Pats hope for a jolly good trip to London

“Across the pond” is too cliché. So the Patriots will not be traveling there for the second straight season. They will, however, cross the Atlantic Ocean for their third all-time game in London after playing in Frankfurt, Germany, last season. This time, they will play the Jacksonville Jaguars in a battle of struggling 1-5 teams.

In fact, this will be New England’s fifth international regular season game in franchise history. The team thumped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 35-7, at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 25, 2009. It returned to Wembley on Nov. 28, 2012 to defeat the Rams, 45-7.

Then on Nov. 19, 2017, the Pats went to Mexico City and crushed the Raiders, 33-8. Last season, they saw their three-game international win streak end when they lost to the Colts, 10-6, in Germany.

The scores of those four international games indicate that New England’s defense travels. In four games abroad, the team has allowed 32 points, or eight points per game.

Offensively, before last season, the Patriots have shined when outside the United States. In the win over the Bucs at Wembley, Tom Brady completed 22-of-33 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns. Wes Welker had 10 catches for 107 yards and a 14-yard touchdown. Sam Aiken caught a 54-yard touchdown pass and Ben Watson caught a 35-yard touchdown pass. Brandon Merriweather also returned one of three Patriots interceptions 39-yards for a score in a game of big plays.

Three years later, in their return trip to London, the Pats fell behind the Rams, 7-0, before rattling off 45 straight points. Brady was 23-of-34 for 304 yards and four touchdowns. Tight end Rob Gronkowski caught two and wideout Brandon Lloyd also caught two while Stevan Ridley rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown.

In the 2017 win over Oakland in Mexico City, Brady was a mere 30-of-37 for 340 yards and three touchdowns with scoring throws to Dion Lewis, Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks. The Pats led, 30-0, before Oakland found the end zone.

Brady was obviously dominant internationally – perhaps even more so than on American soil – but he was certainly not in Germany last year when the Pats lost to the Colts. Quarterbacks Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe combined to go 18-for-27 for 195 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions in the 10-6 loss that might have sealed Jones’ fate in New England.

Rookie Drake Maye will make his first foray into NFL international football this week, and it will be against a team the Patriots have generally dominated. The Patriots have won 12-of-14 meetings against the Jaguars, going 8-1 in the regular season and 4-1 in the postseason. New England’s only regular season loss to the Jags came back Sept. 16, 2018 – a 31-20 defeat in Jacksonville.

Maye showed some promise in his first NFL start last week against the Texans when throwing three touchdown passes, but he also turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and a fumble.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, now in his fourth season after being the 2021 first overall pick. His backup is none other than the Patriots 2021 first round pick: Mac Jones (taken 15th overall).

The Patriots hope this meeting between the teams goes as well as it did the only other time they faced Lawrence – a 50-10 win on Jan. 2, 2022. New England has also won nine of the last 10 in the series.

But both teams enter this game at 1-5. The Jags lone win was a 37-34 victory over the Colts on Oct. 6. Jacksonville is allowing nearly 30 points per game, which may be good news for New England, which is averaging only 13.8 points per game offensively. So one would assume something has to give?

The first meeting between the two clubs came back in 1996 – Jacksonville’s second NFL season – and the Patriots needed an Adam Vinatieri overtime field goal to secure a 28-25 win at Foxboro Stadium.

The teams have met in a pair of AFC Championship Games with New England winning both – 20-6 in 1996 and 24-20 in 2017.

The series:

  • The Patriots lead the all-time series, 12-2
  • The Patriots longest winning streak against the Jaguars is 8 games (2003-2018)
  • The Jaguars longest winning streak against New England is 1 game (twice)
  • The Patriots are 9-0 at home and 3-2 on the road in the series. This is the first neutral site matchup
  • The teams have played one overtime game (28-25 Patriots win on Sept. 22, 1996)
  • New England has won nine of the last 10 in the series.
  • The series dates back to Sept. 22, 1996 (a 28-25 Patriots OT win at Foxboro Stadium)
  • The Jaguars largest margin of victory is 15 (25-10 on Jan. 3, 1999 in Jacksonville)
  • The Patriots largest margin of victory is 40 (50-10 home win on Jan. 2, 2022)