The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-0 in a preseason NFL fixture on Friday evening. The match took place at the Jaguars' home ground as both sides continued their preparation for the upcoming season. It was the opening contest for both teams in the 2026 preseason campaign.
A clean sheet victory for the hosts. And here's the thing about preseason results — they tell you little about what comes next, but they do reveal which players are earning trust from the coaching staff. The 19-goal margin suggests the Jaguars found their rhythm earlier against their division rivals.
The Jaguars arrived having lost 34-17 to the Carolina Panthers in their previous outing. Before that, they had secured a 24-20 victory over the Saints. To be fair, the Panthers game exposed some defensive vulnerabilities, but this performance offered a different picture entirely.
Tampa Bay came into the match with mixed results of their own. They had fallen 16-15 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday night, yet before that defeat they had beaten the New York Jets 24-16. By then, questions were being asked about their consistency.
Preseason standings carry no weight yet, and neither team sits anywhere meaningful in the table. What matters now is that the Jaguars have started their preparations with confidence, while the Buccaneers will need to regroup before their next fixture.
