The 1997 Jacksonville Jaguars season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and the 3rd under head coach Tom Coughlin. The team looked to reach the AFC Championship for the second straight year following a surprising run in 1996. The Jaguars improved upon their previous 9-7 record and won 11 games. They made the playoffs as a wild card team, playing the Denver Broncos on the road for the second straight year. This time they lost to the Broncos 42–17, bringing the Jaguars’ season to an end. The team also made several changes to the uniforms. They changed the numbers to new font style numbers and added black side panels to the uniforms. During the offseason, the team had changed the font style numbers on the jerseys to a skinnier style with a black drop shadow in the back of the numbers. During the team's 1997 preseason games there were several complaints that the announcers and the viewers had a hard time recognizing the numbers on the players, so the team decided to make the jersey numbers wider and removed the drop shadow numbers by the beginning of the regular season.

Offseason

NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Baltimore Ravens

Week 2: vs. New York Giants

Week 4: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 5: at Washington Redskins

Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 7: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 8: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 9: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 10: at Tennessee Oilers

Week 11: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 12: vs. Tennessee Oilers

Week 13: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 14: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Week 15: vs. New England Patriots

Week 16: at Buffalo Bills

Week 17: at Oakland Raiders

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (4) Denver Broncos

After upsetting the Broncos in the playoffs in the previous year, the Jaguars fell short in the re-match. John Elway lead the Broncos to a 42–17 win over the visiting Jaguars, throwing for 223 yards and a touchdown. Mark Brunell was 18 for 32 for 203 yards, but had no touchdowns on top of an interception. Similar to the year before when the Broncos could not stop Natrone Means and the Jaguars running game, the Jaguars struggled all game to contain the Broncos running attack. Terrell Davis carried 31 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Nonetheless, the game was close throughout, as the Broncos led by only 21-17 late in the third quarter. But the Broncos would score 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, ending the Jaguars season.

Awards and records