NFL in London

National Football League in London

2020 London NFL games

London Hosts Two-2021 NFL Games

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Wee ha!
The NFL is coming back to London, and it looks like we are getting not ONE, but TWO matches, as it was announced London is to host two, 2021 NFL games.

So who is coming, when, and how can you get tickets?
We’ll have all that information for you shortly!

Atlanta Falcons

It was announced earlier this year that by Falcons own Arthur ‘Blank-itty-Blank’, that the birds would be perching at Tottenham stadium for a 2021 game.
While we don’t know WHO that they are to play, there are certain clues that the NFL has dropped to allow us to figure out which team might be playing here.

We know that their opponent MUST come from the opposing conference, which means that Atlanta would be facing an AFC team.
After looking at the schedules, attendance figures, past London schedule and potential COVID situation, we determined that their opponent would be the New England Patriots.
We still believe that they will be the team that the Falcons play.

The NFL also likes to take advantage of the week long gap during the time changes between Europe and North America.
With only a scant 4 hours between us, it makes game viewing a little easier on the West Coast, so that fans don’t have to get up at 3am to watch the game.
This makes the last weekends of October the most logical choices for London games.

We had originally thought that with one game, the NFLUK would want to balance the game out during the month.
With the news that Jacksonville would also be coming to the UK, we pushed that Sunday back a week, so that one of the games falls over the time change gap which occurs on Sunday October 31st, which will most likely be a game date.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville announced this week that they would also be returning to London in 2021 for ONE NFL regular season game.
With an expanded 17 game season, and a roster buoyed by young and excitement, the Jags could be an interesting game to watch.

Trevor Lawrence will certainly bring the hype train to London, along with his cast of young, plucky stars who probably have never crossed the ocean on a flight.

As previously mentioned, the NFL International games are comprised of two teams from different conferences.
The Jaguars have 8 home games at TIAA Bank Field this season, and the London game is considered one of their home games.
Looking at Jacksonville’s home schedule we can see that they have 6 matches against AFC rivals (Titans, Colts, Texans, Bills, Dolphins, and Broncos), with 2 NFC games against the Cardinals and 49ers.
Given schedule, team priority, travel time, and local newspapers, we believe that the 2021 Jacksonville opponent will be…the Arizona Cardinals.

The NFL has a history of scheduling these international games back to back, so it makes sense that this game will be on continuous weekends.
This allows them to put all the banners across London, keep their staging facilities up, as well as package the games into a marketable, big event.
Given this, the weekends of Sunday the 24th and Sunday the 31st most likely.

Covidity

What’s the deal with Covid? Will visitors need a vaccine? Will there be passports of health? Can Americans visit?
No idea.
All of this will be a wait and see from the UK government.
For those of you from abroad, the UK is due to open to ‘normalcy’ by the end of June 2021.
Should this hold, and we stay clean and healthy, we SHOULD be able to host the games without issues.
Given the nature of the virus, it is unlikely that Tottenham stadium will be at full capacity, but it should be quite full of fans.
Again, this will take a while to figure out.

The whole schedule is released on Wednesday May 12th, at 8pm EST.
Once it’s released we will know a bigger picture, as well as how close we were to picking the right teams and dates.

Are you ready for some NFL in London?

Wild Draft Predictions

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Life is like a box of chocolates.
Either it gets picked apart by your family, gives you diabetes, or is accidentally left in a car and melts into a goopy puddle.
The point being, you can never be too sure. 

Every year, the NFL Draft hits us with someone wild and wacky-and this year could be no different.
What kind of insane in the membrane trades, moves and hustles could happen in Cleveland this year?
That’s why we have our 2021 Wild Draft Predictions. 

In the NFL the crazier…the more entertaining. 

Pundits and prognosticators have all pulled their polls to make their sure thing bets.
But are they sure things?
Trevor Lawrence is first out and off to the Jaguars? Maybe.
https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/nfl/draft-odds/
Kyle Pitts can play every position. Really?
The Bears will screw up the draft…ok, that’s possible. 

To honour the wackiness that is the NFL Draft, we have tallied a bunch of ‘out there’ predictions for the 2021 NFL Draft.
From fades to trades, bold calls to wild conjecture….we have it all for you.

So let’s get in with some of the most out there NFL predictions to cover our betting butts. 

1. Trevor Lawrence to the CFL

Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? Well the NFL couldn’t.
After a blockbuster move to secure the XFL and partner it with the CFL, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson makes his biggest move by convincing Trevor Lawrence to eschew the NFL and head north young man.
Lawrence heads to Saskatchewan to train with the Roughriders, before taking over his own franchise the Newfoundland Nuggets. 

2. Justin Fields Forever

Rumours began to circulate that something was up with Justin Fields, and that perhaps he wasn’t what or whom he appeared to be.
On Draft Day that becomes apparent when the Zoom camera pans in on Fields and his family, only to reveal Colin Kaepernick.
As it turns out, Colin has kidnapped Fields and his family for one last shot at greatness.
Despite numerous blood transfusions and bone grafts Kaep once again fails to deliver for his team.
Fields is eventually released by Colin and the captors, but once again-the damage is already done. 

3. Manziel Mania

The NFL Draft is in Cleveland?
Johnny Manziel is ‘Mr Cleveland’!
Manziel decides to take his shot at crashing the 2021 NFL Draft to promote his new vaccine ‘Johnny Football’, aptly named as it is made from rendered pigskin.
To promote the event, Manziel hires idiot/dunce Jake Paul to deliver the vaccines to people by ‘punching it in their face.’
Paul uses the platform to announce his upcoming fight against the all of the patients in a children’s hospital.
If the children can beat him, he will give them a ‘shout-out’.

4. Jets get an 8 Ball

After years of bad draft picks, the New York Jets have let it slip that they have a new tool for drafting this year…the Magic 8 Ball.
Instead of using sports science, the Jets are opting to let magic be their guide to post season glory.
New head coach Robert Saleh will franticly shake the ball prior to each round to find their ‘yes’ ‘no’ and ‘maybe’s for 2021.
Unfortunately for Saleh, owner Woody Johnson likes the ‘pluck’ of the 8 ball and decides to fire all of his coaching staff to let it coach the Jets in 2022.
They make it to the AFC final. 

5. Ballin’ Bezos

Jeff Bezos is rolling in it.
From the billions he made from selling off Amazon shares, to his neighbours wife who he took just because he could…everything is rolling up JB!
Bezos goes full baller this NFL Draft when he rolls in without a team and announcing ‘I’m not leaving here without my own team.’
Jaws drop, wallets are rummaged and Bezos walks out with not one, but 2 NFL teams. 

Amazonian Jeff not only snags the Chargers for his trophy case, but also snags the Buffalo Bills ‘in case he wants wings.’
As he leaves, Bezos ‘makes it rain’ dolla bills, with images of Usher on every bill. 

Those are our bold predictions for the 2021 NFL Draft, what are yours?
Make sure you listen to our post Draft podcast this week to see how close we all were.

2021 Draft Preview

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With the NFL Draft only days away, the excitement and anticipation brings with it numerous questions.
Will Trevor Lawrence still be Jagging his way to Florida?
Are there enough quarterbacks to go around?
What kid of mischief and mayhem do the Patriots have planned?

We will take a look at these and many more in our NFL Draft Preview Podcast.
In this episode, Wade McElwain & Ryan Cull are joined by Chapman Maddox, a diehard Falcons fan, and good friend of NFL in London.

Everyone and their uncle has their thoughts on who should take whom in the NFL Draft this year.
With many teams desperate for a new franchise quarterback to lead them out of the mediocre standings, it’s easy to forget that one man doth not makeith’ the team.
Sam Darnold couldn’t save the Jets, Johnny Manziel bust out of 3 leagues, and let’s not even talk about Mitchell Trubisky.

In this NFL Draft Preview podcast, the guys go through the first round of the draft and make their predictions for the choices and needs for each team.
Obviously the draft is going to have some drama worthy enough for TMZ, so our pundits have focused on the picks rather than the moves.
Someone is going to trade up, someone already has some potential trades slotted up, and all of us will be ‘wowwed’ when a team makes a truly bone headed call. (looking at you Bears).

The podcast clocks in at just over an hour, so make sure you put on your comfy pants and settle in with a cup of happy to get you in that zone.
We will have more draft coverage throughout the week, but let this podcast ease you on down the NFL Draft road.

Among some of the hot topics that Wade, Ryan and Chapman touch on in this podcast includes:

Trevor Lawrence

Sure, TL will be going number one to the Jaguars, but what are we missing?
While Ryan and Chapman gush over the flowing locks of Lawrence and his date with NFL destiny, Wade is a bit more skeptical and thinks he will be the next ‘Jimmy Garoppolo’ of the league. Too many injuries and too much hype.
The guys all agree that Trevor will be hitting the Jags this season, and hopefully we will see him in action sometime in London soon.

J-E-T-uggh

The Jets have proven what not to do with top NFL picks. They have ridden the pines of the league for the past few years, adding more laughing stock to the soup of their woes.
New coach, new team, new focus…who dis?
It’s one thing to take new talent from the NCAA, it’s another to develop and encourage it.
Wade, Ryan and Chapman all think that the Jets will scoop up Zach Wilson at number 2.
Where he is in 3 years is anyone’s guess.

Poisoned Fields

It wouldn’t be a draft without drama, and this week we had plenty of that.
It turns out that Justin Fields might have an electrical condition (?), a heart problem (?), something that could ruin his career (?).
NFL fans know that when rumours of ineptitude surface prior to something big, the Patriots must be involved.
Pissing on a prospect for the good of the empire is a total Belichick move.
The guys all have Justin Fields on different teams, where do you think he will end up.

Bold Predictions

The podcast has loads of bold predictions for the NFL Draft, among some of the crazy ideas the guys banter in this one includes:
-Ryan and Chapman like Pitts making his way to Atlanta.
-Wade likes the 49ers to move up for playmaker Trey Lance.
-Carolina will trade their 8th pick away to a QB hungry team
-Roger Goodell goes in for an awkward hug, still gets booed.

Make sure that you listen to the whole NFL Draft Preview podcast and share it with your friends!
We will have more NFL Draft predictions throughout the week.

April Memes

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March NFL showers bring April Memes.
Welcome to our fun selection of funny captioned photos for this month.
There has been plenty of activity in the league over the NFL offseason, and luckily the pithy magic go memes allows us to perfectly sum up some of the funniest moments of 2021 into a nifty little photo album of nostalgia.

Like bread, NFL memes have a short shelf life, and these posts don’t hold much water a few weeks down the line.
Let’s enjoy the moment then shall we?

Here are a few great ones to get your month of April Memes going.
If you have any other memes, please send them our way.

Make sure that you like our Facebook Page as well!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFLinLondon

London Calling Atlanta

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The NFL is returning to London!
Fans will be allowed back in stadiums, a new 17 week season awaits, and Covid has been traded to the Jets for future considerations.
Everything is getting back to normal right?
Uh, sure.
We don’t know a lot, but we do know that London is calling Atlanta for a 2021 game.
So who are they playing? When? Where? What’s the deal-lio, yo?
We’ll try to break it down for you, as London is calling you Atlanta!

International Games

In your face world! The NFL is coming for you!
American football fans around the globe were giddy like kids at Christmas, after the league announced that we can expect more NFL International games over the next few years.
London’s Tottenham stadium will be the first to host a game in 2021, with more venues and teams to be rolled out later this year.
All 32 teams will have to play at least 1 international game once over the next eight years.
According to the league it will look for  “up to four neutral-site games per year in a country outside the United States will focus initially on Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. In addition, interested clubs can continue to volunteer to play home games internationally, as is currently the case.”
When the games will be played and where is anyone’s guess, but we can make some inferences based on previous outings.

Canada

Canada has previously hosted NFL regular season games, and they did not go well.
Given that Toronto is only a 90 minute journey to Buffalo, it was assumed that Canuckleheaded fans would fill up the stadiums with maple pride.
They did not.
Toronto is a fickle city, and one Ernest Hemingway once described as a ‘fistulated asshole.’
If the Blue Jays are doing well, the Maple Leafs show a semblance of pulse, or a waft of warm air hits Ontario in October, Canadians make other plans.
Previous NFL games were beset by fan apathy, low turn out, snarky broadcasters, and truly bad playing conditions.
The Rogers Centre/ Skydome is a decaying downtown edifice whose turf has ruined more professional athletes careers than a Kardashian.
The Rogers family themselves are snarky snake billionaires with a grasp on the throat of Canadian media, and none too pleased with the NFL for turning down previous franchise opportunities.
If Canada does host NFL games, they will need to not be held in Toronto or Vancouver, where fans already have a taste of ‘American sports.’


South America

When the NFL says ‘South America’, we assume that the NFL means ‘Mexico’, given that Mexico has hosted previous NFL games.
Although Mexico is considered to be in North America, you can forgive sports fans for not giving a hoot about geography.
It’s highly unlikely that South America would host anything other than a vaccination drive, as Covid has torn through the region like Derek Henry playing ‘Red Rover.’
One can’t imagine Argentina, Peru or Brazil hosting a regular season NFL game given the security, testing, and kidnapping threats that exist in those regions.
Previous Mexico City NFL games have been well attended, but also fraught with peril.
These games cost the NFL the most in safety and security of ANY NFL game, not to mention the flurry of items tossed on the the field and hundreds of laser pointers aimed at QBs eyes.
Only the Raiders seem to do well in Mexico, which is fitting.

Europe

To Americans, Europe is a big country.
Not only did they save it in WW2, but they also kicked the Germans out of it.
They might be totally insulted to learn that not only IS Germany IN Europe, but that the Germans may actually host an NFL game.
Germany has a massive NFL fanbase, and it truly is their time to host a game.
American football has been a popular sport in the country since American GI’s were stationed there after the war. The game grew in appeal, and Germany boasts one of the best American football development program on the continent.
The only issue that might interfere is time. With a 6 hour gap between the states, a 1pm EST game wouldn’t kickoff until 7pm in Germany, making it a bit of a later prospect.
The games will still be awesome, and it will be great to see what Germany can offer as hosts.

UK

The UK has established itself as the de-facto home of the NFL outside of Europe, so what’s changed?
Covid obviously, but there is also a Wembley issue.
The Jacksonville Jaguars contract with Wembley has expired, and they also lost their pitch for a new downtown stadium. Will Khan take out his wrath, or find a new way?
By all accounts Wembley is keen to reopen the NFL despite Tottenham making the stadium push for future games.
Other stadiums that host Liverpool and Manchester United are also keen to refit their homes to potentially fit the NFL in for future years.
While the NFL may never establish another franchise in the UK, we may start to see games hosted around the country, as well as Scotland and Ireland in the mix.

With the big game announced for 2021, loads of questions have emerged.
When will the Falcons being playing at Tottenham, and who?
We have our thoughts here.

Which Sunday?

October 2021 has 5 potential Sundays to offer as one of the London games.
Previously, the NFL has tried to keep the International Games earlier in the season to balance out the byes, and fit the games within the busy hosting schedule of the city of London.
October 2021 has Sunday October 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31st as options for the London games, with each Sunday having a 20% chance of hosting the game.
With Week 1 of the NFL due to begin on Sun Sept 12th, that would make October 3rd part of the Week 4 schedule. Given Covid, rules, travel and more this might be more unlikely.
One of the biggest factors in choosing the date of the London game is time.
Clocks ‘fall back’ in October, with the US and UK having a gap of about a week when the clocks are only 4 hours apart.
The NFL has capitalised on this in the past, as this hour means a huge difference to the body clocks, and broadcast clocks of international timings.
UK clocks change on Sun Oct 31st, and US clocks on Sun Nov 7th. This means that there would be only a 4 hour gap on the 31st, making it the most likely date to host a game.
Sunday October 31st is Week 8 in the NFL, which is a tad late for a UK game, so we are not keen on it, especially with Diwali (Indian Festival of Lights) set to take over central London less than a week later.
Prediction: Sunday October 17th (Week 6)

Atlanta Opponent

The Atlanta Falcons will be playing a ‘non-divisional’ opponent for their 2021 game, which means that there are only 5 teams that they could potentially play.
These teams are Detroit, New England, NY Jets, Washington or Philly, each with an even 20% chance of being chosen.
Detroit last visited London in 2015, where they took an epic beating at the hands of Alex Smith and the Chiefs. The Lions aren’t really an international fan draw, and with so many changes in the organisation, an unlikely pairing for this match.
Washington is rebuilding not only as a team, but also as a franchise. With owner Dan Snyder under the microscope for being a bit naughty, it’s unlikely that the league would want him to travel internationally, where the foreign press would be keen to address his ‘reputation’.
The Eagles were only here in 2018, with Carson Wentz carving out a win over the hapless Jaguars. Very doubtful that they would be back here again this soon.
New York Jets and New England Patriots are the other teams that could be London bound.
Jets owner (and former UK Ambassador-Woody Johnson) is back home & working in the vaccine factory, so he might be inclined to not let his team back to his former home. The Jets last played in London in 2015, beating the Dolphins in a Wembley stinker.
Bill Belichick and the boys haven’t played in London since 2015, when a guy named Tom Brady was still at QB.
The Patriots have shed a lot of weight, personnel and allure as of late, with the team missing their first playoffs in decades.
Given that they are the only team with ‘England’ in their name, they would be odds on favourites to make the crowds happy, and sell tickets.
Boston is the closest US city to fly to London, so that 5 hours might seem like nothing compared to West coast jaunts.
After all, who wouldn’t want a Super Bowl matchup in England?
Let’s do it!
Prediction: New England Patriots

Full Prediction

We think the 2021 NFL London will be…the Atlanta Falcons hosting the New England Patriots at Wembley on Sunday October 17th, 2021

In closing, we have no idea what is really going to happen.
Covid is still on the field, and despite vaccine efforts, we still don’t know what the NFL could look like for this season.
Commissioner Goodell has promised that we will have ‘100% capacity’ at all stadiums, but that could be about as accurate as our predictions.

Watch this space as we will have full details on who is playing the Atlanta Falcons here as soon as we know it.  London is calling Atlanta!