NFL Preview: Two Florida Teams Travel; One Stays at Home

Week 12 of the NFL is upon us, and with it we have some interesting matches. The Buccaneers will be in Detroit to face the Lions, Jacksonville takes on Houston in Texas and Miami stays in Sun Life Stadium to take on the Panthers.

After two consecutive home victories, Tampa will head to Ford Field, seeking its first away win. The offense has been resurgent under Mike Glennon and Bobby Rainey, the third Buc running back to have more than 100 yards in a single game this season.

Opposite Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson will be Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis. The Bucs defense has allowed 240 passing yards per game as a whole, while Megatron has 108.3 receiving yards per game on his own.

In Houston, the Texans and Jaguars will compete at 1 p.m. With three wins between them, they have the lowest combined win total between two competing teams in Week 12.

Houston, after a 2-0 start, has been on an eight-game losing streak. Jacksonville started 0-8 but won two weeks ago before losing again last week.

From a statistical standpoint, Houston outpaces Jacksonville in every category.

The Texans have 58 more rushing yards and 42 more passing yards per game while allowing 20 fewer rushing yards and 85 fewer passing yards per game. Houston has eight more sacks this season. The only major area that Jacksonville has an advantage in is that the Jaguars have forced more turnovers.

Houston head coach Gary Kubiak hopes to coach from the sideline this weekend, three weeks after collapsing at the end of the first half against the Indianapolis Colts.

Miami finishes its NFC South tour against the Carolina Panthers, who have won six straight games. Miami is 1-2 against the Bucs, Saints and Falcons this season.

Carolina is currently slotted for the fifth seed in the NFC playoff picture, and a loss would not necessarily knock the Panthers out of that spot. Miami, though, is barely outside of the AFC wild card, losing a tiebreaker to the New York Jets, who are 5-5 like the Dolphins.

Between the two starting quarterbacks, Ryan Tannehill and Cam Newton, the statistics seem to favor Newton. Newton has a better completion percentage (63 percent to 61 percent), more touchdowns (16 to 14) and less interceptions (8 versus Tannehill’s 11). However, Tannehill has almost 300 more yards than Newton (2,474 to 2,179).

To hear what coaches are saying about the games, click the links below.

Greg Schiano, Bucs Head Coach, on Tampa’s two-game winning streak: “When we came in here, we had to really make some drastic moves.”

Gary Kubiak, Texans Head Coach, on coaching from the press box: “You don’t feel emotion up there.”