In case you missed it: Jaguars help Buccaneers keep place in history

The Jacksonville Jaguars notched their first win this past week in London, which also helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep their place in the history books. With the Jags’ victory, the Buccaneers still hold the record for the longest regular season losing streak since the merger.

There really is nothing like some Floridians helping out fellow Floridians. Ironically, this heroic good deed on the part of the Jaguars didn’t even occur in Florida. I didn’t even occur in this country, as they had to travel across the pond to their second home in London where they defeated the Miami Dolphins (another Florida team).

In doing so, the Jaguars’ streak of 20 consecutive regular season losses has been snapped thanks to the Dolphins. With two of the three Florida teams in the NFL having their game go the way it did, the NFL’s third Florida team, the Bucs, still hold their place in the history books.

You see kids before Tom Brady came to town and turned the Buccaneers into a force, the franchise was historically known for being more of a farce, and that was not more evident than during the birth of the Bucs.

The team began play during the 1976 season coached by the legendarily hilarious John McKay and proceeded to drop their first 26 games in franchise history, finally defeating the New Orleans Saints 33-14 on December 11th, 1977 for an early Christmas present. For those wondering, their first loss, and game in general, was a 20-0 shutout at the hands of the Houston Oilers, who technically don’t even exist anymore.

The point is, the Buccaneers have their fellow Floridians to thank for keeping their place in (post-merger) NFL history. Sure, when the Bucs were still the “Yucks” or the “Suckaneers” the 26-game losing streak wasn’t as funny. Now that we’re in something of a golden age of the franchise, it’s easier to laugh about it now, and honor where the team started.