The Jacksonville Jaguars returned to winning ways with a 32-16 victory against the New England Patriots in London’s final NFL game of the year.
At Wembley Stadium, a venue that has become the Jaguars’ home from home in recent years, Jacksonville picked up a much-needed win, and in emphatic style.
Touchdowns from Brian Thomas Jr., Tank Bigsby and Parker Washington put the Jaguars in the driving seat with Bigsby also adding a later score to continue the touchdown party in the second half.
Jacksonville was on a torrid run heading into the second of its back-to-back games in the English capital and its fans’ fears would not have been eased by the Jaguars’ start to the game at Wembley.
The Patriots made lightwork of getting down the field on their first drive and were rewarded with an early touchdown. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye found JaMycal Hasty in the redzone and the running back dodged and ducked his way past defenders to score.
Jacksonville had a 1-5 record heading into the game and its offense had been far from firing. Under the gloomy, grey London skies it was already starting to look like another one of those days for the Jaguars after a first drive punt.
But Trevor Lawrence and Co. responded well to the early pressure and soon found the rhythm it had long been searching for.
After a Patriots field goal made it 10-0, Lawrence found Thomas Jr. wide open in the endzone for the Jaguars’ first touchdown of the day to reduce the deficit.
One touchdown quickly turned into two for the Jaguars. Running back Tank Bigsby marched his team down the field before finishing off the drive with a touchdown and the score was suddenly 14-10 Jacksonville.
Barely after the Jaguars fans had finished celebrating Bigsby’s touchdown, they were back on their feet celebrating another exhilarating play. Parker Washington got Wembley rocking when he returned a Patriots punt 96 yards all the way to the endzone.
The wide receiver breezed past all the defenders flying toward him before falling backwards into the endzone to celebrate a memorable moment from his trip to London. The Jaguars then scored with a two-point attempt to rub salt in the wounds and end the first half in complete control.
The offensive flurry from the first half could not be matched after the interval and Jacksonville looked to be cruising to a comfortable win.
But with time in the fourth slowly running out, New England’s offense gave some life to an otherwise uneventful second half. Maye threw a touchdown to K.J. Osborn to give Patriots fans a semblance of hope.
This optimism would have quickly dissipated when following a New England turnover on downs, Bigsby was able to add another touchdown to the score to end all chances of a close encounter.
The Jaguars will be returning Stateside slightly happier than when they left with a 1-1 record from their time in London and pressure partially eased on quarterback Lawrence and head coach Doug Pederson. The Jaguars, now 2-5, face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday when they return to Florida.
For the Patriots, the long flight home gives head coach Jerod Mayo and young quarterback Maye plenty to think about as they look to improve on their now 1-6 record with a game against the New York Jets in Week 8 of the NFL season.