The Jacksonville Jaguars continued their late-season surge in Week 16’s Thursday night game against the New York Jets, winning 19-3. It was Jacksonville’s third-straight win and moved the Jaguars to 7-8. It also marked the first win of its kind in a long time for the Jaguars.
On November 19, 2000, Bill Clinton was a lame duck president and America was still waiting to find out who would replace him, as Al Gore and George W. Bush’s election grew contentious. Nearly two weeks after the election, Florida (and in turn, the entire election) was still being decided.
For NFL context, both starting quarterbacks in Thursday’s game, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and New York’s Zach Wilson, were only a year old. Tom Brady, meanwhile, was a rookie quarterback with the New England Patriots, still backing up Drew Bledsoe.
And on that day, the Jaguars went into Three Rivers Stadium and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-24 on Sunday Night Football. That win was the last of its kind for Jacksonville — until Thursday night.
Crediting Tony Smith of 1010XL and 92.5FM in Jacksonville for bringing it to his attention, Michael DiRocco of ESPN noted on Twitter that until Thursday night, that game in Pittsburgh from 22 years ago was the last time that the Jaguars had won a prime time game on the road.
“Hat tip to @1010xlfattony for pointing this out earlier today: The Jaguars have not won a road prime time game since beating Pittsburgh 34-24 on Nov. 19, 2000. Fred Taylor ran for 234 and 3 TDs in that Sunday night game.”
Hat tip to @1010xlfattony for pointing this out earlier today: The Jaguars have not won a road prime time game since beating Pittsburgh 34-24 on Nov. 19, 2000. Fred Taylor ran for 234 and 3 TDs in that Sunday night game.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) December 23, 2022
Unsurprisingly, this drew a strong reaction from people, noting what was going on in their lives 22 years ago.
JP Acosta, SB Nation said, “I was 3 months old.” Jaguars reporter J.P. Shadrick wasn’t quite that young, but has also come a long way. “I was a freshman at the University of Alabama,” he said.
I was 3 months old https://t.co/mo2zoblmP0
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) December 23, 2022
I was a freshman at the University of Alabama. https://t.co/DzRBKAqmJW
— J.P. Shadrick (@jpshadrick) December 23, 2022
My last game on the beat and another reason Fred should be in the Hall. https://t.co/b1A1q2V4GD
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) December 23, 2022
Of course, it’s not quite as bad for the Jaguars as it would be for most other teams. For various reasons, they haven’t gotten as many prime time games as most teams around the NFL over the last 22 years. But DiRocco followed his tweet up with another that said the Jaguars “Had lost their last six prime time road games.”
Jags snap another streak. Had lost their last six prime time road games. https://t.co/1JaXHV18Xm
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) December 23, 2022
So, while most other teams have probably had more chances in that time, six is not an insignificant streak. It’s one that the Jaguars — both past and especially present — were undoubtedly happy to see come to an end on Thursday night.
The Jaguars are now 6-7 on the season. If the Houston Texans upset the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, Jacksonville will be tied atop the AFC South and will have the tiebreaker over Tennessee. And even if the Titans win on Saturday, with a head-t0-head win over the Titans already secured and a Week 18 showdown between the teams loming, the Jaguars control their own destiny to win the AFC South.
[Michael DiRocco on Twitter]
