JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars left their season opener with a win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The team took down the Panthers 26-10 at EverBank Stadium.
Fans packed stadium seats to witness the first game of the season. And there were lots of questions amongst fans about what the team would accomplish. After all, it was the first game under a new head coach, general manager and with two-way star Travis Hunter.
And the Jags got off to a decent start.
Up 10-3 in the second quarter, that momentum was put on pause. Officials had to delay the game due to severe weather.
But the minor pause didn’t change the fans’ momentum.
“The beautiful part about the rain delay was that we got that cool down,” Edmundo Marcial said.
“They said get out of your seats but we all stayed,” Brandon Kaltofen said.
Most fans were excited about the team’s future, calling the Jags “electric” and “undefeated.”
“We were nervous that the crowd was kind of just going to be under but we were all a little bit more excited and hyped up that we could enjoy the game.“ Cheldee Bruton told News4JAX. ““It was awesome. Definitely a 10 out of 10 experience,”
Bruton said the Jags’ season opener was the first NFL game she had ever attended.
“I’ll definitely be back,” she said.
But even for the fans born into the Jaguars’ colors, they said this game gives them a new found hope for what’s to come.
“Bringing that old school Jaguar feeling to the city, to the team and to the fans,” Marcial said. “If you’re a Jaguar fan and seeing what’s happening through the draft and all the changes like that this year and now the new stadium modification -- the Jaguars are moving in the right direction.”
Even those that weren’t fans of either team and just visited for some NFL action said they were impressed by how Jacksonville played.
“They look good. They look good offensively and defensively. It was good to see Travis Hunter on both sides of the field,” Bryson Bailey said.
The team will travel to Cincinnati next week to face the Bengals. They’ll be back in Jacksonville in Week 3 to take on the Texans.