NFL in London

National Football League in London

bill belichick

2021 NFL Season

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Well, the 2020 NFL season is now a few weeks behind us.
The Bucs are the champs, TB12 is still the GOAT, and starting positions are shifting like the sands.
Are you ready for the 2021 NFL season?

While 2020 might have been punch in the fun bags, the 2021 season holds much more allure.
Fans returning to the games, teams not being hampered by positive Covid tests, and London might once again get a chance to host the games.
All is beginning to look good.

In this podcast, Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull look at some of the top topics in this offseason.
So many questions about where players will end up, and what teams need to make a run at the 2021 playoffs.

Among some of the other hot issues that Wade and Ryan look at in this episode includes:

2021 Season

The new NFL season officially kicks off on St. Paddy’s Day, March 17th.
Teams can officially reset the clock on their year, and adhere to the NFL’s salary cap, which this year should be between £180-£185 million.
This might seem like a lot, but some teams barely have enough to squeeze in a Happy Meal with the heavy rosters that they’re carrying now.

Russell Wilson

Wilson is not a happy Seahawk, but does that mean it’s time to go? While the world waits on DeShaun, Russell and a few other QBs are also making noise about the state of their team.
The Seahawks would have to eat a whole bunch of money to let him go, and his no trade clause gives Russ plenty of bargaining power.
Will he really leave or is he just trying to jump the queue on Watson to get the big bucks?

Patriots QB?

With Tom Brady winning another Super Bowl with a new team, the debate over ‘Bill vs Tom’ seems to be settled.
The Patriots chose lacklustre Cam last season, and you can only imagine we only saw 1% of the ‘Belichick-Boil’ of emotions we have seen in other frustrations.
Now that Cam seems to chasing his hat off into the sunset, the real discussion on who helms the QB role in Boston takes place.
Odds on favourite to be the Patriots QB next season at 5/2?  It’s Marcus Mariota!
Who else makes the list of potential Chowderheads?
You might be surprised.

Hard Knocks

Knock, knock, it’s the NFL.
That’s right, Hard Knocks is back for the 2021 season, and options are on the table.
There are certain criteria to determine who is eligible for Hard Knocks (no new head coach, not being on the past 10 years etc), so there are only a few teams to choose from.
The top options include Cowboys, Giants, Panthers, Cardinals & Broncos.
Who would you like to see the most?

London Games

If you didn’t already know, the UK is ahead of most of the world in vaccinations.
With the bulk of the population due to be vaccinated prior to the end of the summer of 2021, the door remains open to the London NFL games.
Of course how open that door remains is up for plenty of conjecture.
Will there be vaccine passports to allow people into the stadiums?
Will the capacity at Wembley & Tottenham be limited to 10000 fans?
What about visitors from other countries Will they be able to attend the games, or will it be UK fans only.
Again, too early to tell and too much information to digest, but Wade and Ryan talk out of their ass on this one, as many people stuck in Covid limbo often do.
When we know more, we’ll let you know.

Have a listen to the latest podcast, and make sure you tell your friends about it!
Why should you have all the fun?

Stay tuned, and we will have info on the potential of an NFL Draft party this season. We’re still working on options for the year ahead.

Free Agents Podcast

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The 2020 NFL season is now done and dusted, leaving us nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs for the next 6 months. Thankfully, we have recorded a podcast about all the NFL Free Agents up for grabs to keep you occupied for an hour or so (if you listen twice).

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull are still going through NFL withdrawal, both of whom are quite shaky in this episode as they get ‘the good stuff’ out of their veins.
Bears fan Wade worries about a future that might include Carson Wentz, whereas Bills fan Ryan is Jonesing for a hit of JJ Watt to make the Bills extra special.

Among some of the other players they look at in this episode includes:

Dak Prescott

Who wants to swallow a big load of Dak? That’s what the Cowboys are facing if they want to franchise tag Prescott for another season. After taking that horrible injury in the 2020 season, Dallas fans will be wondering if it’s worth it.
Despite the drama, Dak is a heck of a QB-tossing up some amazing yardage in a losing Cowboys effort.
The boys both think he will be back with ‘Dem Boyz this season again.

Allen Robinson II

Oh Bears, what are you going to do? A typical Chicago move would be to piss him off so much he never wants to come back, but there is a chance Robinson will return if the Bears can offer a solid QB option. Trubisky and Foles are not the answer, but Robinson is-so the Bears will need to move the world to get him the ball chucker that he needs.
If Chicago doesn’t franchise him, Miami will grab him.

Will Fuller IV

Another wide receiver, except this one misses at least half the games each season. When he’s good, he’s very good. When he’s injured, he’s often injured-so it will be a leap of faith whoever wants to go Full Fuller.  With plenty of option out there, Fuller might need to resign himself to a WR2 or 3 role.
Texans have shot themselves in all of their feet, so it’s likely that they will move on from him and let him roam the open pastures.
Most likely playing options-Packers; 49ers; Giants.

Shaq Barrett

Shaq attack was what led to a wonderful performance by the Bucs in SuperBowl 55. The problem with winning a SuperBowl is trying to keep all the talent who are being wooed by other teams. Those teams don’t have TB12 though and every player and their brother is willing to take less to play with Brady.
Shaq won’t take less, but you can imagine every Tampa bean counter shifting the sands to make sure Shaq is back for next season. His ass ain’t going nowhere.

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Which team hasn’t had any Fitzmagic at this point? Although Miami has said that they want to hang on to Ryan and his big brain for the 2021 season, it’s likely the little hobo will move on down the road.
Loads of teams could use the services of Fitz, especially if it looks like that they might lose out on the QB Fiesta that is looming for the draft and free agency.
Wade thinks that he will end up starting for the Patriots, and Ryan tends to agree.

There are loads of other players discussed in this podcast, including: Kenny Golladay, Justin Simmons, Hunter Henry, Richard Sherman, Jameis Winston, Antonio Brown and Andy Dalton.
Have a listen and a giggle to the whole podcast to fins out more.

Make sure you also check out our Facebook Group, where you can join on in the conversation.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFLinLondon

SB55 Review

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The game is done and dusted, the Bucs are the new SuperBowl champions, and we have another 6 months until we see the NFL again. Sigh. It’s time for our SB55 Review!

General consensus amongst fans is that this one of the better SuperBowl’s, but those fans tend to be Chiefs or AFC fans, while another large chunk of the population thinks is was a damn fine game indeed. There was action, excitement, and we got to see Tom Brady add another jewel to his hand of seven victories. Love him or hate him, the GOAT gap keeps widening.

Let’s take a look at the big key takeaways from SuperBowl 55 to define the big moments of the final game of the season.

Defense

D wins the big games, and the Bucs sure as hell brought theirs for SuperBowl 55. Patrick Mahomes not only didn’t record a TD, but he ran for over 400 yards in escape from the relentless attack.
The saying is that defences win SuperBowl’s and that sure was the case on February 7th.
Kansas City just didn’t have a response from their offence, and the injuries up front were not only apparent, but easily exposed.
Tampa might not have had the best overall D for the NFL season, but that doesn’t matter.
They had the best one in the big game.

Tom Brady

Tb12 is Super cool. He’s been here 10 times in the past, and his unflappable appearance in the game was the steadying rock to glide the Bucs down the ice. Brady never hit his 300 yard mark, but it didn’t really factor given that he had a solid running game to rely on.
He spread the ball around to his faves, as if he was rewarding them with post season bonuses on every pass.
Everybody got paid, and Tommy was the banker.
Perhaps the best Tom Brady pass was with the Lombardi trophy when he drunk-tossed it to Cameron Brate off a boat.
Drunk Brady might be the best Brady of all.

Gronk

If you bet on Gronk to score in the SuperBowl, congrats-you made a smart call. Rob has scored in 3 previous SuperBowl’s, and it was only logical that Tom would find a slant route of open field to hit Gronk for big gains. One TD was expected, but 2 was just the icing on that big Gronk cake.
Like Brady, Gronk really showed a different flair in the big game thanks to the more relaxed Buccaneers attitude. Patriots wins felt stuffy and corporate, but this victory was sweet.
Gronk will be back.

Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes is a hell of an athlete, a smart young man, and a guy with a huge future. Sure, he got bottled in the big one, but that was the point.
If you choke Kermit, then there’s no Muppet Show.
Gonzo, Scooter, Fozzie and Miss Piggy were all flumuxed once Mahomes couldn’t get a ball off.
He surely tried with some spectacular efforts, but all was nought when it came to the pirate invasion that continued to break through the lines.
Mahomes and the Chiefs will be back here again soon, they are the team to fear.

Britt Reid

Always somber when touching on accidents involving children, but this incident had a big effect on the game. When the coaches troubled son D&D plows into a family, that kind of trauma hits the family of the team. Teams feed off emotions during a SuperBowl, and having one of your family do something so stupid and selfish before an important occasion is something that the whole family hurts with.
Yes it can be shaken off, but it lingers because players feel for the coach and they don’t want him to hurt.
That’s what loses focus in a big game, especially on a young team.

If you want more NFL fun, then check out our Facebook Group. Since it’s a group, we encourage chat and member postings, provided they aren’t spam or porn, or porn spam.
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Super Sim

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If there has been any year that has felt like we’ve been living in a simulator, it has to have been 2020. With Super Bowl 55 peaking up around the corner, we went to the experts to deliver us a Super Sim of the game.

Conspiracy theorists are quick to point out all of the variables in play that lead them to believe that this is all some sort of cruel prank played on humanity by some vicious deity, or that our planet is somehow in a shoebox of some celestial toddler who looks at us from time to time.

Given what’s happened in the league and in the world at large, it’s not hard to see how.
Tom Brady runs another team in a different division to the big show, Aaron loses in the big show, Bill Belichick is pixelating, and AB is behaving. What is up with this world?

One thing that simulations are good for is Madden. Although rarely close to correct, running Madden simulations is a fun way to see how the game might play out if a computer ran the numbers for a few times. There are actually geeks out there who will run this game through numerous AI machines for a more correct prediction. These are the people who usually whoop you at DraftKings.

For this video we tap into Bobby V Gaming who has run his Madden to predict the big game on Sunday. These two teams did play on Week 12, when the Chiefs edged the Bucs 27-24, but how will it go down this time?

Final Score in the Simulation:
Chiefs 21 Bucs 16

We will be throwing down loads of Super Bowl predictions and fun throughout the whole week, so watch this space for more.

Conference Sunday

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What a wild weekend in the NFL Wildcard Playoffs! The Bills, Chiefs, Packers and Buccaneers all meet next week for Conference Sunday. Are you ready for some football?

The game lines for Sunday’s AFC and NFC championship have been released, with the Chiefs and Packers holding a narrow spread over their opponents. The Packers are favoured by 4 points over the Bucs at Lambeau, while the Chiefs are a scant 3 points favoured over the powerful Buffalo Bills.
Which two teams will be heading to the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay this season?

Here in the UK, those watching the Conference Sunday finals will have to wait until 20:05 for the NFC contest, while the AFC final follows directly after with a 23:40 kickoff. All of the games will be on NFL Gamepass.

Here are some thoughts heading into the final week of NFL playoffs before the SuperBowl.

Packers Offence

Aaron Rodgers continue to blister on at an MVP pace. The neigh sayers who bemoaned the Packers for not drafting a rookie WR to help Rodgers out have been silenced by the fact that he continues to spread the ball around relentlessly. Let’s not forget that the Packers have had the easiest route to the finals, so they will have much more to prove.

So Raven

Baltimore was smothered by the Bills defence on Saturday, forcing Lamar Jackson out of the game, and propelling them into the dank post season. Buffalo sure showed the blueprint to beat Lamar Jackson’s legs, and the Ravens will need a long hard look at what missing pieces they need to pick up in the offseason if they want to have any hope of making a longer playoff push next season.

Buffalo is Warming Up

The Ravens did what they could to throttle Josh Allen and the high flying Bills offence, but just don’t have enough to get it down. Buffalo is really starting to find their confidence now, which should be scary for a Chiefs team that barely escaped a bolstered Browns squad. Allen is also now starting to spread the ball out beyond Diggs, which will cause problems in KC.

We’re Secretly Brownies

As Patrick Mahomes made his way to the blue tent on Sunday night, a feeling started to roll across America ‘I might like the Browns’. Everyone started to root for this team as they showed their pluck and guile under the foot of the Chiefs presence. Cleveland didn’t play that bad. The Browns screwed up 2 HUGE chances in the redzone that would have made the game a totally different beast. Baker’s ill timed cross field interception took the momentum out of a huge drive, while Higgins leap into the end zone only to lose the ball to a touchback was a crappy way to end out the half. The fact that the refs missed a blatant helmet hit in the process means that the league still has work to do.

Henne Ain’t Great

Oooh everyone! Did you see the heroics of Henne? Yes, the 35 year old veteran back up had a few sneaky drives to keep the Chiefs in the win, but he also made some stoopid plays as well. How quickly everyone forgets the lame floater he tossed to a Browns player in the end zone. Not even Johnny Manziel would throw a lame duck like that. Any team that wants to sign Henne after that 2 quarters of mediocre play might be interested in some swamp land in Florida.

Reid’s Balls

Andy Reid has some pretty big balls. Going for it on 4th down with a backup QB, Reid decides to run a shotgun play quickly instead of letting the clock run and try to catch the D offside. The play worked, and sent the Browns packing. Thanks to the gonads of Andy Reid, there might be some big plays ahead.
Here is the play again.

Buc Up

Whoever keeps pissing in Tom Brady’s ‘Wheaties’, please stop. You’re giving him the motivation to star playing angry. While TB12 didn’t look amazing during the Saints game, he was facing one of the best D’s in the league. Tampa made some great adjustments to keep Tom safe, only allowing 1 sack as opposed to 10. Let’s also not forget that it was the Bucs who spanked the Packers huge this season, and with Tommy’s growing confidence, there could be trouble in Wisconsin this Sunday.

Brees Out

Well it looks like Drew Brees will be riding off into the sunset. Despite not officially saying this, every pundit and their uncle made their prediction that this would be Brees’ last game in New Orleans before taking a cushy broadcasting job. Brees has been a hell of a player, and such an ambassador for the city of New Orleans. There will be a big gap to fill after Brees leaves the swamp, and doubtful in Jameis Winston has being enough feet to fill those shoes.
The really classy moment came at the end, with footage of Brady and Brees talking to his family. TB12 throws a touchdown pass to little Brees…and no…you’re crying.

Have a great week, and let’s go Sunday!