Florida Sports Wire

  Jacksonville squeaked by Arizona last Sunday in an ugly, overtime win. Now, it’s a must win in Tennessee this Sunday. Against Arizona, it was the type of game that the Jaguars would typically lose in the past few years. But they pulled it out with Cam Little’s 52-yard field goal.  In Las Vegas a few weeks ago, the Jags had another ugly, overtime game, keeping the Raiders in the game until the very end.   A failed two-point conversion for the win from Raiders’ quarterback Geno Smith, who missed a wide open receiver in the back of the end zone, sent them home with a reprieve from Sin City. It was another game they could have easily lost, and let slip away. Maybe that’s saying something for this Jaguars’ team. They may just have the mogo to be a playoff team and get back to the level where they were in 2022. The Jags have found some much-needed resiliency and grit. Still, you don't want to be continuously tempting fate. If they are to get back to where they once were...

  Consistency. Where you’re 6-4 after 10 games, you’re there, but you’re not quite there. With seven games to play beginning in Arizona Sunday, the Jags seemingly have all the pieces in play. But it’s about being consistent. It has been an  overriding theme for the Jaguars’ season, even with their recent 35-6 lopsided victory over the Chargers in which they flexed their muscles on both sides of the ball. Against Los Angeles, the Jags played well overall on both sides of the ball. Yet, there were still some lingering effects that have plagued them. Trevor Lawrence threw another bad first-half interception, but he rebounded with a pedestrian 14 of 22 for 153 yards. Lawrence still needs to improve on his 59.8 completion percentage, which ranks him 33rd among 37 quarterbacks who have started this season through 10 games. He has thrown an interception in his last three games , and in four of his last six.  Lawrence also has an unimpressive 11 to 8 touchdown to interception rat...

  Yes, Dolphins’ fans, there may just be a Santa Claus. Or, at least, it may feel like it. It certainly may feel like they got a Christmas gift in Miami after the Dolphins dominated the Bills, 30-13, last week. The win marked Miami’s first over their AFC East division rival in seven games.  All signs had been pointing to the Dolphins navigating through some rough waters ahead over the next two months. It’s true, the Dolphins can win in a convincing fashion. Does it mean anything long term? At the moment, it doesn’t. This is about celebrating the moment. There haven't been many this season, and there may not be many left. A few weeks ago, they had the same kind of moment when they shockingly dominated the Falcons. The script temporarily changed for the Fins, but the overall story still remained the same. Tua Tagovailoa completed 15 of 21 passes for 173 with a pair of picks, raising his league-leading total to 12 interceptions this season. However, his wasn’t sacked by the Bills...

  For the Jaguars, this could be a tale of two seasons. The Jags (5-4), though, surely would want it to be a year of three or four seasons. After they lost a 19-point lead - their largest advantage in club history when they lost a game - last Sunday in Houston, they suddenly looked like a shadow of themselves from their opening enthralling chapter of a 4-1 start. Their loss in Houston could be pinned on their defense, and the offense also to share some of the blame. The Jags’ offensive line didn’t have any answers to stop Houston defensive end Danielle Hunter, whose 3.5 sacks couldn’t have been more perfectly timed to stall their offense. The miraculous 31-28 last-minute, Monday night victory over the Chiefs at EverBank seems like a long time ago. Was it all smoke and mirrors? A true fluke? That victory marked the end of the Jags. 4-1 start when they were considered one of the prime-time contenders for the AFC South title as well as the league championship.  Their offense was...

  The Jaguars have to exorcise those Houston' nightmares of the past.   They need to take an early stance against a struggling 3-5 Texans' team that did manage to take Denver down to the wire last week. Playing in Houston won't be easy. The Houston Texans were once a thorn in the side of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Houston had won seven straight games in Jacksonville, and they led the overall series in dominating fashion, 31-15. That was until Sept. 21 when the Jags posted a 17-10 victory at the Bank. It was the end of a  streak that saw the Jags usually come out flat against the Texans. Now, the Jags have to win in Houston Sunday. They lost last year, 24-20, in the Lone Star state, but previously posted victories there in 2022 and 2023. A playoff berth isn't out of the question in their foreseeable future. Playoffs? No, it’s not too early and you can't take anything for granted.  This Sunday suddenly looms as a must-win situation for them. At 5-3, they currently...

NEW YORK — As the 2025 season crosses the halfway point, six of the eight divisions have a team in first place or tied for first that did not win its division last season.  Denver (7-2), Indianapolis (7-2), and New England (7-2) are tied for the best record in the NFL while seven teams – Buffalo, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Tampa Bay – have six wins through Week 9. Berlin bound: As part of the league’s commitment to playing regular-season games in Germany, the NFL will continue its international slate of games with the first-ever regular season game in Berlin in Week 10 as the Atlanta Falcons (3-5) meet the Indianapolis Colts (7-2) (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network) at the Olympic Stadium Berlin. Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor ranks second in the NFL with 1,113 scrimmage yards this season while Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson ranks third with 1,058 scrimmage yards. It will mark the first game since Week 1...

ORLANDO – Major League Soccer today announced that Orlando City SC defender Alex Freeman has been named to the 2025 MLS Best XI, which recognizes the league’s top players at each position as determined by members of the media, MLS players and MLS club technical staffs. The honor marks the second post-season award for the Orlando City defender, following him being named the 2025 MLS Young Player of the Year earlier last week. At 21 years and 88 days old, Freeman is the youngest player to be named to the MLS Best XI since Philadelphia’s Brenden Aaronson earned the honor in 2020 (20 years, 29 days). The right back is the first Orlando City player in Club history to be named to an MLS Best XI, following his first MLS season as a full-time player, in which Freeman produced a career-best nine goal contributions (six goals, three assists) in regular-season play, netting his first MLS goal on March 1 against Toronto FC. Among all defenders in 2025, the attacking fullback’s six regular-season g...

TALLAHASSEE – Junior wide receiver Duce Robinson was named as a midseason addition to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List Wednesday. The award – named for former Florida State wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff and presented by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation – honors the best FBS receiver. Robinson, from Phoenix, leads Florida State with 34 receptions, 689 yards and four touchdowns. His three games with at least 140 receiving yards are second in the country and the most for a Seminole since All-American Snoop Minnis in 2000. Robinson is a two-time ACC Receiver of the Week, FSU’s first two-time winner since 2018. He caught five passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns against East Texas A&M without playing the second half. His touchdowns against the Lions came from 42 and 82 yards, FSU’s longest touchdown pass since 2019, and his 160 yards in the first quarter are the most nationally in a quarter this season. Robinson’s 173 receiving yards are the most in the ACC this season a...

  ST. AUGUSTINE – The Flagler College women’s golf team remained No. 14 in the nation according to the latest poll by SCOREBOARD, powered by clippd. The Saints have an average weighted points score of 30.09. Flagler has completed its fall schedule and is preparing for the spring slate. Flagler is one of three Peach Belt Conference teams in the top 25. The University of North Georgia stayed at No. 9 while Lander University also remained the same from last week at No. 19. Five of the top 10 are comprised of South/Southeast Region teams. Wingate University holds the top spot again while Anderson University held firm at No. 3. Lee University and Lynn University stayed put at Nos. 7 and 8, receptively. Three Saints are ranked in the top 100 individually. Henriette Stranda is ranked No. 2 again with an AWP score of 57.85. Sofia Terzoli moved up to No. 92 with an AWP of 19.46 and Tabitha Hanely jumped two spots to No. 98 with an AWP of 19.05.

  If you watched the Dolphins-Ravens game Thursday night, you had a sense something was going to happen. There were plenty of shots of the signage honoring the 1972 undefeated Dolphins team as well as booth shots of owner Steve Ross and legendary quarterback Dan Marino. It was a way to rekindle the golden days of old when the Dolphins were recognized as one of the premier franchises in the league. The fans with the brown bags over their heads signified the current tarnished state of the team. And, yes, something did happen, but not what was expected after the Fins had 11 yards in the third quarter and were basically hapless after halftime en route to a 28-7 defeat. Four-year beleaguered head coach Mike McDaniel wasn't fired, but nine-year GM Chris Grier was. It was a bit shocking, but it did send a settling message that there is more to come.   To fire McDaniel at this point with eight games to go wouldn’t make much sense unless you had a veteran coach waiting in the wing...

  By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire For the Jaguars, the time is now. They’ll get back into action Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas against the hapless Raiders, who have lost four of the last five games and stand at 2-5. The last time the Jaguars went to the West Coast they were involved in a tight battle with the 49ers, and they dug down deep to pull out a rather unexpected victory. That catapulted them into their epic Monday night victory over the Chiefs, and the Jags were suddenly in the discussion with the league elites with their 4-1 record.   Unfortunately, their stay at the top was short lived, as they suddenly slipped through a trap door. A London loss to the Rams, and a flat game against the Seahawks left them at 4-3, and those postseason aspirations now  have a longer route. Then there’s the Colts at 7-1, and they’re not going away anytime soon. Daniel Jones has a solid line in front of him, arguably the league’s best running back in Jonathan Taylor, and a ...

  ORLANDO - No. 9 Orlando City SC will face No. 8 Chicago Fire FC in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Wild Card game on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at SeatGeek Stadium, the league announced today. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass and Apple TV. The winner of Wednesday’s Wild Card game will advance to the Audi MLS Cup Round One Best-of-3 series.  The Lions’ six straight playoffs appearances stand as the longest active streak in MLS. Over that six-year span, Orlando City has amassed 308 regular-season points, fourth-most in the league. This year’s squad added to that legacy, setting a new club record with 63 goals scored in a single season.  Orlando City will host a series of activations to celebrate the start of the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, including Kingston’s Scavenger Hunt—a city-wide fan experience featuring exclusive prizes, playoff swag, and more—along with official watch parties for all away playoff matches. More details, along with addi...