The NFL wanted to know if London could host three back-to-back games. So far it has passed the test with flying colours. Wembley’s

 Watch NFL Game 2018 Live Stream FREE  

 Watch NFL Game 2018 Live Stream FREE 

stint with painted end zones finishes this Sunday afternoon with what might be the biggest London game to date. The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles travel to the UK for the first time to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

It’s a game that looked a little more tantalising eight weeks ago before the season started. Both the Eagles and Jags have disappointed, and both currently sit outside the playoffs with 3-4 records. Jacksonville have lost three straight games after a 3-1 start, while Philadelphia snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by giving up a 17-0 lead in the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.

In most other divisions defeat here would spell disaster, but the Eagles and Jags are lucky to find themselves in the two weakest divisions in football. That said, losing four on the bounce would put Jacksonville in one hell of a slump, and Philadelphia radio stations were already burying the Eagles after last week’s defeat – Philly is not a city which takes losing well.

We can’t call it a must-win game, but maybe a should-win. That’s a new one for you. Here’s where the game will be won and lost, and what to look out for on Sunday afternoon.

Key match-up: Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery v the Jaguars defense.

Tight end Zach Ertz absolutely dominated the first half against the Panthers last week. Carson Wentz looked to him on almost every passing down, and he finished with nine receptions for 138 yards.

Ertz’s size and speed make him a match-up nightmare for pretty much any defense, and thanks to smart routes and late movements at the line of scrimmage he’s managed to get himself wide open a lot this season. He’s on course to go over 1,300 yards if he stays healthy, and is averaging a touchdown roughly every other game.

The Eagles like to try and get Ertz into situations where he’s covered by a linebacker, as he is able to outpace them and gain some separation. The good news for the Jags is that in Telvin Smith, they have a linebacker who is well equipped to deal with number 86. Smith’s had a nice season so far, with 57 tackles through seven weeks – 11th in the NFL.

The less good news for Jacksonville is that their second team All-Pro cornerback AJ Bouye hasn’t travelled to London because of a calf injury, and fellow CBs Tylar Hatmon and DJ Hayden are also sidelined. This leaves Jalen Ramsey playing alongside three undrafted rookies, and opens up a huge window of opportunity for Eagles star wideout Alshon Jeffery.

Bortles has been rancid in October – so rancid that after yet another turnover against the Texans last week he was benched for Cody Kessler – a humbling experience for anyone.

Bortles will be back in the line-up on Sunday, but he will need to snap out of this slump. After closing September with a respectable 93.6 passer rating, Bortles has completed just 54.5 per cent of his passes, has five interceptions to just two touchdowns and has fumbled three times. All that leads to a league-lowest 60.2 rating for the month, and Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins using Bortles as a prime example of why Colin Kaepernick should have a job in the NFL.

What’s encouraging is that Bortles tends to be a different beast in London. He’s won his last three games here, and threw for 244 yards, four touchdowns and zero picks in a 44-7 crushing of the Ravens last time he was on our shores.

Never underestimate how much effect the 3,500-mile trip across the pond can have on an NFL team, particularly if it’s their first rodeo. That’s the case for the Eagles, who’ll become the 29th franchise to play on our shores on Sunday (just the Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans are left).

Of the 16 teams who have played just one game in London to date, nine lost, two tied and just five won. Add to that Jacksonville’s 3-0 record over the last three years and the Jaguars have reason to believe they can win this game. They have a routine in London now, it’s familiar to them, and feeling settled is a huge part of the mental side of sport.

For me, this is the toughest game of the whole week to predict. There are so many variables, from how the Eagles travel to whether Bortles can get out of his funk, but in the end I have to plump for the Eagles, because I believe they are the superior team.

Result? I’m going to say Eagles 27-13 Jaguars, which is at least a two-score game. A slight improvement on past trends. Hopefully I’m wrong and we get a 42-41 thriller though, eh.

One final thought: It’s a shame Jay Ajayi is injured and can’t take the field for the Eagles. It would have been a second London game in as many seasons for the British-born running back after his former team the Miami Dolphins were shout out by the Raiders last season. It would have been nice to see him have a chance to get a win on home soil.

What we have to hope for more than anything is a close game. Here are the scores in London over the past two seasons before the Chargers’ one-point win over the Titans last Sunday: 27-3, 33-8, 33-16, 33-0, 20-0, 44-7. Not a single game decided by less than three scores. Pray to the football gods for a good one.

He also has more support than in the past few weeks – the addition of running back Carlos Hyde through a trade with the Browns will help fill the Leonard Fournette-shaped hole in the Jags’ offense, but he’s coming up against one of the league’s stoutest run defenses. For me, Bortles always plays best when he’s allowed to use his legs, so that could be an option in offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s mind for Sunday.

Jeffery already has 306 yards and four touchdowns in four games since returning from injury in week four. If he can make his presence felt against a Jags defense that was already haemorrhaging points before losing key men then Wentz should be able to find him for some big gains down the sideline

 

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The Spanish flu killed somewhere between 20-50 million people.  It is cited as the worst epidemic in recorded world history, killing more people than World War I. One of the most terrifying aspects of this virus was that it targeted healthy people age 20-40 which is highly unusual.  Most deadly pandemic outbreaks affect those in the population with under developed or weak immune systems, the very young and the very old.  Although rare, some victims died within hours or days after appearance of symptoms.  Most people died within 7-10 days.   Many died from a secondary infection of bacterial pneumonia.  As the cells of respiratory tract were destroyed by the virus, it allowed bacterial infections to run rampant.

The unusual nature of this influenza virus is attributed to a surface protein, hemagglutinin (HA) which resembled avian influenza HA receptors.  These receptors help the virus gain entry into their host cell.  As humans have no prior exposure to an avian influenza strain, they have very little immunity, thus if it gains entry into human cells, it can be very deadly.  Fortunately, avian HA receptors are not adapted to bind to human cells and usually do not cause illness in humans.  It was previously theorized that the avian influenza strain must pass into an intermediately host, such as a pig, recombine, then be passed to humans.  This is no longer the predominant theory after the H5N1 influenza outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997.  This strain passed directly from birds to humans without an intermediate host.  H5N1 is highly pathogenic with an 60- 80% mortality rate.  That being said, the strain is still not adapted to humans and fortunately does not transmit from person to person.  All of the infected individuals were in contact with infected poultry.  This strain reemerged in 2003 and 2004 in China, spreading from Asia to Europe to Africa.

What made the Spanish flu so deadly was high person-to-person transmission.  Another influenza pandemic could occur if an avian flu strain mutated to cause infection in humans combined with high transmission between people.  We would have little to no immunity against the virus.  With the high rates of travel and commerce around the world, a local outbreak would quickly transform into a pandemic with little time for preparation.

It is important to note influenza viruses are RNA viruses and possess rather “sloppy” replication.  There are eight RNA segments.  When two different strains of influenza infect the same organism, these RNA molecules can combine to form a novel strain.  This is called antigenic shift and it occurs rapidly.  Influenza also undergoes antigenic drift, where one strain of the virus mutates within itself.  This gradual evolution is very common, but occurs much more slowly, thus the name drift.

Dr. Robert Webster, a renowned virologist warns us “All the genes of all influenza viruses in the world are being maintained in aquatic birds, and periodically they transmit to other species. . . The 1918 viruses are still being maintained in the bird reservoir. So even though these viruses are very ancient, they still have the capacity to evolve, to acquire new genes, new hosts. The potential is still there for the catastrophe of 1918 to happen again.”

Most scientists agree it’s not IF a pandemic will occur, it’s WHEN.  Based on this information, do you think influenza will be the next pandemic or do you think it may be another virus?  What other types of transmission could cause a pandemic?  Could influenza virus be used a biological weapon? 

 

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