficult is the speed of it and I think that’s the one thing that you see with [Ravens QB] Lamar [Jackson]. You know he has a good arm and he can throw, but the speed of him on the field, he always looks like the fastest guy on the field and that’s a credit to him.

Lamar Jackson on the scramble is tough to defend. © Jeff Lange via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Lamar Jackson on the scramble is tough to defend. © Jeff Lange via Imagn Content Services, LLC

“A 3,4-yard gain turns into a 16-yard gain the other day. You’re just like, ‘Hey, do they have a good angle on him?’ I think what’s hard to simulate is those angles and the way you have to come to kind of corral him or try to keep him in a web that you can get him down…you’re not going to be able to produce that during the week because you’re trying to get your players to be healthy for the game.

"It’s almost like if you’re playing a wing T or a triple-option team. The first thing you have to make sure you’re right on is your assignments and then obviously the execution and be able to make the play.”

On Sunday, Doug Marrone won't be watching the Baltimore Ravens as a fan, but instead as the coach trying to defeat them to stop a 12-game losing streak. But for at least one evening, even as one of only 32 coaches in the league, the Jacksonville Jaguars skipper was able to sit with millions of others and truly just appreciate the game.