How the Jacksonville Jaguars Have Made London Their Second Home

The Jacksonville Jaguars played their second NFL game in London in as many weeks last Sunday. It marked their 13th game on British soil, eleven years since their first.

Over the past decade, the Jaguars have made London their home away from home. They have played an international game in the UK every year since 2013, excluding the Covid-affected 2020 season. The Jags have essentially branded themselves as ‘London’s team.’

By returning every season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have grown their fanbase overseas and, as a by-product, the game as a whole.

NFL has grown exponentially around the world in recent times, not just in the United Kingdom but also in Europe and beyond. The frequency of international games during the course of one regular season is increasing every year. What started with one game at Wembley in 2007 has now expanded to Mexico, Germany, and Brazil. This and the group of London games at both Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have aided the sport’s global image.

For the second consecutive year, the Jacksonville Jaguars have played twice in London, once at both stadiums. Wembley is their designated home game, with the Spurs acting as an away game. Following a hefty loss to the Bears last week, they reacted with a convincing victory against the struggling New England Patriots in front of a sellout Wembley crowd on Sunday. This takes their overall London record to an impressive 8-5.

Since their inception into the NFL in 1995, the Florida team has had limited success. They have lost three times in the AFC Championship game and made the playoffs in just seven of their 30 seasons. They did not have a single winning season between 2008 and 2016. They also finished last in the AFC South for four years between 2018 and 2021 before winning it with a 9-8 record in 2022. With eight playoff wins in their franchise history, fans have endured hardships most of the way.

However, when they drafted highly regarded prospect Trevor Lawrence as the first pick of the 2021 draft, it seemed as if the future was bright. The Jacksonville Jaguars favoured the Clemson graduate for height, athleticism and arm strength. Quarterbacks such as Zach Wilson, Trey Lancem, Justin Fields and Mac Jones were in the same draft class. Jones is now Lawrence’s backup in Jacksonville. Trevor’s rookie season was challenging and a learning curve, as it is for all rookies, but the Jags won just three games.

Proceedings took a positive turn in 2022 when head coach Doug Pederson came into the fray. The Jaguars won the division with a 9-8 record but beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 in the Wildcard round before losing to the eventual Superbowl champs, the Kansas City Cheifs, in the Diviosnla round. Last season, they ended up with the same record, but this time, it was only good enough for second in the AFC South behind the Houston Texans, so they missed out on the playoffs.

A lacklustre start to this season meant they were 1-5 going into their second London game on Sunday. During the week, the players recovered from their 35-16 loss to the Bears—the momentous of the following game built. Travelling across the Atlantic and losing both games would have been a bad look.

Pressure was also mounting on HC Doug Pederson, and his job was perhaps on the line. The game got off to a rocky start, as the Pats weren’t up 10-0 at the beginning of the second quarter. But then the offense clicked into gear and scored 22 points in the second quarter. Eventually, they saw the game out, with a late touchdown from Tank Bigsby to win 32-16.

It was a much-needed win for Jacksonville to regain momentum with them to North Florida. Typically, a team travelling back from an international game will have a bye week. But the Jags opted not to have theirs and will host the in-form Green Bay Packers at EverBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Their bye week will come in week 12, towards the end of November.

Jaguars’ number one running back, Travis Etienne, was sidelined with an injury in week 7 against the Patriots, and the team is unsure if he will be ready in time to face Green Bay. This means that replacement Tank Bigsby may continue to take on most of the workload in the run game, which was victorious against New England. The Jags ran the ball for 18 plays in a row, with their opponents unable to stop the backs finding gaps.

Jacksonville will now look to continue winning but face an extremely tough run of fixtures. Three of their next four games are against the top three teams in the NFC North in Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit, and a trip to Philadelphia to face the Eagles next week. Therefore, a victory will be hard against some strong teams. Still, if Trevor Lawrence can keep the offence rolling and the defence can initiate some takeaways, they will almost certainly be in a close game.

Doug Pederon’s job is not safe yet, but the win at Wembley helped his chances, as the Jacksonville Jaguars rounded off another successful trip to Englnad’s capital.

The NFL has an enticing future internationally, with the game continuing to grow outside of the States and the amount of NFL games played in different countries only on the up. Will Jacksonville remain integral to the NFL’s international plans going forward?