Florida Gators in the NFL: Gators Have Balled Out in London

The NFL kicked off the London Games this past Sunday with the first of three games in the UK this season. These international contests began back on October 28, 2007, when the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins played the first NFL regular season game outside of North America. Former Gator Channing Crowder had a game-high eight tackles for Miami in the first of many good Gators performances overseas.

In 2008, Brandon Siler had three tackles for the Chargers. In 2010, Denver’s Jabar Gaffney had four catches for 54 yards, Marcus Thomas had four tackles, and Tim Tebow ran for a touchdown.

Brandon Spikes led the Patriots defense with eight tackles in 2012. Dante Fowler had a sack in a Jaguars win in 2017. And perhaps most remembered, Kyle Pitts had his coming out party as a rookie in 2021 with nine catches for 119 yards and his first NFL touchdown. 

Jonathan Greenard, Jonathan Bullard, and Brandon Powell all made their London debuts for the Vikings this past weekend. Although Greenard wasn’t able to sack Aaron Rodgers, he was a menace to the Jets offense with four pressures, three QB hits, and three tackles. After Minnesota held on to win, Greenard danced his way to the locker room as the UK fans sang along to The Killers “Mr. Brightside”. It was a cool moment I was lucky enough to capture.

This Sunday, Gervon Dexter will have a chance to dance the night away in London, and if he does, I’ll be on the field ready to share it with you next week.

BEST PLAYER OF WEEK 5

Speaking of Dexter, I’ve been saying it since the preseason but this dude is now one of the best defensive tackles in the game. Going back to the end of last season, Big Dex now has 6 ½ sacks in his past 10 games. He picked up his fourth QB takedown of the season on an aggressive, old-school shoulder slap. 

He was disruptive all day with four quarterback hits. He also recovered a fumble. 

Dexter was good in Gainesville, but he came in with great expectations and never reached his full potential. He is finally becoming the football player we always knew he could be.

BEST PLAY OF WEEK 5

Any time a receiver breaks a defensive back’s ankles, that’s our play of the week. What a route from Demarcus Robinson for an easy touchdown.

NEWS AND NOTES 

In a move I thought might come before the season started, the Bengals finally parted ways with Zach Carter late last week. Carter really struggled to make any impact in Cincinnati, and despite the third-round draft pick investment in 2022, the Bengals moved on. Carter wasn’t on the street long - he signed with the Raiders this week. 

Jeremiah Moon was activated from injured reserve and made his 2024 season debut for Pittsburgh. He played a robust 28 defensive snaps and logged one tackle. 

TOP 10 WEEK 5 PERFORMANCES

1 - Gervon Dexter, Sr., DT, CHI

Week 5: 1 sack, 2 tackles, 4 QB hits, 1 FR, 32 snaps (53%)

2 - Kyle Pitts. TE, ATL
Week 5: 7 rec (8 targets), 88 yards, 74 snaps (85%) 

A week after being shut out, Pitts bounced back in a huge way. Of course, it likely didn’t help his fantasy football owners - like me - who certainly had benched him. Let’s see if last week was a one-off or if there is finally some rhythm to the Falcons offense.

3 - Jonathan Greenard, EDGE, MIN

Week 5: 3 tackles, 3 QB hits, 61 snaps (85%)

4 - Marcus Maye, S, MIA

Week 5: 9 tackles, 1 PD, 60 snaps (100%)

Maye made his first start of the season and logged a season-high nine tackles. The Dolphins are banged up in the secondary and feeling pretty good they signed Maye in the offseason because the drop off from the starters to him is minimal.

5 - Demarcus Robinson, WR, LAR

Week 5: 3 rec (5 targets), 28 yards, TD, 76 snaps (97%)

6 - Dante Fowler, Jr., OLB, WAS

Week 5: 1 sack, 1 tackle, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 34 snaps (55%)

7 - Ventrell Miller, LB, JAX

Week 5: 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 41 snaps (59%), 8 ST snaps (24%)

8 - T.J. Slaton, NT, GB

Week 5: 3 tackles, 1 QB hit, 27 snaps (35%), 6 ST snaps (27%)

9 - Van Jefferson, WR, PIT

Week 5: 3 rec (5 targets), 26 yards, 47 snaps (81%)

10 - Taven Bryan, DT, IND

Week 5: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 25 snaps (43%), 14 ST snaps (41%)

THE REST OF THE FORMER GATORS

O’Cyrus Torrence, G, BUF

Week 5: 61 snaps (100%)

Jonathan Bullard, DL, MIN

Week 5: 1 tackle, 36 snaps (50%)

Dameon Pierce, RB, HOU

Week 5: 3 rush, 16 yards, 9 snaps (11%), 5 ST snaps (20%)

Jeremiah Moon, OLB, PIT

Week 5: 1 tackle, 28 snaps (37%), 9 ST snaps (38%)

Eddy Piñeiro, K, CAR

Week 5: 1/2 FG, Long 48, Miss 45, 1/1 XP

Piñeiro missed his first kick of the season and because of it, he slipped back to third on the all-time field goal percentage list. 

Evan McPherson, K, CIN

Week 5: 0/1 FG, Miss 53, 4/4 XP

The Bengals choked away a double-digit lead to Baltimore, then still had a chance to win the game in overtime. Head coach Zac Taylor was content to settle for a long field goal attempt, never a good idea even with one of the best kickers in the game. All it takes is one bad snap or one bad hold - or in this case a little of both. McPherson never had a chance. 

Tommy Townsend, P, HOU

Week 5: 5 punts, 44.2 avg, 43.2 net

Jawaan Taylor, RT, KC

Week 5: 84 snaps (100%)

Stone Forsythe, OT, SEA

Week 5: 58 snaps (100%)

Brandon Powell, WR/PR, MIN

Week 5: 3 punt returns, 2.0 avg, 6 snaps (8%), 7 ST snaps (24%)

Marco Wilson, CB, NE

Week 5: 27 snaps (35%), 7 ST snaps (27%)

Amari Burney, LB, LV

Week 5: 8 snaps (13%), 21 ST snaps (70%)

Kaiir Elam, CB, BUF

Week 5: 5 ST snaps (16%)

Kyle Trask, QB, TB

Week 5: Did Not Play

BYE WEEK

Alex Anzalone, LB, DET

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, DB, PHI

Fred Johnson, OT, PHI

INACTIVE

Anthony Richardson, QB, IND

Brenton Cox, Jr., OLB, GB

Zach Carter, DT, LV

PRACTICE SQUAD

La’Mical Perine, RB, PIT

C.J. Henderson, CB, PIT

Malik Davis, RB, DAL

Justin Shorter, TE, LV

Kingsley Eguakun, C, DET

Richard Gouraige, OT, BUF

David Sharpe, OT, HOU

Kadarius Toney, WR, CLE

INJURED RESERVE

Trent Brown, RT, CIN

Ricky Pearsall, WR, SF