Ross Williams previews the pick of Sunday's NFL slate, including Jacksonville Jaguars 'hosting' Philadelphia Eagles at Wembley.
NFL betting tips: Week 5
2pts Jacksonville Jaguars (-7.5) to beat the Philadelphia Eagles @ 10/11 (General)
2pts Trey McBride (Cardinals) to score a touchdown @ 11/10 (Bet365)
2pts Sam LaPorta (Lions) to score a touchdown @ 13/8 (Sky Bet)
1pt McBride & LaPorta to score a touchdown @ 4.8/1 BuildABet (Sky Bet)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Jacksonville Jaguars (Wembley)
- October 11, 1430 BST, live on Sky Sports+
This weekend brings us the second of 2026’s NFL London games and the UK’s designated home team – the Jacksonville Jaguars – have rarely headed to British soil with more optimism.
The Jags have run up a 3-1 record through the opening month of the campaign and there’s plenty to be thrilled out. Jacksonville have racked up a cool 26 points per game so far and – more impressively – their defence is ranked 2nd overall in the NFL for points conceded (13.3 per game).
Trevor Lawrence – the Jags’ star quarterback – appears to have made the step up he’s always threatened, too. His completion percentage of 69.2% is comfortably higher than anything he’s recorded in his five previous years in the league and he’s remained extremely resistant to interceptions, throwing just two inside the opening four games, while throwing eight touchdowns.
All-in-all, the Jaguars find themselves in a fantastic spot.
But the same cannot be said for their opposition.
Philadelphia started the season in the winning column, picking up two victories initially, but things have capitulated since. Brutal back-to-back losses to the Bears and Rams have placed the Eagles on a firm slide, and that’s the least of their worries.
Casual fans attending Sunday’s game will be excused for barely recognising the Philadelphia team that take to the field. Even the most hardened NFL fans may have some trouble!
Offensive superstars Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert were already out of this match-up, and things have gone from bad to worse.
Elite offensive tackle Lane Johnson retired suddenly in the week after a stellar 14-season career and that news was followed by the trade of Cam Jurgens to Baltimore.
In short, the Philadelphia Eagles are taking to the field on Sunday, but they are not the Philadelphia Eagles we have come to expect in the last few years.
This looks like a franchise about to blow things up and go back to the drawing board, and that doesn’t bode well for their chances this Sunday against a team in a very different scenario.
The 7.5 point handicap is fairly hefty on paper, but few would be surprised to see a two-score Jacksonville win in London.
Detroit Lions @ Arizona Cardinals
- October 11, 2125 BST, live on Sky Sports Football
54.5 is an intriguing number this weekend.
It relates to the amount of points the bookmakers are expecting in Detroit’s visit to Arizona. It’s the joint-highest line of the round and it makes sense based on the underlying numbers.
Arizona have conceded 29.3 points per game so far – 4th most in the NFL – while at least showing some competence offensively. An average of 21.8 points scored is middle of the road in NFL terms and perhaps not as dire as their 1-3 record suggests.
The Lions, on the other hand, have proven to be must-watch. Detroit’s offence has performed well, scoring just shy of 30 points per game to place that unit within the NFL’s top five. However, their efforts have been largely wiped out by Detroit’s defensive frailties.
The Lions have conceded a massive 127 points through four weeks (2nd-most in the NFL) and they are the only team in the league to have shipped an average of 400+ yards per game.
All told, points are something of an inevitability in this match-up, and hopefully that gives us an in.
Rather than banking on the amount of points scored, I’m more interested in the scoring method, and both of these teams have a significant similarity.
Both the Arizona and Detroit offences lean heavily on their star tight ends in the passing game. Trey McBride leads Arizona’s receiving options in targets, receptions and touchdowns whereas Sam LaPorta is second-only to elite WR Amon-Ra St. Brown in the Lions’ key metrics.
Notably, McBride and LaPorta lead all tight ends in the NFL with nine redzone targets apiece, two clear of their nearest rival, New Orleans’ Juwan Johnson.
With both players averaging more than two touchdown-scoring opportunities per game inside the 20-yard line, in a game where points are an expectation, this feels like a real opportunity for a couple of singles and a tasty tight end double.
Posted at 16:40 BST on 10/10/26
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