The National Football League is staging a game in London for the second straight week as the Miami Dolphins meet the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The contest kickoffs at 2:30 p.m. local time, which is five hours ahead of the time in New York and eight hours earlier in San Francisco.

For you math majors, that computes to a 6:30 a.m. start in the Pacific Time Zone. It reminds me of a Tuesday and Thursday economics class I had in college that started at 8:00 a.m. and my thoughts at the time, “If they really wanted me to attend they would have scheduled it at a more reasonable hour for a college student.”

People on the east coast, no problem, they get to have a scheduled game that begins only a half hour before what west coast viewers get on most NFL games days. But a 6:30 a.m. start from my home base, even most sports books don’t accommodate it with an early opening in Las Vegas.

Still, this is when the Dolphins and Jaguars kickoff with both teams in desperate search to end losing streaks. The Jaguars losing run has stretched to 20 games, their last victory was an opening day triumph over the Indianapolis Colts in 2020. The Dolphins opened their current campaign with a road win over the New England Patriots and are still looking for win number two.

The Jaguars 15 straight losses last year served them the first pick in the NFL Draft, a selection they used to tab Clemson Quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The young Jaguars signal caller has now lost more games in the NFL, 5, than he did in college and high school combined. His career at Clemson produced a 34-2 won/loss mark and he didn’t lose a high school game while compiling a 41-0 mark.

The Jaguars 20 game losing streak is the third longest in NFL history. The Chicago Cardinals lost 29 consecutive games beginning in 1942 and the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered 26 straight defeats beginning in 1976.

Now, if a team is threatening the longest losing streak in history, you can understand why their opponents may be a bit overconfident. But, that is not the case with the team they meet Sunday in London, the Miami Dolphins. After four straight setbacks since their opening win and a thud of a loss last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 45-17, the Dolphins can not be overconfident.

Bad news for the Jaguars.

When Jacksonville does finally snap this losing run, and someday they will, it will in all likelihood come against an opponent that approaches their game as a sure win. The Jaguars are going to have to sneak up on an opponent, but they meet the Dolphins on Sunday with Miami returning Tua Tagovailoa behind center and with eyes wide open.

Which may not be the case for me, given the ridiculous west coast starting time.

Qoxhi Picks: Miami Dolphins (-3) over Jacksonville Jaguars