By Mike Bonts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville is coming off a Thursday night win against the New York Jets. They face AFC South rival Houston Sunday @ 1 p.m.
QB Trevor Lawrence totaled 280 yards (229 pass, 51 rush) & had 5th rush TD of season last week, tied with David Garrard (5 in 2010) for most rush TDs ever by Jax QB in single season. Has rush TD in 2 of past 3. Has 16 TDs (14 pass, 2 rush) vs. INT with 108.2 rating in past 7 games, highest rating in NFL since Week 9. Aims for his 6th in row on road with 0 INTs. Passed for 332 yards & 3 TDs in last road meeting. Needs 251 pass yards to become 3rd Jax. QB ever with 4,000+ pass yards in season.
Against the Texans, running back Travis Etienne aims for 3rd in row with 100+ scrimmage yards. Had 114 scrimmage yards (71 rush, 43 rec.) in Week 5 meeting. Is 5th Jax. player ever with 1,000+ rush yards in single season.
Wide receiver Christian Kirk needs 12 rec. yards for 1st-career 1,000-yard season. Marvin Jones set season highs in catches (7) & rec. yards (104) in Week 5 meeting. Has 75+ rec. yards in 2 of his past 3 vs. Houston. Tight end Evan Engram led team with 7 catches for 113 yards last week. Aims for 4th in row with 7+ catches & 60+ rec. yards. Aims for 3rd in row on road with 100+ rec. yards. Had 6 catches for 69 yards in Week 5 meeting.
Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun had 6 tackles, 2 FFs & 2 PD last week, becoming 6th player with 2 FFs in game this season. Had 2 TFL & sack in Week 5 meeting. Leads NFL with 162 tackles in 2022, tied-most by Jax. player in season since 2000. Rookie Devin Lloyd led team with 9 tackles & had 3rd INT of season last week. Is 1 of 2 rookies (Jalen Pitre) with 100+ tackles (107) & 3+ INTs.
Josh Allen aims for 4th in row with TFL & has sack in 2 of past 3. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins had TFL last week. Aims for 3rd in row with 8+ tackle.
The Jaguars signed DL Jeremiah Ledbetter to the active roster from the practice squad and LS Garrison Sanborn to the practice squad.
Ledbetter has appeared in 21 career games, including 16 games with the Detroit Lions in 2017. He has been on the Jaguars practice squad since Week 9 of the 2022 season and made his 2022 debut in Jacksonville’s Week 16 victory against the Jets. Ledbetter played two seasons at Arkansas from 2015-16 and compiled 104 tackles, including 15 for loss and 7.5 sacks. Sanborn has appeared in 163 career games, including 128 games played for the Bills from 2009-16. He appeared in 32 games with Tampa Bay from 2017-18 and in three games with the 49ers in 2019.
Jacksonville placed OL Cam Robinson and DL Dawuane Smoot on Injured Reserve.
Miami Dolphins
Miami lost to Green Bay at home Sunday. The Dolphins travel to New England this week.
Tyreek Hill totaled four receptions for 103 yards (25.8 avg.) today, bringing his season totals to 113 receptions for 1,632 yards (14.4 avg.) and seven touchdowns. Hill’s 1,632 receiving yards were already a Dolphins single-season record but he broke the team receptions record, surpassing Jarvis Landry’s 112 receptions in 2017.
The 103 receiving yards by Hill gives him his seventh 100-yard game of the season. It’s the second-most 100-yard games in a Dolphins season, just one behind the eight that WR Mark Duper had in 1986. His seven 100-yard games are the most in a season in his career. Hill will finish Week 16 ranked second in the NFL in both receptions (113) and receiving yards (1,632), trailing
Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson in both categories with two games remaining.
His 52-yard reception from QB Tua Tagovailoa was the fourth 50+ yard reception of the season for Hill and the 18th of his career. He leads all NFL players with 18 receptions of 50+ yards since 2016, the year he entered the league.
On the first play of Miami’s second drive of the game, Tagovailoa found Jaylen Waddle for an 84-yard touchdown. The play gave Miami an early 10-3 lead. The play was the fourth-longest completion in Dolphins’ history and the longest since 1986
It was second-longest completion in the NFL this season. Buffalo’s Josh Allen completed a 98-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis on Oct. 9, 2022 vs. Pittsburgh. According to NFL research, it’s the longest pass play on Christmas in NFL history.
Including his 84-yard touchdown reception, Jaylen Waddle finished Sunday’s game with five receptions for 143 yards (28.6 avg.) and that score. It was Waddle’s sixth 100-yard game of the season and the second-most receiving yards in a game in his career.
Linebacker Elandon Roberts and safety Eric Rowe both brought down Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. Roberts brought him down for a loss of 13 yards in the red zone in the first quarter while Rowe had a sack for a loss of three in the second quarter. The Dolphins have sacked the opposing quarterback in 13 straight games, have multiple sacks in seven straight games.
contests and have totaled 17 sacks in the past five weeks.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa defeated Arizona Sunday night. The Bucs play NFC South division foe Carolina on Sunday.
Since his breakout season in 2019, Chris Godwin ranks fifth among qualified receivers in yards after catch per game and seventh in receiving yards per game. Godwin’s current 12-game streak with five or-more receptions is the longest in the NFL this season and the second longest in franchise history.
In Week 14, QB Tom Brady threw his 100th TD pass with Tampa Bay, making him the fifth quarterback in league history to throw 100-or-more touchdown passes with multiple teams (Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Fran Tarkenton, Kurt Warner). Brady currently ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards this season with 4,178. Since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2020, his 14,127 passing yards trail only Patrick Mahomes.
The Buccaneers’ defense has been one of the best in the league in creating turnovers since Todd Bowles took over as defensive coordinator in 2019. From the start of the 2019 season, Tampa Bay ranks sixth in takeaways and second in points off turnovers.
