Doug Pederson: ‘I’d rather play the Bills in London than Buffalo’

The Jacksonville Jaguars will make history in the 2023 season when they play back-to-back games in London.

No team has had two international games in the same season, let alone two in eight days. Most believe that the extended stay in the United Kingdom will give the Jaguars a competitive advantage, as the Bills will have to travel across the Atlantic to face a team that has already been in the country for a week.

Maybe more importantly, the Jaguars won’t have to make a trip to Upstate New York.

“I’d rather play Buffalo in London than maybe in Buffalo at the end of the season,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Thursday night on NFL Network. “We know Buffalo is tough. They’re one of the top AFC teams and somebody that we look to — if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, Buffalo is one of those teams that we have to compete against.”

The Jaguars lost each of their last two trips to Buffalo, but won each of the last three times the Bills visited Jacksonville.

The oddsmakers at the DraftKings Sportsbook have the Jaguars listed as a 3.5-point underdog for the Week 5 matchup.