NFL in London

National Football League in London

2021 London NFL

The Picks Six

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Yo! Welcome to the first edition of The Picks Six. This is a new concept, so bare with me whilst I figure it out. But each week I’m gonna give 6 types of picks or tips for the upcoming slate of games. Each category is a little different; some are sure fire “this is definitely going to happen,” and some are long shots “this is a bit of a dream but it’s plausible at least.” Like for example last week. I thought the Dolphins had a great shot at upsetting the 49ers. And they did. Wish I’d started this column last week now… We’ll keep track of how I do in each category so you can know which ones to trust and which ones to laugh at. 

Anyway… for us Brits, this week’s Sky Sports Slate of games is absolutely electric. Steelers vs Browns, Buccaneers vs Packers, Rams vs 49ers (ehhhh okay not great), Bills vs Chiefs AND Cardinals vs Cowboys? 4 out of 5 are legitimately must see. But if I can avoid watching Jimmy G I will absolutely do so, so let’s just pretend that game isn’t happening for the rest of this article? Cool! Let’s get stuck into my picks. 

1) The 1st and Goal from the One 

This is my lock of the week. A sure fire winner surely. 

I’m very tempted to pick the Panthers to beat the (extremely fraudulent, sorry not sorry Wade) 4-1 Bears, but I’m not quite as confident in that as a couple other options this weekend. It’s two AFC East teams, and I just cannot see any way they lose this weekend. I’m talking about the Patriots and the Dolphins. New England have seemingly survived Cam’s corona scare… and he’s back this week to face the fairly unfortunate Broncos, who have been decimated by injuries and then this week had the story of Melvin Gordon getting a DUI. It’s not been great for Denver, and I don’t think their luck changes on Sunday. Belichick can see a glimmer of light at the top of the AFC East after the Bills lost on Tuesday night. I’m taking the Patriots to win in comfortable fashion. BUT – as a bonus for the first week of this column, I’m also taking the Dolphins, who face the newly LeVeon Bell-less Jets. Adam Gase man… where do you even start? Probably best to make this quick. Brian Flores has the Dolphins playing great football and winning games. The Jets are absolutely horrific. I feel (for once) very confident that my Fins get their 3rd win of the season on Sunday.

2) The 45yd Field Goal (around even odds)

This is my mid-range, toss up of the week. 

So my pick is going to Green to beat Tampa in the matchup I’ve dubbed “battle of the bays.” I’m sure that’s copyrighted by someone else but hey, it sounds good. Tommy B has been up and down since relocating to Florida, and AA Rod is in the middle of his “how dare you not rank me in the top 10 of the NFL 100” revenge tour. It’s hard for me to understand why the Packers are ONLY favoured by a solitary point here coming off a Bye last week. I know the Buccaneers defense is tasty, but Aaron Jones and the (hopefully) returning healthy Davante Adams are too electrifying to stop, and they’ll both benefit from having the other in the lineup. Let’s go for Green Bay -1.0.

3). The Hail Mary (4/1 or longer)

This is my shot from half field. Unlikely, but you never know. 

The AFC North is fast confirming itself to be – alongside the NFC West – the best division in Football. The Ravens, Steelers AND (surprisingly) Browns are all proving themselves to be playoff calibration teams, with potential SuperBowl aspirations. Big Ben’s comeback player of the year campaign is off to a flyer, and rookie WR Chase Claypool set the Fantasy Football world on fire last week with 45 points in his 4TD demolition of the Eagles. Cleveland faced their toughest defense (since the Ravens in week 1) and dismantled the Colts with relative ease. Baker looked good, Kareem Hunt is running like he did in Kansas City, and OBJ has maybe got his mojo back. I’m so excited for this matchup. BUT I think this really means a lot to the Browns. They’re used to getting eviscerated by Pittsburgh and, after the “contentious” ending to last season’s second matchup (you know, the one with the attempted murder??), I think Myles Garrett will be out for… errr… sacks!? Cleveland are the underdogs but if they can get the run game going they can limit the Steelers’ time of possession. Ben will always air it out to try and catch up but I think the Browns have enough to not only upset the Steelers but win by a wider margin than expected.

We’re gonna go Cleveland Browns to win by 7-12 points. 

4) The Over

I like points. Sue me. Give me 45-44 over 17-14 every day. I’m a Big XII guy. Points points points. Throw the ball. So, I’m using this section to look at the points totals and pick an over that I like. 

Cardinals @ Cowboys – Over 55.0

Yeah, it’s a high line, but this has “shootout” written all over it. I love the Cardinals. I absolutely love them. They’re so exciting. Kyler is a speed demon. Hopkins is – for me – the best receiver in the league. Their run game has struggled but we all know Kenyan Drake could just turn it on one week and blow people away again. And then you’ve got Dallas. Firstly, get well soon Dak. Secondly, Andy Dalton is… not Dak Prescott, but has a better set of weapons in Dallas than he EVER had in Cincinnati. Lamb, Cooper & Gallup can cause Patrick Peterson and the Cardinals DBs a lot of issues, creating space for Zeke between the tackles, especially now Chandler Jones is done for the year. But Kyler and Hopkins will feast on a suspect Cowboys secondary that made the Giants look like an offensive powerhouse at times last week. I’m excited to see these two offenses beat up on the defenses on Monday Night. 

5) The Parlay

A little 5 team accumulator for the people. 

Titans -3.5 (how are Tennessee, who are 4-0, only -3.5 against a 1-4 Houston team?!)

Dolphins -10.0 (yeah, it’s A LOT of points for the Dolphins and Fitzmagic to cover… BUT… I mean… have you SEEN the Jets?)

Patriots -9.5 (Cam’s back, and the Broncos are broken. Even if Drew Lock plays, the New England defense is nasty enough to give him nightmares)

Browns +3.5 (I think they win outright, but the FG + a half point here makes this feel like a safe bet)

Lions -3.0 (Golladay back, Sacksonville ain’t what it used to be, Lions managed to beat the Cardinals – a GOOD team – earlier this year. I trust Stafford to win this game)

£10 on this pays about £260 depending on your Bookmaker.

6) The Full English

This is just gonna be my straight up, nice and simple, prediction for who wins every single game each week. We’ll keep a rolling total and win % for me and hopefully it’ll be a number significantly higher than 50…

ATL vs MIN – Atlanta

BAL vs PHI – Ravens

CHI vs CAR – Panthers

CIN vs IND – Colts

CLE vs PIT – Browns

DEN vs NE – Patriots

DET vs JAX – Lions

HOU vs TEN – Titans

WAS vs NYG – Giants

NYJ vs MIA – Dolphins

GB vs TB – Packers

LAR vs SF – Rams

KC vs BUF – Chiefs

ARI vs DAL – Cardinals

And that’s it! Can’t wait to get absolutely none of these right this week. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts. Fingers crossed you come back next week. I’m @callumjdsquires on Twitter and Instagram if you wanna chat further. Have a good one!

All Lines and Totals accurate as of Friday 16th October at 15:00. 

Callum Squires is a London based writer, Dolphins fan and regular contributor to NFL in London. 

Week 6 Picks

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Week 6 of the NFL is upon us, and it’s already starting to feel like this season is an episode of the retro cartoon ‘Wacky Races.’
Just when you think someone takes the lead, tragedy befalls them, accidents happen and Dirk Dastardly is no where in site.
What will this week in the NFL hold for us?

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull are both coming down from Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations, toasting fellow Canuck Chase Claypool who had one heck of a week 5, eh?
Who do they have for week 6? Listen to the podcast and find out.
Some of their top picks for this week include:

Redskins (1-4) vs Giants (0-5)
Giants -3  +43

How the heck are the 0-5 Giants favoured over a plucky Washington football team? The Giants have literally had their legs cut out from them this season, and haven’t really looked that convincing in any game. Their O-line blows, their D is porous, and they’ve blown more leads than a coked out 70s’ detective.
Still, Vegas has some hope for them against the tumultuous Washington team, Wade and Ryan do not however.
Ryan-Washington 30 Giants 24
Wade-Washington 21 Giants 17

Ravens (4-1) vs Eagles (1-3-1)
Ravens -7.5  +46.5

Philly played a tight game against a surprised Steelers team last week, almost walking away with the W. The Ravens laid a smackdown on the helpless Bengals in a relentless game for Joe Burrow.
Philly has been playing all out against every team, but they can only have so much gas left in the tank.
After seeing the Chiefs get humbled by the Raiders last week, Baltimore has to feel like they have a chance to get back into first place in the league.
Ryan thinks the Eagles can withstand all of the pressure Lamar Jackson piles on them, whereas Wade likes the Ravens to toss Philly back to the dumpster.
Ryan-Ravens 28 Eagles 21
Wade-Ravens 35 Eagles 20

Packers (4-0) vs Bucs (3-2)
Packers -1.5  +54

Aaron Rodgers vs Tom Brady in an epic match for the NFL ages, or aged depending on how you look at it. Rodgers has been playing like someone pissed in his Wheaties, while Brady has been playing like someone who ate a bowl of pissy Wheaties.
This game could either be a Pack blow-out, or TB12 orchestrating a takedown of the top team in the NFC North.
Tom Brady is 14-1 after a loss and being the underdog, so you have to appreciate his competitiveness.
Ryan sees the Packers outlasting the Bucs, where Wade likes Tommy Boy to give it to GB in a surprise. They have had 10 days to prepare, so a big loss would really hurt.
Ryan-Packers 30 Bucs 27
Wade-Bucs 28 Packers 26

Cardinals (3-2) vs Cowboys (2-3)
Cardinals -3.5  +54.5

Week 5 brought us the ankle break heard round the world, as we all took a knee for Dak’s safe recovery. We also held our stomachs at the thought of Alex Smith getting his leg mangled at the hands of Aaron Donald in front of his kids.
Dak is gone, and Andy Dalton is here to replace him..so that should be something. Andy lacks the rally ability of Dak, as well as movement, height, youth and vision. He does have a good support crew.
Kyler Murray has been inconsistent, but has a great cache of wide receivers to help him out against a hole ridden Dallas D.
Ryan thinks that the Cowboys will rally for Dak at home, but Wade thinks that the Cards will use this game to grab an easy win.
Ryan- Cowboys 30 Cardinals 27
Wade- Cardinals 30 Cowboys 27

Have a listen to the podcast and make sure that you share it with your friends, enemies, and inject it into any Facebook debate to change the conversation.

DraftKings

Do you like to play Fantasy NFL? Then join our DraftKings League and get into all the action. We have free and paid contests, so that you can play and make money while meeting new friends.
It’s free to join, and we often meet up in the UK for parties and good NFL times.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Jaguars Leave London?

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The Jacksonville Jaguars contract with the NFL quietly ended this week, with many UK NFL fans wondering if this is the end of an era for the Jags in London.
The Jags have been playing regular season games in the capital since 2013, solidifying a new fan base, and fostering a reputation as the first potential UK franchise.
But then 2020 came along.

Will the Jaguars sign a new contract, or is this the end of the Florida/ UK NFL experiment? Let’s take a look at some of the factors involved in this.

Jacksonville

When the NFL first started hosting the Jaguars in London, their team was in a very different state of affairs. The stadium was a mess, the city was reeling from economic hardships, and the fan base was one of the lowest in the league.
Shad Khan injected much needed funds and energy into the franchise, and used international expansion as a way to not only drum up press, but also explore the potential of a European operation.
As the Jaguars continued to play London games, dissension was building at home. The new stadium with its shimmering pools was drawing bigger crowds, and the Jags themselves began to reach the NFL playoffs.
When the team announced that they would be playing two home games in London in 2020, local press and ardent fans rebelled, signalling that they wanted their home team home.
While the London games represented 11% of home ticket revenue, Jacksonville locals lobbied state and city government officials to help out.
They listened too, with plans to revitalise the downtown around the stadium, bringing in over $2 billion in salaries and over 10000 new jobs.
Urban Jacksonville would be a new ‘Shi Tpa Town’, so why would locals want to lose that momentum?

Khan

Shad Khan may be the 4th richest NFL owner, 66th richest person in America, but like many over the past few years, he’s taken a hit to his back pocket. He even recently has had to sell his 300 foot yacht the Kismet , which can be yours for a cool $166 million.
With xenophobia rampaging across America, you can see why he might just want to keep his nose down and focus on his franchise during an election year, and Trump-Mania spreading across Florida.
The impending noose of Brexit  is threatening to choke out international business opportunities, which has left many multinational companies to adopt a ‘wait and see’ policy when it comes to moving to the UK.
Wait til the dust has settled and see what kind of deals a desperate UK government is willing to offer.

Covid

Did you know that there was an a virus epidemic going on? No, it’s true. Although not much in the news, apparently some nasty bug has been disrupting our way of life.
Businesses hate surprises, and Covid 19 is one of the biggest viral-reveals we have had in our lifetime.
Like Brexit, no one wants to make long term plans when infections and rolling shut downs continue to affect and infect our way of life.
Until we have a vaccine or this nasty sucker under control, all UK-US sports matches will be put on hold.
Can you imagine if they had gone ahead with the London games, and had to postpone at the last minute?
It would be a logistical nightmare.

Tottenham

With the NFL and Tottenham stadium agreeing to a 10 year NFL deal, it doesn’t really make sense to negotiate separate matches with Wembley. If the league is all in this together, then maybe spreading out the games and structure doesn’t really fly in the face of the new normal.
The Spurs have spent a lot of time and money on the new stadium, and fan reaction has been wholly behind the new digs in favour of crusty old Wembley.
Tottenham have a massive vested interest in developing and hosting the games there, so the Jags could save a lot of time and money on working with the league as bubbles and lockdowns become part of the new NFL dynamic.

In the end Shad Khan might just want to take some time off and reflect on the London experiment. Covid has provided a timely opportunity to gauge the want of international expansion, with the need for keeping the home fans happy.
We (should) have NFL games in London in 2021, but with the way 2020 has been going, we need to learn to expect the worst.
That’s what Jets fans do.