On the other side of the Atlantic, the New England Patriots have a chance to focus on themselves and come away from Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a win.
For most of their history, the New England Patriots have had a ton of success playing internationally – as they’ll do this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London. During the Tom Brady era they went 3-0 in international games with two wins at Wembley in 2012 and 2012, and another in Mexico City in 2017.
Their last trip across the post, their first post-Brady, wasn’t as successful. It was a turning point in the 2023 season, as the Patriots lost to the Colts 10-6 in Frankfurt, Germany. That game saw the first shift at the quarterback position between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, and NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran later reported that it was after that game that Patriots ownership decided the team would part ways with Bill Belichick at the end of the year.
Now, the Patriots head back across the pond with a new head coach in Jerod Mayo and a definitive answer at the quarterback position after Drake Maye was promoted to the starting job last week. Still the team is trying to turn the momentum, having lost five games in a row after winning the season opener.
The good news is the Patriots face a Jaguars team that, like them, is struggling to find an identity. Over the past two seasons it looked like the Jags were building towards something, and gave quarterback Trevor Lawrence a significant contract extension this offseason. Yet they’ve started out 1-5, and after a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears in London last week the calls for organizational change are getting louder and louder.
Against this kind of opponent, the Patriots should have a chance to focus on what they do internally and start to right the ship. What do they need to do to turn the tide? What factors do they need to overcome? Let’s get into that in this week’s 5 Things…