In front of a record Wembley NFL crowd of 86,651, the come from behind win helped ease the pressure on Head Coach Doug Pederson as the Jaguars scored 25 consecutive points having trailed 10-0 early in the second quarter.

With second quarter touchdowns in rapid succession from Brian Thomas Jr., Tank Bigsby and Parker Washington in the third and final NFL London 2024 game, the Jags claimed a second win in four games having started the season 0-4. For the Patriots, Sunday’s loss is a sixth consecutive defeat after their opening day win.

Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence produced a far superior performance to last weekend’s loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jacksonville outfit’s linchpin completed 15 of his 20 passes for 193 yards and one touchdown.

Despite Lawrence’s improved performance, it is Parker Washington’s touchdown that will gain most attention, however. He produced the longest punt return in Jaguars history and the longest touchdown in NFL London games history as he ran back a 96-yard return to give the Jaguars a 22-10 advantage at half-time.

As the London NFL series of three games now concludes, the Jaguars will host the Green Bay Packers at EverBank Stadium in week 8, while the New England Patriots will have the New York Jets visiting them next weekend.

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Both sides unfortunately come into the fixture with 1-5 records for the season so far.

It will be the Jacksonville franchise’s second game in London this season, having lost to the Chicago Bears last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Patriots hold a 3-1 record in international games and are unbeaten in their two previous visits to London.

The Jaguars, however, who have played a ‘home’ game in London for the past decade, are 6-6 in the 12 all-time games played in the English capital.

Both sides currently sit last in their respective divisions in the NFL: the Patriots are last in the Buffalo Bills-led AFC East, while the Jaguars are the final team in the AFC which is currently headed by by Houston.

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Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson spoke of his obvious disappointment following this afternoon’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Costly mistakes

“Right now, those [mistakes] are things that are plaguing us,” Pederson said. “It’s the mistakes and then being able to overcome the mistake. Those are things that we have to obviously take a look at and correct.

“[I feel} defeated, obviously. I feel for the players and the coaches. We work extremely too hard to be in this position. I feel like the guys, they don’t quit. They keep fighting.

£We have to figure out how to just get out of our way and just play football. I say that, and it sounds easy, but it’s tough. It’s a tough game to play. We didn’t expect to be here in this spot, and, hey, now we have to find a way to get out of it.

When asked what he thought of the performance of his side’s quarterback, the Head Coach admitted:

“He played tough. I mean, he’s just one man obviously, and we’ve got to play better are all-around, everybody, and he included. He knows that. There’s ownership in that. Coaches, the same way. I take full responsibility obviously, but we all need to be better.”

Trevor Lawrence’s reaction

Trevor Lawrence, when asked if he felt the Jaguars lacked focus collectively as a team, responded by saying

“You know, I didn’t sense that. Obviously, the way the game turned out and some critical errors really all the way around would point to that. I felt like we were ready to play. I thought we had a good week. Obviously, everyone deals with the travel over here. Chicago had to do it earlier in the week too. So, I thought even considering that, you know, we had a good plan, good week. I felt like we were ready to go. Then obviously it didn’t go our way. Didn’t make enough plays. Didn’t execute and had just too many mistakes. So, I guess I can’t say that it wasn’t that because I think that definitely can contribute to that, yeah.”

“We’re staying together”

Commenting on whether he felt the team was playing for Head Coach Doug Pederson, the quarterback had no doubt, stating:

“Yeah, that’s our head coach, and we’re a team. This is tough. Losing is hard. It’s hard. So it has nothing to do with that relationship, how we feel about Coach [Pederson]. We’re a group. We’re staying together. We know brighter days are ahead. We just have to keep working, and we have to keep putting our best foot forward. You know, we just have to stick together as a team. We have to play more had complementary. We’re not playing good team football right now. So whatever the answer to that is we have to find it quick. Yeah, no thought of that on my mind.”

Next week is ‘must-win’

On whether next weekend’s London game is a must-win for his side, Head Coach Pederson said:

“I think so. I would say everything here on out, quite frankly. If we want to get back to playing the type of football we know we can play, you’re going to have to win a lot of games moving forward. I would say that, yeah, these games moving forward are just that.

£I think it’s huge for us to be here as a football team, to be around each other, support each other, keep encouraging each other. There’s nowhere for us to go, you know? We’re at the hotel, and we see each other every day. We have to support each other and keep picking each other up.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars Defensive End Josh Hines-Allen admitted that his side needs to get to winning ways as soon as possible.

“We know we have to trust in everybody here, but the urgency needs to pick up, the passion, the love,” Hines-Allen said. “The reason why we do the things that we do need to pick up a little bit more. It starts Tuesday once we get back to practice and focus on the Patriots”

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The game brought the Bears’ international record to three wins from four games, having lost to the LA Raiders 24-21 on their previous visit to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October 2019.

Coach pleased with win

Chicago Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus said after his side’s 35-16 win over the Jaguars:

“The guys did a really good job the whole week working the plans. The coordinators did a nice job of that as well, getting those plans implements so they did a nice job there.

“In terms of the game evaluation, I thought that was really good complementary football during the course of us taking the ball away on defence and scoring those 14 points off of those takeaways. A couple good two-minute drives there, really good two-minute drive there at the half for the offense, and then a four-minute at the end of the game to expire it, waste some time there, and do a good job with that.”

Making progress

Commenting of the progress his side is currently making, Eberflus admitted:

“You make the progress, and you want it to be linear but it’s not always that way. But we feel that he took a step in the right direction, our football team took a step in the right direction of playing that complementary football, and him being able to distribute the football and operate. We ran some no huddle and different things in there where he had to operate there at the line and did a nice job today.”

Brian Thomas, who had an impressive game in this his rookie season, was mentioned by the Head Coach in his post-game interview.

“He’s a heck of a player, he really is,” Eberflus said. “I watched a lot of tape on him during the Draft process and he’s good. He’s fast. He can get the deep ball, and he’s going to have an outstanding career, you know, for himself and for the Jags. He’s exciting to watch, and you know, in terms of the three catches, you know, that’s NFL ball, right.? That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Big impact from Swift

The big impact of D’Andre Swift in the game was also referenced by Eberflus, who said:

“The big thing about Swift is get him out in space because then he can be electric. I was really pleased how he ran the ball today. I think it was in the fives, and I think their run average was in the low fours, I believe, so.

“It was good in both regards in terms of the average. But you need some explosives, and you have to limit those on defence, and I thought we did that on both sides of the ball today. Again, that’s the perimeter blocking, the line, finishing, everything that they do and playing the way we play.”

With the Bears now having claimed three wins in-a-row, moving to 4-2 for the season, the Head Coach feels his side is going in the right direction:

“I think we are in a good spot, I really do. I think we have got a lot of improvement to do. But for the first six games, I think we are in a good spot, and we have to get our minds and our bodies and everything right to go on to these next six games starting with the first one.”

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The sides meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a 2.30 pm start time.

Similar to last weekend, when the Minnesota Vikings defeated the New York Jets 23-17, a crowd in excess of 60,000 is expected at today’s game.

It will be the first of consecutive London games for the Jaguars, who will have a ‘home’ game at Wembley next weekend when they host the New England Patriots.

The Chicago Bears come into today’s game with a better start of season record, having three wins and two losses to their name.

Chicago’s rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who had led his side to wins over the Titans, Rams and Panthers so far this season, is the fourth rookie quarterback since 1950 to win each of his first three home starts and throw no interceptions in each game, joining Matt Ryan (2008), Tua Tagovailoa (2020) and Russell Wilson (2012).

The Bears NFC North division is led by last weekend’s London victors, the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings.

For the Jacksonville franchise it has been a difficult season so far as they have only achieved one victory in five games, that coming last weekend with a 37-34 win over Indianapolis Colts. The Jags currently sit bottom of the AFC South which is currently headed by 4-1 Houston.

2024 is the 16th year London has hosted NFL regular season games.

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“It’s early.  We’re five games in,” Saleh pointed out. “Obviously we’d like it to be a lot better, but it’s early and we’ve got a long way to go.

The Jets Head Coach gave credit to his successful opponents, who held on narrowing in the end for victory:

“Credit Minnesota. They do a lot of different things. The interception, obviously, that was returned for a touchdown kind of made it obviously a lot worse, but felt like from that point on, I felt like our offense kind of got its feet underneath it and started moving the ball pretty well. But obviously putting ourselves in that hole wasn’t good enough.

“Fourth-and-one. I feel like we’ve got to be able to get those. We weren’t moving the ball very well. We were down there trying to be aggressive and see if we can go get seven.”

New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was asked how he deals with a loss like today’s.

“I mean, they all hurt,” the Quarterback acknowledged. “Just got to be, you know, honest with your performance every single week and hold yourself to a standard. Obviously that was below my standard. I just found out I’ve never thrown two picks in the first quarter before; so that’s a first. One of them cost, obviously, seven [points], and the other, you know, could have cost three [points]. So in a game where you lose by six, plays like that are exponentially highlighted. So three turnovers for me is definitely out of character and I’m disappointed.”

Discussing how he felt physically, Rodgers stated:

“I’m definitely banged up. Got my foot caught on a pile there. But just seems to be a low ankle sprain. Again, they were trying to get me in the tent, and then we had a roughing the kicker, I said screw it, I’m going back out there.”

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While the NFL game in Brazil in week one was a first for that country, London has been a regular host of NFL game for a long time now.

Twickenham, Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have all hosted NFL games in recent years, the latter having staged eight games since 2019.

Interestingly, seven of those games were decided by eight points or less.

This afternoon the New York Jets, who have started their season 2-2 face the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings (4-0).

This will be the Vikings’ fourth London game, and they are currently unbeaten on their London visits to date. The Jets on the other hand have a 2-1 record in London, but are 0-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They join Kansas City (3-0), New York Giants (3-0) and Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) who have achieved multiple wins in international games and are unbeaten outside of the USA.

The Vikings, the only undefeated team remaining in the NFC are 4-0 for the first time since 2016.

If they win this afternoon’s game, they will be 5-0 for the first time since 2000.

In regular season clashes between the Jets and Vikings, the New York side lead the series 8-4, but Minnesota have won the last three games between the sides.

The last time the teams met in the regular season was in 2022, when the Vikings ran out 27-22 victors.

The game is free to air in Ireland on Virgin Media Two, with the broadcast starting at 2pm.

The game kicks off at 2.30pm.

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England, Canada, Mexico, Germany and Brazil have hosted games, with 35 of the 51 having been played in England.

Three English stadia have held NFL games: Twickenham, Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Wembley has hosted more international NFL games than any other stadium, with 25, well ahead of the next highest, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with eight.

The NFL has visited the Rogers Centre in Toronto on six occasions, while the Estadio Azteca has hosted five NFL matches.

Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt and the Allianz Arena in Cologne have each held a regular season NFL game, while Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was the newest venue added to list when hosting Philadelphia and Green Bay in week one of this season.

One of today’s teams, Minnesota Vikings, have a 3-0 record in international games, as have Kansas City Chiefs and New York Giants.

Though Jacksonville Jaguars have played more international NFL games than any other franchise, with 11, their record is poor, with just six wins and five losses.

Six teams are still awaiting their first international victory: the Bengals, Commanders, Browns, Packers, Steelers and Titans.

Nest weekend, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be the venue for Jacksonville Jaguars v Chicago Bears, while the third and final London 2024 game will see New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars clash at Wembley on 20 October.

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Sunday’s victory before a crowd of 85,716, was the Jaguars tenth NFL games in London, the most by any NFL side.

The Falcons came into the week four game with a slightly better record of 2-1 compared to the Jaguars 1-2.

Jaguars opened the scoring with a touchdown from Calvin Ridley. The wide receiver  was on the end of Trevor Laurence’s throw to score against his former team. With Brandon McManus adding the extra point, the Jags had a 7-0 lead with 5:55 remaining in the opening quarter.

Calvin Ridley scores against his former team!#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/s4ACGtEV7b

— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023

An early second quarter 56 yard field goal from kicker Brandon McManus extended his side’s lead to 10-0.

First-quarter: Jacksonville Jaguars 10  Atlanta Falcons 0

Midway through the second quarter, Atlanta had their best passage of play in the game. This, unfortunately for them, with an interception as the clock showed 5 minutes to play to half time.

A throw from quarterback Desmond Ridder was intercepted by the alert corner back Darious Williams, who covered the 62 yards to the endzone to claim his side’s second touchdown of the opening half.

That’s a Darious Williams PICK-6! @Jaguars#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/iptA26RX1i

— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023

Brandon McManus maintained his 100% record of kicking of posts on the day, as he added the extra point for a 17-0 lead as half-time approached.

Half-time: Jacksonville Jaguars 17  Atlanta Falcons 0

The Falcons finally got into this game in the third quarter. An 18 yard pass from Desmond Ridder was successfully collected by Drake London. The wide receiver had to work smartly to ensure he kept his feet within the endzone in order to gain his side’s opening score of the contest.

DRAKE LONDON IN LONDON.#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/IA0OrsL3wJ

— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023

The extra point was successful from Younghoe Koo which left the Jaguars leading 17-7 with only 5 minutes played in the third quarter.

Third-quarter: Jacksonville Jaguars 17 Atlanta Falcons  7

Brandon McManus scored his second field goal of the game at the end of 13 plays, as the kicked dissected the posts from 43 yards out. His fourth successful kick of the afternoon helped the Jaguars extend their advantage to 20-7 with under 11 minutes left to play in the final quarter.

McManus added 38 yard field goal with less than 2 minutes to play to ensure his side’s victory, running out 23-7 winners.

Having first played in December 1996 when the Jaguars edged out the Atlanta outfit 19-17, today was only the fourth victory for the Jacksonville side against the Falcons.

Prior to this weekend, the most recent meeting of the two sides was in November 2021 when the Falcons were victorious on a 21-14 score line.

Final-score: Jacksonville Jaguars 23 Atlanta Falcons 7

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Overcame Deficits

Four teams, namely ATLANTA (12 points), the NEW YORK GIANTS (21), TENNESSEE (11) and WASHINGTON (18) all overcame deficits of at least 10 points to win this week.

The NEW YORK GIANTS overcame a 21-point third-quarter deficit to defeat Arizona, 31-28, as GRAHAM GANO kicked a game-winning 34-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The WASHINGTON COMMANDERS overcame an 18-point second-quarter deficit and came back to defeat Denver, 35-33, after trailing in the final quarter.

The ATLANTA FALCONS overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Green Bay, 25-24, as YOUNGHOE KOO kicked the game-winning 25-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

The TENNESSEE TITANS overcame an 11-point first-half deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers, 27-24, in overtime while the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS defeated Detroit, 37-31, in overtime in Week 2. This season marks the fourth time in the past six seasons at least one game has gone to overtime in each of the first two weeks of the season.

Unbeaten after Week 2

Eight teams – ATLANTA, BALTIMORE, DALLAS, PHILADELPHIA, SAN FRANCISCO, TAMPA BAY,  WASHINGTON and MIAMI are 2-0 to start the season, while CLEVELAND and NEW ORLEANS can begin 2-0 with wins on Monday. Last season, each of the six teams to begin the season 2-0 advanced to the postseason.

Mahomes breaks Marino and Ryan’s Record

Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES passed for 305 yards with two touchdowns while tight end TRAVIS KELCE had four receptions and his first touchdown catch of the season in the Chiefs’ 17-9 win at Jacksonville.

Mahomes, in his seventh season, recorded his 42nd-career game with at least 300 passing yards and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (41 games) and MATT RYAN (41) for the most such games by a player in his first nine seasons in NFL history.

Many records set during Week 2 action

Buffalo quarterback JOSH ALLEN completed 31 of 37 attempts (83.8 percent) for 274 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for a 124.5 rating in the Bills’ 38-10 win over Las Vegas.

Allen has 180 combined passing and rushing touchdowns and surpassed RUSSELL WILSON (177 touchdowns) for the fourth-most combined passing and rushing touchdowns by a player in his first six seasons in NFL history. Only PATRICK MAHOMES (204), Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (199) and CAM NEWTON (184) have more.

First Touchdown of season for Davante Adams

Las Vegas wide receiver DAVANTE ADAMS had six receptions for 84 yards and his first touchdown reception of the season on Sunday against Buffalo.

Adams has 88 career touchdown receptions and surpassed LARRY FITZGERALD (87 touchdown receptions) for the fifth-most touchdown receptions by a player in his first 10 seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers JERRY RICE (131), RANDY MOSS (124), MARVIN HARRISON (110) and TERRELL OWENS (101) have more.

Baltimore quarterback LAMAR JACKSON totalled 291 yards (237 passing, 54 rushing) with two touchdown passes and no interceptions for a 112.8 rating in the Ravens’ 27-24 win at Cincinnati.

Jackson has 48 career games with at least 50 rushing yards and surpassed CAM NEWTON (47) for the second-most such games by a quarterback in NFL history. Only MICHAEL VICK (54 games) has more.

Cincinnati rookie wide receiver CHARLIE JONES returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown on Sunday. With Jones’ 81-yard punt return for a touchdown this week and Jets rookie Xavier Gipson’s game-winning 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in Week 1, 2023 marks the first season since 2015 with a punt-return touchdown in each of the first two weeks. It also marks the first season with a punt-return touchdown by a rookie in each of the first two weeks since 2010, when DEXTER MCCLUSTER (Week 1) and DEZ BRYANT (Week 2) accomplished the feat.

Two TDs for Rookie Quarterback

Indianapolis rookie quarterback ANTHONY RICHARDSON rushed for two touchdowns in the Colts’ 31-20 win at Houston. Richardson, who had a rushing touchdown in his first career game last week, is the third quarterback ever with three rushing touchdowns in his first two career games, joining DAUNTE CULPEPPER and JACK THOMPSON

Houston rookie quarterback C.J. STROUD completed 30 of 47 pass attempts (63.8 percent) for 384 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on Sunday.

Stroud, who had 28 completions in his NFL debut last week, has 58 completions in his first two starts. Stroud has 626 passing yards in his first two games, the fifth-most ever by a player in his first two career games.

Cowboys complete NY double

The DALLAS COWBOYS defeated the New York Jets, 30-10, in Week 2 after defeating the New York Giants, 40-0, on kick-off Weekend.

The Cowboys are the fifth team in the Super Bowl era to score at least 70 points and allow 10-or-fewer points through their first two games of a season, joining the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS in 2019, DETROIT LIONS in 1970, OAKLAND RAIDERS in 1967 and HOUSTON OILERS in 1966.

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