New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars series history: It’s been all Pats

Man it feels good to have a really good football team to cheer for again. The Jacksonville Jaguars are 1-0 following a solid, but unspectacular, victory against the New York Giants — because good teams find ways to win ugly games.

The focus now shifts to the Week 2 showdown with the New England Patriots (also 1-0). The rematch of last year’s AFC Championship has been highly anticipated since the schedules came out, and the result will go a long way in determining which team is the class of the AFC.

Unfortunately, things have not gone very well for the Jaguars when facing the Patriots. In fact, Jacksonville has never defeated New England in the regular season, and its lone head-to-head victory came in the playoffs during the 1998-1999 season.

I’m here with another edition of our historical series articles, but I am letting you know now that the history is not pretty. Read at your own risk. Let’s recap, anyway.

Series history

All-time head-to-head record (including postseason): Patriots lead 11-1

All-time regular season series record: Patriots lead 7-0

All-time postseason series record: Patriots lead 4-1

Last Jaguars win: Jan. 3, 1999 (Wild Card playoff game, 25-10)

Last Patriots win: Jan. 21. 2018 (AFC Championship game, 24-20)

Current Streak: Patriots have won eight in a row (including three playoff victories)

Biggest Jaguars win: 25-10 (Jan. 3, 1999)

Biggest Patriots win: 51-17 (Sept. 27, 2015)

Interesting takeaway: The Patriots have outscored the Jaguars 327-193 all-time, which is an average score of 27.25 to 16.08 per game. In Jacksonville, however, the margin shrinks significantly to an average score of 20.75 to 20.5 in favor of the Pats (83-82 total score).

Quick thoughts: I warned you it wasn’t pretty. It’s been nearly 20 years since the Jaguars last defeated the Patriots. The majority of games have been played in Foxborough, where the Patriots are 8-0 against the Jags. New England also owns a 4-1 record in Jacksonville. The only real silver lining here is that the Jaguars play the Patriots much tougher at home, as the Pats have not won by more than seven points in Duval. This series is pretty cut-and-dried overall — pure Patriots domination.

Last Matchup

Winner: Patriots

Score: 24-20

Date: Jan. 21, 2018

Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Team Stats:
Jaguars — 293 passing yards, 101 rushing yards, 22 first downs

Patriots — 310 passing yards, 46 rushing yards, 22 first downs

Quick recap: Do we really want to relive this heartbreak? Myles Jack wasn’t down. End of story. Really, though, after the Jaguars built a strong lead — up by 10 in the fourth quarter — conservative play-calling (despite a strong performance from Blake Bortles) and the fact that Tom Brady was on the other sideline ultimately spelled doom for the Jaguars. I don’t want to rehash much else because we all know the narrative.

Prior Matchup

Winner: Patriots

Score: 51-17

Date: Sept. 27, 2015

Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Team Stats:
Jaguars — 242 passing yards, 57 rushing yards, 15 first downs

Patriots — 358 passing yards, 125 rushing yards, 35 first downs

Quick recap: Remember when the Jaguars were really bad at football? Yeah, me either. The Patriots had a ridiculous 35 first downs, and Tom Brady carved up a very weak Jacksonville secondary (33-42, 358 yards, two TDs, zero INTs). LeGarrette Blount scored three touchdowns on the ground. The Patriots never trailed in this game. The Jaguars didn’t score their first touchdown until deep into the third quarter, and the second and final touchdown came in garbage time with just 1:22 left on the clock.

Through the Decades

1990s: Patriots 3-1

2000-2010: Patriots 5-0

2011-Present: Patriots 3-0

Quick thoughts: Ahh, not much to see here. The Patriots have indeed owned the Jaguars, especially when you look at the “through the decades” view.

Predictions: If history repeats itself, the Jaguars are in trouble. The culture has changed in Jacksonville under this current regime, though. This team is not backing down from Brady and Bill Belichick, and will look to set the tone early with smash-mouth offense and tough as nails defense.

Whether or not featured running back Leonard Fournette is able to play is going to be a key factor in if the Jaguars can pull off the victory or not. The offense clearly ran through Fournette in Week 1, prior to his injury. If he can’t go, Jacksonville may struggle offensively. To me, as much as I hate to admit it, the New England Patriots remain the cream of the crop in the AFC until somebody unseats them. That is up to Jacksonville. I’m not going to give my prediction on who wins just yet (you can in the poll below, though), but I see another close, hard-fought game on Sunday.

History is not on Jacksonville’s side, but this is a new era. I know it’s early in the week, but how do you see this one shaking out in 2018?