The Jacksonville Jaguars won the first of two back-to-back London games on Sunday with a dominant 23-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
For the Falcons, it was a day to forget. While Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense took a while to get going, they eventually began to find gaps in the Falcons defense.
The Jaguars struck the first blow in the first quarter with a Lawrence’s 30-yard pass finding former Falcon Calvin Ridley open in the endzone to give the team the upper hand after a series of unsuccessful drives. Then the Jaguars defense stepped up and caused plenty of problems for Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder, who was sacked by Josh Allen with 4:11 remaining in the first.
The Jaguars extended their lead in the early stages of the second quarter with a Brandon McManus field goal, and then Ridder was sacked by Allen once more. Ridder’s nightmare in England’s capital continued, this time with a pick six when his pass was intercepted by Darious Williams on the Jaguars 39, extending the Jaguars lead to 17-0.
The Falcons offense looked in disarray and the troubles continued with Ridder throwing another interception with Andrew Cisco being the man to catch the ball on the Falcons 18-yard line. It’s safe to say halftime could not have come any sooner for the 24-year-old.
In the third quarter, there were signs of improvement for the Falcons who managed to score a touchdown early on when Ridder’s 15-yard pass found the aptly named Drake London in the Jaguars endzone to cut the Jaguars lead to 10 points.
The second half was rather uneventful as the Jaguars looked to see out the game with the only other points being scored coming in the fourth quarter where two more Brandon McManus field goals extended the Jaguars lead to 16 points.
For the Jaguars, there were plenty of positives to take ahead of the clash with the Buffalo Bills, especially on defense where they restricted the Falcons to just 287 yards on offense, and if the team are to beat the Bills next week, then they will have to produce something similar to stop a dangerous offense.
Re-live the best moments from DAZN's coverage of the game below.