Miami Dolphins - New York Jets. at Wembley

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Rivals set for Wembley showdown (Sunday Oct 4th)

There will be added spice to the NFL clash hosted at Wembley this weekend as two divisional rivals go head to head for the first time in England.


Sunday's lunchtime fixture will be the 12th International Series game to be staged in London, and the first of three regular-season matches in the capital this year, but the NFL will break new ground by pitting the Miami Dolphins against the New York Jets.

The two AFC East foes play each other twice every year and have met on 99 previous occasions in both the regular and post season, with Sunday's result likely to have a big impact on whether the respective franchises can materalise a play-off challenge alongside the division's powerhouse and reigning Super Bowl champions New England Patriots.

While the rivalry might have been taken out of Miami on this occasion, Jets linebacker Quinton Coples believes emotions will still be high once the pads are on.

"It's great. The intensity is going to be there," Coples told Press Association Sport.

"It's good football. We're both trying to take each other's heads off but at the end of the day it's the beauty of trying to win the game. It should be a great event, great for London and great for the fans over here."

Both sides spent big in the off-season's free agency in an attempt to dethrone the AFC East's perennially-winning Patriots - Miami bringing in

114million defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and New York bringing cornerback Darrelle Revis back on a

70million deal.

However, the Fins have endured a lacklustre start and arrived at Heathrow on Friday morning as the team under the most scrutiny.

Their struggles are not on the Jets' mind, though, as they bid to improve their record to 3-1 heading into next week's bye.

"Our job is to make sure we win," fourth-year linebacker Coples, who is one of nine first-round picks on a talented unit, added.

"We want to make sure we leave here with a 'W'. It's up to them to deal with them. Our job is to go there and do whatever we need to do to get the win."

For Jarvis Landry, the Dolphins' leading receiver this term, the near 9,000-mile round trip will only be worthwhile if they leave Wembley victorious, as they did last September when defeating the Oakland Raiders 38-14.

"It's a high, emotional game for us coming all the way out here," he said at his team's press day at Saracens' Allianz Park on Friday.

"No team wants to lose after making that trip. It's going to be a competitive game. I'm excited about it, I can't wait to get out there."

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We take the Jets to be Wembley winners


Recommended bets:

3pts NY Jets to beat Miami

3pts Karlos Williams to score a touchdown anytime v NY Giants

The NFL descends on London once more for the first time in 2015 as the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets hope to put their best foot forward in a different environment following disappointing losses in week three.

This could still be the season when the Dolphins muster enough of an effort to challenge New England in the AFC East but the early signs have not been particularly encouraging despite spending some big cash over the summer.

The organisation finally decided to hitch its wagon to quarterback Ryan Tannehill for six years and $97m while the undoubted biggest move of the off-season saw defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh arrive from Detroit in a deal worth $114m.

However, they just about managed to scramble past Washington in week one but losses to a very mediocre Jacksonville and an embarrassment at the hands of Buffalo last week 41-14 (they trailed 27-0 at the half) now leaves them in need of some rapid redemption.

Suh is recognised as one of the most destructive players in the league on defense but has made little impact and was accused in week two of actually freelancing on plays while Branden Albert's absence from the offensive line has seen Tannehill facing his age-old issue of trying to remain upright with little or no running game to rely on.

Tannehil gets top marks for toughness - he took an absolute pounding against the Bills - but the outlook in the build-up to the game is that this will be a pivotal week in terms of turning things around as the pressure on head coach Joe Philbin continues to rise as well.

Their rivals slipped to a first loss of the season at home to Philadelphia which was a combination of some sloppy play from themselves and meeting a well-fancied rival desperate not to slip to 0-3.


Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offense struggled without injured starting running back Chris Ivory (back for this week) and three second-half interceptions were the result as they chased a big deficit in the game.

Fitzpatrick is not really the type of player for that situation like and his limitations were exposed as he tried to push a little bit too hard - I am much more inclined to judge the Jets so far on pretty dominant victories over Cleveland and Indianapolis.

With Ivory back and perhaps starting wide receiver Eric Decker able to contribute as well, Fitzpatrick should be far happier while I expect a defense that suffocated the Colts and kept them to just seven points will match up well against Tannehill and his currently shaky collection of performers.

Miami find themselves in an almost identical spot to 12 months ago - arriving in London on the back of a heavy defeat but then able to put together a really good gameplan and easily beat Oakland.

Tannehill has some playmakers in the passing game like Jarvis Landry and the eyecatching Rishard Matthews but these Jets are hands-down a much tougher opponent than the Raiders.

Teams can have the odd blip at this time of year but that does not hide the fact that head coach Todd Bowles has some really talented players on both side of the ball and if this game had come straight after they walloped the Colts then you would see them made favourites by a touchdown.

Miami are still searching for something to get them going but it looks a bit desperate in south Florida and the Jets appear much more prepared - take them at a generous 5/6 in the win market.

My other bet for Sunday is linked to last weekend and it is Buffalo's rookie running back Karlos Williams to score a touchdown anytime against the New York Giants.

The Bills seem to have dropped on a real winner when they snapped him up in the fifth round of the draft out of Florida State as his impact has been pretty spectacular already with a touchdown run in all three games.

LeSean McCoy has been ruled out already as a hamstring issue continues to bother him so Williams now steps in as the starter and should relish the opportunity.

At 6-1 and 230lbs, Williams has a physical style but also possesses a rare burst of speed and looks the ideal type of player at the position for emerging quarterback Tyrod Taylor to lean on.

He is 1/2 in places to get into the end zone at some stage and I make him much closer to that sort of price than the even-money on offer with Sky Bet and Coral.