The 2019 NFL season has seemed to disappear as quick as it has come as we are already in Week 16.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will look to build off of the momentum of a huge crowd-spoiling win against the Oakland Raiders where it would be the team’s last game at RingCentral Coliseum before moving to Las Vegas.
While the postseason isn’t in the current plans for the Jaguars, a strong finish could do wonders for the morale of the locker room after a long season. They will look to capture that positive morale when they take on the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Atlanta.
To get the Jaguars’ fans ready for an exciting matchup with the Falcons. Here are three things to know heading into Sunday’s matchup:
The Jaguars are 3-3 against the Falcons
The Jaguars and the Falcons don’t have much history between each other as they’ve only faced off a total of six times in their combined 78 years as respective franchises. Their last meeting came in 2015 where the Falcons were victorious by the score of 23-17. The Falcons have won the last two meetings against the Jaguars by a combined score of 64-31 and the Jaguars last win came in 2007 where they won 13-7.
Sunday will mark the tie-breaker between both teams. It will be tough as the Jaguars are slated to be underdogs in this matchup.
The Jaguars haven’t won in Atlanta since 1999
The Jaguars will be playing the Falcons in Atlanta, and unfortunately, a win at their location hasn’t come in 20 years when the Georgia Dome stood nearby the location of their current home stadium: the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
While the youngest of Jaguars fans most likely weren’t born yet, the 1999 matchup saw a year where the Jaguars were 7-1 heading into the game and the Falcons were having an abysmal season, sitting at 2-7 on the year. The crowd of 68,466 in the Georgia Dome saw the Jaguars completely shred the Falcons by the score of 30-7.
Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell had an outstanding game going 14-of-27 with 203 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Jaguars running back Fred Taylor dominated on the ground rushing for 124 yards and also 54 yards receiving on two receptions.
The Jaguars will hope to recreate that same magic from 1999.
Only one current Jags starter remains from the last meeting in 2015
The Jaguars have seen a massive roster turnaround since their last matchup with the Dirty Birds.
Since the Jags’ last meeting against the Falcons, the Jaguars will only have one starter from their 2015 game going into Sunday in defensive tackle Abry Jones. The Jaguars would have had another player from that game in All-Pro linebacker Telvin Smith, but Smith shockingly decided to step away from football for the 2019 season.
Jones recorded only one tackle that game as he was more of a rotational player at the time but has now transitioned into a starter for this season.
To put things into perspective, the Falcons boast eight starters from the last game against the Jaguars in 2015. Those players are 2016 NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan, seven-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones, two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman, former Pro Bowl offensive lineman Jake Matthews, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, former Pro Bowl and All-Pro linebacker Vic Beasley Jr., former Pro Bowl defensive back Desmond Trufant and Ricardo Allen.
The Jaguars will look to make sure that their new faces are enough to take down some proven talent in the Atlanta Falcons.
