LAST UPDATE | 42 mins ago
THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS secured a vital 32-16 victory over the New England Patriots in front of a record 86,651 crowd at Wembley Stadium to conclude the NFL’s 2024 trilogy of London games.
Both opponents were in desperate need of a win, with identical 1-5 records to start their seasons leaving them bottom of their respective divisions.
New England struck first, silencing hosts Jacksonville in the first quarter before the Jags exploded in the second, scoring 22 points with no reply, including Parker Washington’s 97-yard punt return for the longest touchdown in NFL international games history.
The hosts added three more in the third and while New England briefly narrowed the deficit in the fourth, they saw their chances slip away when Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby crossed late in the quarter for his second touchdown.
Eyes were on rookie Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who made his second NFL start and was good for 26 of his 37 pass attempts, throwing for 276 yards, including two touchdowns.
Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence grew into the game, completing 15 of his 20 pass attempts and throwing for 193 yards, including one touchdown.
Jacksonville won the toss and elected to defend first under soggy conditions, and New England struck first with 8:32 left to go in the first quarter with their first opening drive touchdown of the season.
Maye’s short pass found JaMycal Hasty on the right and the running back danced around the Jacksonville defence before scoring the 16-yard touchdown, with Joey Slye adding the extra point.
New England added to their lead less than 90 seconds after the start of the second quarter through Slye’s successful attempt at a 41-yard field goal to make it 10-0 for the visitors with their second possession of the contest.
Jacksonville began to build some momentum but made it more difficult on themselves when Lawrence scuffed a pass at first and seven.
The Jags gained just a single yard on the next down, but Lawrence made up for his earlier mistake on the third down, successfully picking out wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr, who caught the ball in the end zone with 9:25 to go in the quarter, Cam Little converting.
The Patriots were forced to punt on their next possession before Jacksonville took a first-time lead on the next drive, largely thanks to a brilliant 58-yard pass from their quarterback to find Thomas.
The Jaguars moved 14-10 in front when Bigsby powered through for his third rushing touchdown of the season, with Little again good for the extra point.
Momentum had swung in the hosts’ favour and they cushioned their lead in spectacular style.
Wide receiver Washington made it 20-10 through a 97-yard punt return for a touchdown – the longest in Jaguars history and that of international NFL encounters.
Jacksonville opted to attempt a two-point conversion after the Patriots were issued an offside penalty, Thomas collecting the extras from his quarterback’s pass to send his side into half-time with a 12-point advantage.
They might have wanted more from their opening drive to start the third quarter, failing to score a touchdown after two incomplete short passes from Lawrence and settling for a 21-yard field goal from Little to make it 25-10.
Jacksonville’s 15-point advantage remained intact as the sun came out for the final 15 minutes and the Patriots looked to brighten their afternoon.
They narrowed the deficit within nine points as a result of Maye’s 22-yard touchdown pass to KJ Osborn to make it 25-16 with 8:27 left in the quarter, but failed to execute their two-point conversion attempt.
Bigsby’s four-yard touchdown with 1:45 remaining, Little converting, consigned New England to a disheartening sixth straight defeat.
Back Stateside, the Minnesota Vikings’ unbeaten start to the season ended as they fell 31-29 to divisional rivals the Detroit Lions.
Jahmyr Gibbs ran in two touchdowns and put up 116 yards on 15 carries for the Lions, who take over at the top of the NFC North and the conference, sharing a 5-1 record with Minnesota.
The Vikings were up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter after Aaron Jones ran in a 34-yard touchdown and Will Reichard made a 57-yard field goal.
But Detroit grabbed control of the game with three touchdowns in an explosive second quarter.
Gibbs rushed 45 yards to get the Lions on the scoreboard before quarterback Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown on a 35-yard touchdown pass.
Gibbs finished off a 72-yard drive with an 8-yard rush to send Detroit in with a 21-10 lead at half-time.
The Vikings got back in the game through a familiar route – quarterback Sam Darnold finding Justin Jefferson with a 25-yard pass into the end zone.
Goff responded, finding Kalif Raymond with a pass short-left which the receiver grabbed before powering in for a 21-yard score to put Detroit up 28-17.
The Vikings cut the Lions’ lead to five points with a pair of field goals from Reichard in the fourth quarter before normally reliable Detroit running back David Montgomery fumbled and Ivan Pace recovered and raced 36 yards for the touchdown.
Detroit failed in a two-point conversion attempt, leaving the Lions ahead by a point and Detroit sealed the win with Jake Bates’ 44-yard field goal.
Minnesota had one last chance to save their unbeaten record but Trevor Nowaske sacked Darnold to end the contest.
The Green Bay Packers are third in the NFC North but they are far from out of the picture after a thrilling 24-22 win over the Houston Texans.
Brandon McManus’ 45-yard, walk-off field goal ensured the Packers moved to 5-2 after a game in which quarterback Jordan Love threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud managed just 86 yards on 10 of 21 passing with running back Joe Mixon doing the heavy lifting with two touchdowns and 115 yards on 25 carries.
Saquon Barkley returned to haunt his former club, the New York Giants, rushing for 176 yards and a touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles enjoyed a 28-3 win at MetLife Stadium.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in two touchdowns and threw another to A.J. Brown as the Eagles moved to 4-2.
Later on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers host the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl.
