Trevor Lawrence and Josh Allen make it a 10th birthday to celebrate for Jacksonville Jaguars over Atlanta Falcons at Wembley

Former No 1 draft pick Lawrence played a flawless game at quarterback to pilot the Jaguars to victory in their 10th ‘home’ game in London.

But it was the performance of outside linebacker Josh Allen that stole the show, with the Jaguars star defensive player recording three sacks and forcing the fumble by Atlanta quarterback Desmond Ridder in the final two minutes that secured the Jaguars second win of the 2023 season.

Jacksonville now head across London to face the Buffalo Bills next Sunday in a week five showdown against the Buffalo Bills, who like the Jaguars, won their division in the AFC last year and harbour hopes of going all the way this year.

It will be the first time a team will have played two games in one season in London, with Jacksonville no strangers to breaking new ground in the NFL’s expansion into European markets.

The first NFL regular-season game in London was played in 2007 but it was the Jags in 2013 who committed to returning to London, and Wembley Stadium, on a multi-year deal.

This was their 10th visit to the capital (ninth to Wembley) and a crowd of 85,718 – the third largest they have played to – suggests there is still a huge appetite not only for the NFL among UK and international fans, but also the Jaguars, who have enjoyed only sporadic success in that decade.

Certainly the walk up Wembley Way before kick-off suggests the Jags are building a fanbase over here in England.

Usually the famous walkway is littered with shirts of all 32 teams, but this time the predominant colours were the green, gold and black of the Jaguars.

And those fans were rewarded with a comfortable victory against a Falcons team that, barring a few eye-catching plays from their first-round draft pick running back Bijan Robinson, were a long way short in most other areas, including pass protection of Ridder who was hurried or sacked on a number of occasions on his way to a three-interception performance, one of which the Jaguars defence returned for a touchdown.

Lawrence had earlier tossed a 30-yard pass to former Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley in the back of the end zone for the Jaguars first score of what proved to be a comfortable victory on a balmy autumnal afternoon at Wembley.

For standout defensive player Josh Allen – who next week will go up against his namesake in the Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen – the experience of repeatedly coming back to London is bearing fruit.

"We know what to do, when to sleep, what to eat, what not to eat, how much water to drink on the plane,” said the 26-year-old.

"This is home for us, we feel it’s a home game, we feel the energy in the stands.

"We know we’ve got the backing of the fans, all 85,000 of them, and it was a sweet atmosphere.

"When they were singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ that was pretty cool, even though I was locked in I could still hear it.”