NFL in London

National Football League in London

NFL News

Scoff Season Podcast

by

Bleh, the off-season blues have hit us all as Wade & Ryan try to make news from clues in this Scoff Season Podcast.

As the intoxication from the 2022 season wears off, we’re left with a hangover supplemented by some XFL, Six nations, and what the USFL might do.

Real NFL fans know that this time of year is when the drama happens. Some sort of juicy retirement, trade, or signing will get ours hearts racing again, hoping for a new season of what’s to be.

The boys yakkity-yak about this stuff in the podcast, so make sure that you wet your ears with the juice right here.

Other stuff the guys chat about in the podcast includes:

AX-FL

The Rock may have not cooked his league enough, as the XFL is raw-dogging the ratings and having fans more opt to choose pickle ball repeats than primetime football.

Maybe the league hasn’t titty-twisted fans interest yet, or maybe the focus is on the wrong side of lens.

Orlando Guardians could be a Real Housewives locker-room drama, as the shizzle has hit bizzle for another time this week.
Previously coach Terrell Buckley went viral for tossing his team under the bus for not wanting to play and give it all. It was a pretty damning way to start the season.
Then QB Quenten Dormandy, (who replaced Paxton Lynch), was dropped by the team after it was found out he send the playbook to an opposing team.

You can’t make this kind of drama up! The real show should be on the behind the scenes of the shiesse show that is being a ‘not NFL’ player.
Something has to spice up the league.

Who they, Where they?

There are so many expensive pieces in the NFL to move as egos and salaries bloat the franchises. It’s going to be only so many good bodies a lockeroom will hold when one guy costs a quarter of the team’s season salary.

Just like Epstein island, you can only bury the young kids for so long before you got to pay them. Burrow, Mahomes, Watson, Jones, Lamar and more are going to want their 50 mill a year, and that factory can only make so many touchdowns on its own.

This off season should see a slew of jocks shuffle off to new teams and totally make their budgets, rosters and momentum take a massive steer.

Going ‘all in’ Rams and Cardinals style looks as appetising as buying a Hummer, as franchises are looking to lean and mean for years, not wither on the vine.

Bear What

So what are the Bears going to do with their number one pick?

Are the going to boot Justin Fields in the butt, and find a new beginning with their new coaching team? Will they look at the massive running numbers he put up despite a horrible O line and everything else around him? Will they trade the pick and try to milk it for everything they can get?

Teams are QB slutting right now, as they know that there are a few gems in the 2023 draft that might be able to change their destiny.

Word on the street a the mo is that the Bears are looking for 3 number ones over the next 3 years. Are they trying to cash in a lottery ticket that’s too big?

What if the one that gets away this year is the next Mahomes, or that Fields turns out to be a bust?

Some many bear-abilities.

Make sure that you check out all of our socials, and that you follow and subscribe. We’re going to have a whack more content out soon, so check this space for all of the latest news.

We will also be doing some profiles on the upcoming NFL Draft, and the 2023 London Games.

Make sure that you listen to our Scoff Season Podcast here.

Feb Football News

by

Holy crap, is football really over? Has anyone started to go through withdrawal yet, or get a massive case of the shakes?
Well, we can help you out with a round up of some of the latest Feb Football news.

If you are suffering from some of these symptoms, try to digest the following, and make sure you watch plenty of old games.
The XFL is also on, but ughhh…so let’s start there.

XFL

Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? ‘Cause it’s smells a bit undercooked, as the XFL kicked off its third incarnation in mid Feb 2023.

When Vince McMahon first birthed the XFL in 2001, many had hoped that the league might remain and offer a building block of rosters for the NFL.
Sadly it collapsed just like his WWE dreams, before it was saved by one of his former employees.

The Rock had tried to revive the league, partner it with the CFL, then took a safety in 2021 when the then ‘coronavirus’ punched any hopes of the league restarting right in the throat.

So how did it do on its return to the airwaves in 2023?
Meh.
Ratings are down huge from 3.3 million in 2020, to well under 1.6 million for the new games.

To put that in perspective, that’s LESS than both the launch of the AAF and the 2022 debut of the USFL, which brought in over 3 million viewers.

The XFL does benefit from being on both ABC and ESPN, so there is hope for the league if they continue blasting it to bored fans.

Not so easy for us to watch in the UK though, with games not starting til roughly 1am.

Some clever clog on Reddit made a concept for an XFL expansion. We’ll just leave that here for you.

Chad Ocho

NFL legend Chad Ochocinco has dropped a big bomb on fans that he actually lived at the Cincinnati stadium during his first two years in the league.

Ever clever and good for sound bites, Ocho revealed on a recent podcast that given the Bengals stadium had showers, food, video games and more, it made sense for him to live there to save some dosh.

While no one can officially confirm that Ocho did actually live there for 2 seasons, it would be on par with the behaviour of a celebrated bon vivant of the league.

How cool would it be to play Madden on the Jumbotron when you had the stadium to yourself?

Pay Brady

Tom Brady needs money y’all, so someone else has just dumped a truck load of cash to his Florida bachelor pad.

SiriusXM has renewed Tommy’s ‘Let’s Go’ podcast with former NFL’er Larry Fitzgerald and broadcaster Jim Gray, for more cashola.

TB12 isn’t required for his 10 year broadcasting deal with FOX, in which he will make another $375 million.

Of course that won’t mean anything, if the Dolphins or 49ers get to that point in the season where they just need one top QB to get them to the promised land.

He’ll be back…

Free Agents

As we all patiently wait for the 2023 NFL Draft, eyes are on some of the top prizes in the game, and where they might end up next season.

Some of the big guys everyone will be watching includes:

Lamar Jackson

Will the Ravens be foolish enough to part with Lamar, or are they planning on building a team around him?
The ‘will they’ or ‘won’t they’ has become so infuriating with Baltimore, it feels like the romantic twist in a bad sitcom.
We predict that he will stay in Baltimore for next year and beyond.

Geno Smith

Geno was initially seen as a stop gap solution when he beat out Drew Lock to captain the Seahawks last season. Then Geno went off, and the whispers of ‘MVP’ started circling given the way he was able to sling some Seattle wins together.

So will the Seahawks pony up and pay the man?
Seems pretty bloody likely given how well he played for what he was paid.
Had their running game not gone to crap, maybe they could have made the post season.

Derek Carr

This Carr cracker crumbled in 2023, after his much hyped Las Vegas Raiders ate a big turd-burger despite some pretty marquee talent.

Carr is gone from Vegas despite promising fans that the Raiders would be the last team he would play for. He can still sling the pig skin, so it makes sense that he plays a few more years, before taking his fugly-jug to the broadcast booth next to his gorgeous bro.

We see Derek Carr heading down to New Orleans next year to lead the Saints to a losing record.

London Games

Are you ready for the Bills, Titans and Jaguars to come to London this year?

Us too, and we’ll let you know more as soon as we hear about it.

Make sure you check here for all the latest news, and thanks for reading our Feb Football News.

https://www.nfl.com/uk/international-games

 

 

Super Bowl 57 Review

by

Holy smokes, what a game that was on Sunday, as we look at what went down in our Super Bowl 57 Review.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the Super Bowl champions once again, after a 38-35 victory in Arizona.
It was a back and forth battle all game, but it was the heroics of Patrick Mahomes once again that did the work necessary to get the W and hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Eagles played valiantly, and Jalen Hurts would have been the game MVP with his touchdown performance had the game gone the other way.

Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the big game in our Super Bowl 57 Review.

Kansas City Chiefs

All hail the Chiefs, who had to listen to the odes to Buffalo and Cincy all season, before getting the respect they demanded with a Super Duper performance.

Kansas City seemed to struggle a bit to get the right momentum in the first half.
The defence played fast and fierce on the line, shutting down anything that moved past it, but behind the Eagles O line, they struggled to contain Philly as the second half wore on.
Mahomes ill-fated ankle once again looked to be injured, sending the hopes of ChiefsKingdom everywhere into serious doubt.

Whatever happened in that locker room at half-time set the tone for the game, as the Chiefs changed the game in the second, making the Eagles play catch-up.
Andy Reid wisely switched to heavy run game that was able to find outside lanes for key yards, and Patty M was able to dissect the Eagles secondary for big gains.
Toney’s punt return also helped put the nail in a Philadelphia team that just couldn’t rally when it was time.

Philadelphia Eagles

You have to give to Philly for the road they took to get to Super Bowl 57, and there solid performance throughout the season and post. The Eagles may have lost, but they will be post season candidates for a while.

Jalen Hurts Wass truly a beast on Sunday, and if wasn’t for that sloppy drop that led to a pick 6, the game might have been very different.
While it took a while for Philly to find their stride in the first half, they seemed to be able to be on the right path to victory with a 10 point lead heading into the half.

The second half was another story for the Eagles, who much vaunted D left some pretty huge gaps for Mahomes and Kelce to fill. How they let so many zone holes with no one around was very perplexing. You know you’re playing against the best QB in the league right?

Heads held high Philly, if you would have won, you would still be cleaning up your broken city right now.

The Call

Penalties called in the final two minutes of the Super Bowl better be pretty damn important, or they are not worth calling.
It’s tough to say if this one was.

When now-hated ref Carl Cheffers flagged Eagles cornerback James Bradberry for holding on Juju Smith-Schuster, it allowed the Chiefs to not only get the first down, but shut down the game and clock.

Bradberry would later admit that the refs got it right, but that still doesn’t address the real issue, or an even bigger problem with refs this season.

The last two minutes of the Super Bowl should only be penalties that are so damn obvious and egregious that you HAVE to call them. Otherwise, play on.

Rihanna

Let’s not forget about the half time show of Super Bowl 57, which many Super Bowl party attendees know, is only watched by about 30% of your crowd. Everyone else is either pissing, getting pissed, pissed off about the game, or doesn’t give a shit about the artist.
True NFL fans remember the class and dignity of ‘Up With People’ and like it gosh-nammit.

It was Rihanna’s halftime y’all, as she paid the NFL over $1million to karaoke shuffle some of her greatest hits, rub her crotch, sniff her fingers, and announced she was pregnant again.
Sorry was this a halftime show, or was there going to be a gender reveal, didn’t see that in the prop bets?

The performance was anchored by some very Squid Game looking backing dancers, which gave some the impression that perhaps they might be sacrificed in some ritualistic contest to fed Rihanna’s unborn.
‘When bitch better have my money comes on, jump off the elevated platform!’

The real star of Super Bowl 57 was ASL interpreter Justina Miles, whose performance certainly shone like a diamond, and whose lip-synching was far better than Rihanna’s.

Gronk’s Kick

The much touted field goal attempt by Rob Gronkowski turned out to be a turd, as Gronk shanked it left.

Gronk blamed a ‘sudden change in wind’ as the cause of his mistake, which sounds like a line he and his brothers bring out a lot when it’s chilli night.

Although it was billed as ‘live’, it looked like the thing was pre-recorded in an Arby’s parking lot.

The real winner was no one, especially Gronk.

End in the end, it was an amazing Super Bowl 57, and the third highest watched ever with over 113 million people in America tuning in.

The season is done, and us NFL fans have no entertainment for the next 8 months, and that is it for our Super Bowl 57 Review.
Or until the XFL..or USFL..or CFL…give us football!!!

 

 

 

Super Bowl 57

by

After 20 something weeks of exciting play, it’s finally time for the big game, as we make our predictions for Super Bowl 57 in Arizona.

It is a Super Bowl of historics, not only featuring two brothers playing each other, but also the first time that two black quarterbacks have faced each other in the big game.
It does feel that we are on the precipice of the new dynasty of heroes to emerge.

To make your life easier, Wade and Ryan have compiled all of their thoughts on the big game in this easy to listen to podcast.
All you have to do is sit back, kick your feet up, and listen to two Canadians in London try to figure out the big game.

Here’s the link to the podcast:

Kansas City Chiefs (14-3) vs 1-.5 Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) + 51

It’s the teams with the best two records in football, as it feels right that these two are battling it out on the final game after both teams showcased dynamic play throughout the season.
The Chiefs come into the big game as another underdog, a role they seemed to have thrived in during the playoffs.
Mahomes was able to shake off the curse of Burrows, but he wasn’t able to shake off an ankle injury, which will have all eyes on his mobility on Sunday.
The wide receiver corps is a bit a broken toy syndrome, with all of them in the workshop trying to cobble together their bodies before giving it there all.
Kansas City was even more short-handed against the Bengals, and were somehow able to thrive on the back of their D, and the stellar play of Chris Jones.
Patrick Mahomes is the best player in the league right now, it just depends on whether the rest of his team will play at the top of their game.
Philadelphia Eagles are technically in a ‘rebuilding’ year in 2022, but oh look at them go.
Philly was able to do what most teams failed to this season, make incremental gains to be a bit better than they were last year.
Their O line is top notch, boasting the best protection in the league.
Philly’s D is also humming, notching up 70 sacks, spread out amongst a dynamic team of pass rushers.
The only thing that seems to have dropped as of late is QB Jalen Hurts.
Hurts started the season on fire, but a mid-season injury seemed to take not only a bit of a spring our his step, but also the deep-ball out of his game.
If it turns into a shoot-out, the Eagles are going to need to find ways to get that ball DEEP, because this is where Mahomes thrives.
Ryan is picking the Chiefs in this one, as his AFC faithfulness believes that Mahomes and Kelce are just too good to be stopped.
He likes this one to go down to the wire, but that the red, white and yellow will be hoisting the Lombardy Trophy.
Wade is going with the Eagles, as the strength of their D, the protection from their O line, and the various running options at their disposal makes them too much to cover for a spread out D.
He thinks that the game will be close, but could actually see it get out of hand in an Eagles blow out if the Chiefs can’t keep their composure.
Ryan-Chiefs 27 Eagles 23
Wade-Eagles 26 Chiefs 23

Prop Bets

Here are a few prop and fun bets that we are looking at for Sunday.
-Mahomes UNDER 290.5 yards passing
-Gainwell OVER 19.5 receiving yards
-NO missed PATs -380
-First sack-Josh Sweat +1000
-Boston Scott-Anytime Touchdown -550
-Gatorade poured over winning coach will be BLUE +400

Super Bowl Trivia

How much do you know about the Super Bowl heading into Sunday?
Ready to take on our tough SuperBowl Quiz?
Just click here to play along!
That’s it for us for this week! Have fun on Sunday and enjoy the game!

Goodbye Goat

by

Well we all knew it was going to happen eventually, as Tom Brady finally announced his second ‘official retirement’, as we say Goodbye Goat.

At 45 years old, TB12 has played in the NFL for 23 years, with over two decades in Boston, and then the final in Tampa.
The acronym of ‘GOAT’ was originally applied to him, and it’s hard to see anyone taking that title away from him in this lifetime.

Sure, it was only a year ago that Tommy retired for 6 weeks, only to return for hist worst season ever at the Bucs.
This time the retirement feels real, but let’s see how many QBs the 49ers lose in 2023.

By Numbers

Looking at Brady’s stats per decade, he could easily make the Hall of Fame each and every decade based on his own performance.
His numbers in his 40s are staggering, including two Super Bowl titles.

Brady ends his career as the all time passing leader (89, 214 yards), most touchdown passes in the regular season (649), not to mention most pass attempts (12,050) as well as most completed passes (7753). When it comes to the digits, Brady crushes them all.

Let’s also not forget the SEVEN SuperBowls that Brady as won, that has also rewarded him with 15 Pro Bowls (who cares about Pro Bowls?) These numbers don’t even include his post season numbers, which push Tommy boy so out of reach of the regular human QBs that he plays against.

TV Time

The future for Brady looks bright, as he signed a ridiculous 10 year broadcasting contract which will keep him on our TVs for the next decade or so.
Unless he sucks.
We haven’t really had a full induction to the TB12 broadcast booth ways, and as much as people were initially enamoured over Tony Romo, the amount of schtick he took this year was surprising.

Don’t expect him to be doing any of that goofy colour-commentator crap, Tommy’s too good for that.

Brady Future

While it might be an end of era, it is also the signal for a new generation to step up and set their own records.

Most QBs in the NFL today grew up watching Brady and emulating his heroics on playgrounds across America.
Now that the GOAT can finally rest, it’s time for this new legion of stars to step up and make their own mark.

So thank you Tom Brady for showing us how truly magical it is to watch a player who was so clutch it hurt.

Also thanks for leaving Boston and silencing those very annoying fans.

We can all sleep a little easier at night with them quiet.

Thanks for everything GOAT!

Just maybe not thanks for this.