Florida Football Sunday: Jaguars, Bucs and Fins Set for Home Battles
Each Florida team will host their respective competition Sunday. Heading into the bulk of this NFL season, the Sunshine State squads all look to string together wins.
Coming off a “Monday Night Football” thriller, the Jacksonville Jaguars look to extend their win streak to four games. The Jags take on the Sam Darnold-led Seattle Seahawks in Week 6.
WRUF NFL beat reporters Riley Orovitz leads the weekly picks over Dalton Sallengs after Week 5. Riley is 10-5 with her predictions for the season, while Dalton went 0-3, putting him at 7-8 on the year.
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 1 p.m., FOX)
The Jags shocked the world in Week 5 with a victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence excelled on primetime with three total touchdowns. Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. saw his greatest receiving yards total of the season with 80 on four receptions, leading all Jacksonville receivers in the 31-28 win.
A primary factor of the Jags’ hot start is their explosive defense. While they allowed the Chiefs to post 28 points, Jacksonville forced quarterback Patrick Mahomes into tough situations. The three-time Super Bowl champion threw a 99-yard pick-6 to linebacker Devin Lloyd late in the third quarter.
This week, Jacksonville faces another beast: the offensive-driven Seahawks. Sunday’s contest may be a high-scoring attack with both teams posting over 23 points in four out of their five matchups.
Seattle fell short in Week 5 after a shootout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns in the loss.
If Jacksonville wants to remain competitive with the team from the Pacific Northwest, it will have to use its front seven to contain Darnold. The Jags’ defense has generated 10 interceptions, seven sacks and recovered four fumbles thus far.
Riley’s pick: Jaguars 24, Seahawks 21
Dalton’s pick: Seahawks 38, Jaguars 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco 49ers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m., CBS)
A Bucs comeback victory seems guaranteed at this point in the season. The win was the fourth of that nature this year.
Tampa Bay took down Seattle thanks to quarterback Baker Mayfield’s late-game heroics and kicker Chase McLaughlin’s right leg.
Mayfield came out of the contest with 379 passing yards, two touchdowns and just four incompletions on an 87.8 completion percentage. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka has quickly become Mayfield’s favorite target. The rookie totaled a touchdown and 163 receiving yards, the greatest in his young career.
The Bucs look to ride the wave heading into Week 6. The 49ers will be well rested for their NFC matchup in Tampa. San Francisco took down the Los Angeles Rams on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in Week 5.
Niners quarterback Mac Jones earned his third start, and made the most of his appearance. He racked up his greatest passing yards total since the halfway point of the 2022 season with 342.
Sunday will be a telling tale for both squads. Can Tampa improve to 5-1 or will it be the Niners who play spoiler in the Bucs’ homecoming?
Riley: Buccaneers 24, 49ers 17
Dalton: Buccaneers 27, 49ers 24
Miami Dolphins vs. Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS)
After what looked like a sure-fire win for the Dolphins last week, Miami came up short for the fourth time this season.
The lack of consistency by Miami on both sides of the ball led to its second-half collapse. The South Florida group led by 17-0, but Carolina bounced back with a 27-7 run to close out the contest.
Even with Carolina Panthers starting running back Chuba Hubbard unavailable, the poor run-stopping Dolphins front seven allowed 239 rushing yards.
Can the Dolphins find their second win of the year, and first at Hard Rock Stadium? The Los Angeles Chargers will travel to Miami Gardens in hopes of its fourth win.
The last time the Dolphins and Chargers squared up was in their 2023 season opener. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns in the primetime win, however, both teams’ rosters look drastically different this time around.
Miami’s defense needs a strong performance to beat the Chargers. Allowing over 200 rushing yards to a Panthers team that has exceeded 100 rushing yards only three times all season is not ideal.
Miami’s secondary cannot catch a break. Cornerbacks Storm Duck and Cornell Armstrong are entering the week tagged with a questionable status. That is on top of cornerbacks Kader Kohou, Jason Marshall Jr. and Artie Burns all falling to injured reserve.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is coming off his lowest passing yards total (166) in Week 5. A win for Los Angeles would put them back in the win column after experiencing a two-game skid.
Riley: Chargers 28, Dolphins 17
Dalton: Chargers 28, Dolphins 20
Category: NFL
