NFL in London

National Football League in London

2022 Giants Packers

Week 16 Picks Podcast

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Ho Ho Ho everyone, and a merry Christmas to you all, as we present our Week 16 Picks Podcast.

Wade and Ryan have been pulling long hours in the toy shop, as they craft their best predictions for the Christmas slate of games in week 16.

Will Santa give our presents to all the good teams this year, or will all the bad teams get a big old steaming pile in their stockings this year?
Not up to us.

If you want to give the gift of the podcast to your friends, you can unwrap it here, and share it with those you love, like detest and hate.

Here are some of the games that Wade & Ryan look at in their picks for Week 16.

Giants (8-5-1) vs -4 Vikings (11-3) +48

Welcome to the ‘Disappointment Bowl’, where two teams who had previous high expectations, have led us all to question their voracity going forward.
Are both these teams pretenders?

The Giants have slid down from their high hopes of the past, as they start to groove into the middle of the NFC East.
With the team steadily relying on Saquon, it’s been tough for Daniel Jones to establish himself when their O-line makes it equally as difficult for him.
The Vikings have also been called Chrissie Hynde ‘Pretenders’ as of late, although their massive comeback against the Colts in Week 15 has to have added a bit of fire to the belly.
Ryan isn’t convinced that the Vikings are the better match here, and doesn’t see how Cousins is going to keep up with the pace of the Giants.
Wade also agrees that the Giants might have more to lose here given the Vikes have already clinched, so that might but a little fire under their keister.
Ryan- Giants 24 Vikings 23
Wade- Giants 26 Vikings 23

-2.5 Lions (7-7) vs Panthers (5-9)  +43.5

How about ‘dem Lions? From getting Hard Knocked around at the start of the season, to potentially ended up ahead of the Packers for second place in the NFC North.
Dan Campbell has inspired his players, and Goff and the goofs have been answering, scoring points and unleashing a D that has been tough for recent opponents.
The Panthers on the other hand have nothing to lose.
The lost Baker, they lost McCaffery, they lost Robbie, a coach…but sometimes a slimline makes you meaner.
Carolina still boasts a D that keeps them in games that they might not normally be in, and might give Sam Darnold a chance to exorcise his ghosts of the past.
Ryan loves the Lions here, and thinks that they are on the right path to victory with Dan Campbell fired up on all fronts.
He doesn’t think that the Panthers have the tools to compete with a feisty Michigan squad.
Wade is smelling an upset here, as the combination of the Panthers furious D, and the outdoor setting of the south during Christmas to give the Lions some trouble.

Ryan- Lions 27 Panthers 20
Wade- Panthers 21 Lions 18

-8 Bills (11-3) vs Bears (3-11)  +41.5

The boys have the ultimate battle on Christmas Eve, as Ryans Bills visit Wade’s Bears in Soldier Field on Saturday.
There is more at stake than pride here..actually-nope, that’s pretty much all there is.
Buffalo continues to roll despite some injuries and worries that Josh Allen might not be 100%.
The Bills D hasn’t been the same since losing Von Miller, but Josh continues to be the running and driving force for the team.
Justin Fields has been having a pretty good season, even if the Bears haven’t.
They have lost six games straight since signing Chase Claypool, and the O line is about as effective as wet cocaine.
Ryan loves his Bills for a win here, and doesn’t see how the Bears are going to be able to keep up, despite their run of Fields lately. He thinks Allen and the guys steamroll through Soldier Field easily.
Bears fan Wade isn’t as convinced. He thinks that the Bills will win, but that the weather, and fact that the Bills have to face the Bengals in Week 17 might be enough for them to have their heads elsewhere.
Ryan- Bills 28 Bears 17
Wade- Bills 26 Bears 19
That’s it for our Week 16 Picks Podcast! Hope you enjoy listening to the whole show.
On behalf from all of us at NFL in London, we wish you all the Merriest of Christmases, the Happiest of Holidays, and the safest of the season.
We’re nothing without you, so take care of each other this holiday season.

What the Week?

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Even the most ardent NFL supporter will tell you that this is ‘one heck of a year’ in terms of playability, and Week 6 sure showed us why.

Somehow the New York teams are all killing it, while perennial favourites are struggling to get out of the first weeks’ mud.
And that’s not even mentioning the injuries!

Let’s take a look at some of the cray-cray storylines as we look at What the Week?

Tommy Boy

TB12 is sure trailing a bucket of drama as he heads into this season, with divorce, depleted squads and AB all piling on to make Tommy’s woes even bigger.

Despite losing one of their Watt’s, the Steelers D gave Tom Brady all kinds of headaches in Pittsburgh, and showed Tommy yelling it up on the sidelines at his teammates.

No one should lose to the tandem Mitch Trubisky & Kenny Pickett, but the Bucs took one on the chin from an AFC chump.

The Bucs are going to need to start stringing something together soon if they want to have any hope of pipping the Atlanta Falcons (whelp) to secure the NFC South title.

A Week 7 match-up between the Panthers should get them right, although Tommy sure would have liked to have snagged Robbie Anderson before he left for the Cards.

New York!

The Jets, Bills and Giants all have winning records…and get this…the Jets just walloped the Green Bay Packers.
What kind of bizarre multiverse is this?

The Jets are 4-2, the Bills are 5-1, and the Giants are also 5-1 in a patchwork that no one would thought we would see in decades, but here we are.

The Giants seem like that they are going to be ‘found out’ every week, yet Daboll and the boys keep finding new ways to beat tough opponents. And get this, they still do it with Daniel Jones and few receivers to speak of.

The New York Jets laid a beating on the Green Bay Packers in week 6, making the O-line of the Pack seem more like swiss cheese, than the fine cheddar it use to be.

The Bills are the one team that might bring some worry. Although they were feted to have top honours to take the title this season, there have been signs of weakness that this ride might get bumpy.

Pack Hack

If you were to tell Green Bay fans that they would be sitting at 3-3 after week 6 at the start of the season, they would have been severely ‘cheesed off’.
Surely their beloved Aaron Rodgers would never let the team sink that low…maybe Matt LaFleur…just not A-A-Ron!

The Packers have had a rough start to the season, with their 3 wins not coming easy, and their 3 losses coming effortlessly.

With no O-Line, and a scant supply of receivers, Rodgers like Brady is kind of wishing that this ends up another Covid year.

Green Bay has upcoming matches between the Bills, Eagles, Cowboys, Lions and Titans…with a few L’s anticipated in these tough contests.

Rhule the World

The Panthers took a massive squat on the state of South Carolina this season, by bring in Baker Mayfield and keeping the unpopular Matt Rhule.

After going a pathetic 1-4, the Panthers let go of Rhule, allowing him to collect $800k+ per week to sit on his butt, and field offers from college football teams.

Carolina is in trouble, and will need to unload C Mc if they can find anyone willing to swallow such a massive load.

Salmonella Russ

Russ has been cooking this season, unfortunately all the dishes keep coming out raw, and with no taste, or texture.

Russ has almost single-handedly ruined prime time NFL this season, putting in performances that more likely gift him a ‘Razzie’, than any football award.

The Seahawks are happy-clapping this season, having the weight of Russ lifted off their shoulders, not to mention the nice pay chunk in their pockets.

Will Russ get any better? Is he injured? Did he also get injured on MNF?

It’s tough to be a Broncos fan!

London Game

We still have another NFL game in London, as the Broncos and Jaguars face off at Wembley on Oct 30th in what is being billed as ‘an AFC match-up’.

Given how Russ has been performing as of late, and the sudden scoring demise of Jacksonville, we might expect some baseball like scores in this one.

Giants-Packers London

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Wowza! What a heck of a game that was between the Saints and Vikings last Sunday, as the sun came out to bring London one beauty of a game!

And guess what? We do it all again this week, as it’s Giants-Packers London this weekend!

To help you figure out what to do, where to do, and all the latest news, we have a packed little diary of ‘to-do’s’ to make your trip extra special.

Here’s what you need to know for the weekend of October 7th to 9th.

Transit Strike

Get ready to go nowhere, as the transit union is once again using this weekend to try to shame a Tory Party Conference with stagnation, catching NFL fans in the crossfire.

A national rail strike is due to go ahead on Sat Oct 8th, meaning that trains into London, out of London and some of the national rail lines will be affected.
Tubes and buses should be fine, but you might experience a knockoff affect of noticeable gaps.

If you are planning on travelling this weekend, make sure you plan ahead, as it will be a slow start on Sunday before the trains are up and running again at full tilt.

Getting to the Game

There are quick a few ways to get to the game, with the tube, overground and parking nearby all being options.

Direct trains from Liverpool street will have you at Tottenham within 25 minutes, and the busy Victoria line will take you to Seven Sisters or Tottenham Hale where you have easy access to the stadium.

Some folks also like to park a few Overground stops away, and just zip south to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

UK vs USA

It’s America versus the United Kingdom in Women’s Football (soccer), with a high profile friendly game kicking off on Friday October 7th at Wembley stadium.

The last time these two teams played was in 2020, when America delivered a 2-0 victory over the Lionesses.

Kickoff will be at 8pm on Friday night, and coverage will be available on ITV.

The game is SOLD OUT, so if you are looking for tickets, make sure you find someone who isn’t going to steal from you.

Football (soccer)

If you’re looking to watch football (soccer) this weekend, you’re in luck!
If you’re looking to watch college football this weekend…you’re kind of SOL.

It’s another big weekend in the Premier League, with some massive London derbys to check out if you can find the time.

Saturday kicks of with some major matches, as posh club Chelsea host Wolverhampton at 15:00GMT, and if you fancy a trip to the coast-Brighton and Hove host Tottenham in the 17:30 match.

There are some great traditional pubs to watch the games in, so make sure you explore the neighbourhoods to find a lovely local boozer.

Sunday might be the NFL, but it’s also a major day in English football, with games on all day-but it’s the later games that might be a problem.

Arsenal host Liverpool in an exciting 16:00GMT match, that will be on most tvs in most pubs across the country.

Later, Everton play host to Manchester United in a 19:00 GMT corker than will also predominate TVs in pubs and bars across the capital.

Comedy

London loves to laugh, so why not check out some of the great comedy on this weekend to laugh it up?

The Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green has a great line-up on this weekend, and it’s one of the places Dave Chappelle likes to warm up before destroying larger venues.
Get your tickets here.

https://backyardcomedyclub.co.uk/event/backyard-comedy-club-saturday-night-427/

American comedy fans will have no idea British comedy icon Stewart Lee is, but they can find out as Lee performs in a series of intimate London comedy dates.
There are still some tickets available, and American comedy fans will be pleasantly surprised at the different stylings of Lee.
Tickets here:

https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/live-dates/

Fair Time

The fall fair is a classic of Americana, with rides, fun games, and novelty foods sure to choke arteries.

South London is hosting its’ own, with Fairgame Funfair setting up in Canary Wharf.

Loads of games, digitally updated games from your past and plenty of booze to make this an all day fun day.

Tickets and info here:

https://www.wearefairgame.com/

Sundays

As we have mentioned in the past, London is not a late night city-and Sundays are the worst of the bunch.

Please be careful in areas like Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, as they are very dangerous at night.

Areas like Shoreditch, Highbury & Islington, and Finsbury Park all have late night options.

Stay safe, and watch this space for more info!

 

 

NFL London Viewings

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The 2022 NFL is officially underway, and the big football energy as palpable across the UK with the promise of 3 homes games, a German game, and no COVID!

As a group that has hosted NFL viewing parties across the UK for the past 15 years, we are often asked ‘where are the best places to watch the NFL in the UK’?

Normally we work with pubs, bars and venues to host wicked, weekly NFL parties across the city, however this year is a bit different.
While we will be promoting some great NFL events around the International games, we won’t be supporting weekly NFL London viewings for a few reasons this season.

Pub Chains

As you may have noticed living in Britain over the past decade, that the number of independent, local pubs has dropped substantially.

Even if an independent pub or small chain of them does well, it’s only a matter of time before the big boys buy them up, and rip apart the uniqueness of the pub to maximise operating efficiency.

We have always enjoyed working with independent pubs, as they are limited to do more for their customers and not laden down by corporate double-speak or ridiculous growth projections.

Making matters worse is that many of these large pub chains ‘promise’ to show the NFL, in many cases it’s up to a manager-who might decide to keep the 8-0 beating of Man City of Villa on the screen, because ‘4 lads in the corner are watching it’, ignoring the 70 NFL fans queuing for the 6pm game.

These large pub chains don’t care about your NFL viewing experience, and constantly drill at us the need to ‘increase foot traffic weekly to show corporate that this is working’, while at the same time serving football food that tastes like someone went dumpster-diving at Iceland.

These pubs have also jacked their prices up ‘in line with the cost of living’, which we’re sorry-no one should be paying over £7 for a pint.

The pub industry has been struggling heavily post Covid, with Sunday nights taking a particularly big hit.
Getting a pub to stay open late has been like…well, trying to get a London pub to stay open late on a Sunday.

We have also had to recently shy away from late night Sundays in Leicester Square, Soho and Piccadilly Circus areas due to the rise in robberies, stabbings and assaults.
If you are going to be out LATE at night in these areas, be very careful, do not travel alone, nor under the influence.
Last year was very bad for some of our NFL fans in that area-so caution is cool!

Cost of Living

Smell that? Things are getting expensive again-as the cost of living crisis is making things way more expensive.

People and pubs alike are struggling, with pubs having to jack their prices to afford their bills, while the eye-balls of the nation are trying to focus on the thermostat to combat the heating crisis.

With a ’round’ of pints doubling over the past 5 years, we thought it would be better to point out the value NFL places, rather than trying to funnel fans into a maelstrom of minimum spends, deposits, and set menus that fell out of the fryer.

World Cup

Did we mention that every pub we talked to also said that they would only play the NFL after the World Cup was done? No-well there’s that.

With the World Cup crossing over to the NFL for the first time ever, British pubs couldn’t give a toss about your American football fascination. The trophy is coming home! (spoiler alert-it isn’t).

World Cup games will feature heavily on Sundays as, as well as culminating in a final a week before Christmas, effectively choking the NFL into TV submission.

So if you’re making plans to watch the NFL in November/ December-make sure to check that it hasn’t been given a yellow card.

Places to Go

Just because we aren’t working with venues, doesn’t mean that there aren’t places that will show the games.

It is highly unlikely that venues will show the 9pm game in its entirety, and no way that you are able to watch the 1:30am game in public.

That being said, there are casinos in Mayfair and Stratford that are open 24 hrs, and you might be able to get them to throw on Sky sports for a laugh.

We have also been informed by many venues that NFL Gamepass is no longer available for commercial sale, meaning that for many venues-the NFL just isn’t worth it.

There are NO pubs in London that show all the games every week anymore.
Sorry-the times they are a changing.

Social NFL

That being said, many of us have taken the pub online-preferring to stay at home, or a friend’s and shit-talk their fantasy fans from the safety of their phone.

If you’re looking to join some of our group chats across NFL, and Betting, just get in touch!

We’ll also let you know about events that we have on for the London games, Thanksgiving and the playoffs.

It’s great to have the NFL back everyone!

If you do have a venue that is showing the NFL every Sunday, please let us know!

 

 

Week 1 Picks

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After a long, long wait-the NFL is finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited!

COVID is long gone, the ballsy hot days of summer are a mere scar from the sunburns, and everything is coming up pumpkin spice.
It’s NFL time!

Wade and Ryan are back at it, making their predictions in our Week 1 Picks podcast.

Make sure you listen to it over, and over to get all the nuggets of information distilled by the boys.

Among some of the things and games the boys talk about in this podcast includes:

Eagles (-5) vs Lions +48.5

Has everyone had a big gulpy slurp of Dan Campbell juice from Hard Knocks? Be careful, it’s full of caffeine!

HBO and the smooth voice of Liev Schreiber once again lulled us into believing that slick editing and inspirational music would help make a 3 win team better.
Only the season will tell.

What was telling was how the Eagles were able to make the playoffs in a ‘re-building’ year. Jalen Hurts and the Philly running game were able to put together a respectable season last year, and they only look to get better with some key additions to make for a deeper push this year.

Detroit has been Hard Knocking it, but they still have Jared Goff and a QB bench that even the Steelers could look down on.
Great running game, improved D, but you still gotta score.

Ryan likes the Lions to lickety-split the Eagles. He thinks that the running game and speedy receivers will be too much for the Eagles.

Wade is big on Philly, and thinks that this game will show that Detroit is not the motor city that people are hyping it up to be this season.

Ryan- Lions 23 Eagles 20
Wade-Eagles 31 Lions 24

Browns vs Panthers (1.5) +42.5

These lines have shifted quicker than an earthquake at a California cocaine party.

It started with the Browns being favoured, moved to the Panthers, had no line, was even and last was at 1.5 points for the Browns.

All eyes on Baker, as Mayfield hosts his former team in an ego battle like no other.
Matt Rhule needs a win here-not only to keep his job safe, but to also not lose the fans to start the season.
Christian McC is back, and Robbie Anderson might have the playmaker he needs to gash the backfield with incredible plays.

The Browns have been rubbed down, iced, and given a little moisturiser to start their season, as all eyes and hands have been rubbing down Deshaun.
Facing the ire of their fans, and the league, the Browns have opted to let Brissett take the reigns of a very capable Cleveland team.

Ryan has Baker and the boys laying a little beating on Cleveland, with revenge hot on his mind for week 1.

Wade on the other hand thinks that the Browns and the pressure might be a bit much for Baker in week 1, with Chubb and Hunt doing most of the work for the Browns.
He also sees loads of turnovers in a sloppy game.

Ryan-Panthers 28-Browns 20
Wade-Browns 24 Panthers 20

Raiders vs Chargers (3.5) +52

Lock up your china mom, the boys are battling it out in the living room tonight!

The AFC West battle starts out in fine form, as the LA Chargers and their fanless stadium host the under the influence Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s Carr vs Herbert in a showdown, throw down!

Vegas has blown many wads over the past few years, having many of their draft picks burn up quickly in the desert sun.
Through attrition the Raiders have found their squad, adding in Devante Adams as well as some O line pieces to give Derek a wee bit more time.
Don’t forget about Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs as well.

The LA Chargers were a thrill to watch last year, as Justin Herbert challenged Joe Burrow for newbie QB you wish was on your fantasy.
LA added Mack to the D, as well as giving Herbert some supporting tools for a longer distance drive into the playoffs this year.

Ryan likes the Chargers to win, but doesn’t think that Vegas will be an easy opponent.
Too much talent on both sides to allow the Raiders to keep it close.

Wade also thinks that this AFC doozy will be close, with the Chargers having that extra spark for victory. There will be plenty of fantasy points in this one.

Ryan-Chargers 30 Raiders 27
Wade-Chargers 33 Raiders 30

Week 1

Let’s not forget that it’s week 1, so whatever you thought you knew is most likely wrong.

No one really knows what the heck is going on until week 5, so at least find solace in that if you suck a big stone in week 1.