JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have become more than just a good football team under new head coach Liam Coen.
Against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Jaguars showed that they are relevant on the national scale: for the first time in a long time, the Jaguars are a box-office draw.
"ESPN’s Week 5 matchup between the Chiefs and Jaguars (October 6, 8:15 p.m. ET) generated an audience of 22.3 million, continuing ESPN’s season-long trend of airing its most-watched Monday Night Football games since the franchise moved to the network in 2006 (more than 340 games). Now, five weeks into the season, ESPN has aired 3 of its Top 8 most-watched telecasts in that time period," ESPN said in a release.
"The Chiefs-Jaguars game ranks as ESPN’s sixth most-watched Monday Night Football game, joining Lions-Ravens in Week 3 (22,847,000 viewers) and Vikings-Bears in Week 1 (22,120,000 viewers) on the Top 8 list. Lions-Ravens remains fourth on the list, with Vikings-Bears now eighth."
"In addition to being one of ESPN’s most-watched Monday Night Football games, the Chiefs-Jaguars also serves as ESPN’s most-watched Week 5 game in its MNF era, and was up 40% compared to Week 5 last season (Saints vs. Chiefs). ESPN’s audience peaked at 25.4 million viewers during the Jaguars' game-winning drive (11:00 – 11:15 p.m.)."
The fact the Jaguars were playing the Chiefs certainly had a lot to do with these ratings, but the Jaguars deserve credit, too. They entered the game with a 3-1 record and as one of the NFL's biggest surprises this season, and their chaotic win over the Chiefs should propel them into another level of media attention.
The Jaguars and their fans also created a dynamic atmosphere that was felt by the staff, the players, and anyone else watching.
"I think that's probably that, like, I've only been here a year, but that that was the most like, that was the most electrified I've ever seen the stadium," Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones told us in the locker room this week. "Like that was like one of those atmospheres, like, when I ran out and I seen everybody, I kind of got chills a little bit. I was like, Okay, this is Jacksonville. This is what Jacksonville needed. And I think we bringing it back."
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