The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the youngest franchises in the NFL. They were established in 1995, the same year as the Carolina Panthers. That makes them one of the last teams in the league to be established.
So the history of the team does not span all that long, at under 30 years. That does not mean the Jaguars lack an entertaining franchise story. And that story includes some heated rivalries.
Since the Jaguars have not been around as long, they might not have as storied rivalries as other teams. They won't have a Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers or Washington Redskins-Dallas Cowboys level of history. However, they still have notable rivals.
Who are their biggest? Let's take a deeper look and try to determine the five greatest rivals in Jacksonville franchise history.
5. Miami Dolphins
No. 5 was a toss up between the two other Florida teams. Because the Jaguars have not had the longest history, they don't have an extensive amount of time to build big-time rivalries. So the Dolphins get the nod, even though a case could also be made for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make this list.
Miami gets the edge because they have played against Jacksonville eight times (4-4) compared to seven times for Tampa Bay, where Jacksonville is up 4-3.
The Jaguars have decent enough bragging rights when it comes to their head-to-head matchups with the other Florida teams. That's something the fan base has to appreciate — at least a little bit.
4. Carolina Panthers
Initially, the Panthers might not seem like one of the Jaguars' biggest rivals. They are not in the same division and have faced off just seven times, with a 3-4 record that favors Carolina.
However, the two teams both entered the league at the same time.
Not often are two teams that are not in the same division as connected as these two teams are. And with both franchises the same age, it's easy to compare the two to see which has reached major milestones before the other.
In the minds of the players, this rivalry probably doesn't mean much. For the fans, though, it sparks head-to-head debates.
3. Houston Texans
Now to the AFC South and officially hitting real rivalry territory.
The Jaguars and Houston Texans have faced off 36 times. Sadly for Jacksonville, the numbers have not favored them; they are 13-23 against Houston. That's not great.
However, it's still relatively early in the rivalry given that the Texans are the NFL's youngest franchise. So there is plenty of time for Jacksonville to make up some ground.
2. Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have the second-most games played against the Jaguars. In 38 contests, the Jaguars are 14-24 in the series. Sadly, losing records are a trend for Jacksonville. They have some ground to make up against a lot of their rivals.
Jacksonville has started catching up recently, so there is some good news. In their last nine contests, the Jaguars are 6-3 against the Colts.
However, they were on a six-game skid against Indianapolis before this current stretch.
Being 10 games back in the series is not pretty. They've shown recently that they can be a test for the Colts. It's possible we could look back at this rivalry in a few years and tell a different story, one more positive for Jacksonville.
After all, like with the Texans, this rivalry is still in the early stages of development.
1. Tennessee Titans
Finally, we come to the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have the most games played against the Jaguars in the NFL with 50, putting them 12 games ahead of the second-place Colts in that category.
In the 50 games, Jacksonville is 21-29. That's not good, but it is far from dreadful. A few good seasons and they could be in a completely different place when talking about this rivalry.
However, there's some bad news for the Jaguars: The recent record is not like the one with the Colts.
Tennessee has won five of the last seven. They've also won seven of the last nine. In fact, before that stretch of dropping seven-of-nine, Jacksonville was 19-22. That's a much more competitive rivalry.
The history of the Jaguars is not a long one. But their rivalries have been established, particularly within their division, and there's plenty of time to build their intensity even further.
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