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          NFL Nation

          Jacksonville Jaguars have tough start and 34-day stretch between home games

          The Jaguars have seven games at TIAA Bank Field, as usual, but a big break between home games in October and November. David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire
          • Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterApr 18, 2019, 12:01 AM
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              Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
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          JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The NFL has released its 2019 regular-season schedule. Here's a look at what's in store for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

          Game-by-game prediction

          Jaguars reporter Michael DiRocco is predicting an 8-8 finish:

          Sept. 8: vs. Kansas City, Loss

          Sept. 15: at Houston, Loss

          Sept. 19: vs. Tennessee, Loss

          Sept. 29: at Denver, Win

          Oct. 6: at Carolina, Win

          Oct. 13: vs. New Orleans, Loss

          Oct. 20: at Cincinnati, Win

          Oct. 27: vs. New York Jets, Win

          Nov. 3: vs. Houston (London), Win

          Nov. 17: at Indianapolis, Loss

          Nov. 24: at Tennessee, Loss

          Dec. 1: vs. Tampa Bay, Win

          Dec. 8: vs. Los Angeles Chargers, Loss

          Dec. 15: at Oakland, Win

          Dec. 22: at Atlanta, Loss

          Dec. 29: vs. Indianapolis, Win

          Strength of schedule: .531, 3rd

          Breakdown

          We’ll see pretty quickly how much difference QB Nick Foles will make because the beginning of the season will be pretty tough, with three of the first five games on the road. The only two home games come against Kansas City (Week 1) and Tennessee (Week 3). The Chiefs were a Tom Brady drive away from making the Super Bowl (sound familiar, Jaguars fans?) and the Titans have won five of the last six meetings, including the last four. Overall, the Jaguars play seven games against teams that made the playoffs last season -- including New Orleans and the Los Angeles Chargers -- but only two of those games come in the final six weeks. The Jaguars get a rare home game to finish the season. That has happened just seven times in the franchise’s 25-year history and just three times since 2000. The last time came in 2011, when the Jaguars beat Indianapolis, a loss that gave the Colts the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft over St. Louis (which eventually traded with Washington) and allowed them to draft Andrew Luck.

          Not much night football

          The Jaguars’ lone prime-time game this season comes against Tennessee at home in Week 3. It will mark the fifth time in the last six seasons the teams have met on Thursday Night Football. The Jaguars are 2-2 in those games, with both victories coming at TIAA Bank Field. Unless the NFL flexes one of the Jaguars’ games to Sunday night, this will be the eighth season in a row in which the Jaguars have not appeared on either Sunday or Monday night. The Jaguars last played on Sunday night in 2008 (a 26-21 loss to Pittsburgh) and last played on Monday night in 2011 (two games, a 12-7 victory over Baltimore and a 38-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers).

          0-for-November

          When the Jaguars leave TIAA Bank Field after their Oct. 27 game against the New York Jets, the players won’t set foot in the stadium again for 34 days. The team’s annual home game in London is the following week (against Houston), followed by the bye in Week 10, and then back-to-back road games at Indianapolis and Tennessee before playing host to Tampa Bay on Dec. 1. The long absence is partly due to the annual Florida-Georgia game, which this year is Nov. 2. The Jaguars cannot play a home game that weekend because of the temporary seating that’s installed, as well as the Gators and Bulldogs adornments around the stadium.