Jacksonville beat Indianapolis for the first time in years last December. Can the Jaguars build a winning streak in front of their newfound British fans?
After playing four games in London the past four seasons, the Jacksonville Jaguars have slowly become Great Britain's team. On Sunday, they'll try to give their newest fans something to cheer for when they take on the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jaguars appeared to take a step forward in Week 1 of the season after a narrow loss to preseason Super Bowl pick Green Bay, but the defeat has only led to a familiar 0-3 start. Jacksonville lost its first three games in both 2013 and 2014, leading to 4-12 and 3-13 finishes. If head coach Gus Bradley wants to avoid a similar spot at the top of the NFL Draft, he'll need to rally his team past an up-and-down Colts team on Sunday.
Jacksonville will hope there's finally some substance behind Blake Bortles' gaudy passing numbers. The third-year quarterback threw for 649 yards in his first two games of the season after breaking the 4,400-yard barrier his sophomore campaign. However, the Jags managed only 37 points in two losses before being shut down by Baltimore last week in a 19-17 defeat. Through three games, Bortles now has more interceptions (six) than touchdown passes (five).
Fortunately for the young QB, he'll face a Colts defense that has surrendered more points this season than all but two other NFL teams. Indianapolis won its first game of the season in Week 3 after surviving a shootout with San Diego. Chuck Pagano's team trailed twice in the second half, but a 63-yard touchdown strike from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton gave the Colts a 26-22 lead with 1:17 to play. San Diego had two chances to drive for a game-winning score, but a recharged Indy defense forced two drive-squashing fumbles to preserve the team's first win of the season.
Luck has been the driving force behind an Indianapolis offense ranked fifth in the league when it comes to scoring, but he has faded after a dynamic Week 1 performance. The fifth-year passer torched Detroit for 385 yards and four touchdowns in the season opener, then was limited to only two touchdowns while throwing a pair of interceptions in his team's next two games. Luck still sprang for 331 passing yards against San Diego, but he'll need to find the end zone more often if his defense continues to operate like a bottom 10 percent program.
The Jaguars have a little bit of historical momentum on their side. After losing six straight games to their division rivals, Jacksonville unleashed a cathartic 51-16 mud-hole stomping on Indianapolis last winter. It was the first time the Colts had lost to a division rival in more than three years, and it added an extra degree of chaos to a formerly predictable AFC South. On Sunday, Luck and his team will have the opportunity to extract a measure of revenge on foreign soil.
For British fans, the game is another unfortunate showdown between flagging teams. Since the inception of the NFL's annual trip(s) across the pond, London has yet to see a matchup between two teams with winning records. In the last three years, eight of the 14 teams to make the trek overseas have had either zero or one victory on the season.
How to watch
Time: 9:30 a.m. ET
Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England
TV: CBS
Announcers: Greg Gumbel, Trent Green, and Jamie Erdahl
Online: NFL Game Pass, Sunday Ticket, Verizon NFL Mobile
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