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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!

Picks Six-Divisionals

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Hello there and welcome to another edition of The Picks Six, back again for (super) Divisional Weekend. Sadly, only four games this weekend and, horrifyingly, only 3 more after sunday night. That said, it does mean we’re coming to the business end of the season, and the remaining 8 teams all know they’re just 3 wins away from the ultimate goal of lifting the Lombardi trophy in SuperBowl LV. This weekend’s matchups are absolutely mouthwatering, with one-on-one spectacles like Jalen Ramsey vs Davante Adams, ultimate draft comparison with Lamar and Josh Allen, two of the greatest QBs ever going up against each other… oh and Tom Brady vs Drew Brees. You will all respect Baker vs Mahomes. You will. Let’s talk briefly about each game, and my pick for each of them.

Rams @ Packers 

The headline grabbing matchup between star cornerback and star receiver aside, this still feels like the ultimate game of offense vs defense. Despite the Packers’ alleged struggles against the run, they haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher in almost two months at this point, and have tightened things up significantly on the back end, whilst their fearless leader continues to shred opposing defences en route to his MVP award. Rodgers has truly been peerless, and enjoyed his bye week whilst Aaron Donald was slightly injuring his ribs against Russell Wilson. You can probably guess where I’m leaning with this one: I just can’t see the Rams being able to score enough to beat this Packers team. If they get another defensive score – like the Pick 6 last week – they’d have a shot, but Rodgers has Adams, Tonyan, Jones, and the deep-threat of Valdez-Scantling and for me those weapons are too many to defend. Cam Akers has given the Rams some nice late season production in the latter stages of the season, and Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are a great pair of receivers, but is Jared Goff 100%? Surely he can’t be. If Blake Bortles had been there more this season, he might be given a shot, but it feels unlikely they’ll throw him in unless Goff’s thumb is really struggling. 

Therefore, I ask the question: can you beat Aaron Rodgers without a QB? Maybe. I saw this week that Aaron Rodgers is 0-2 in the playoffs against the number one ranked pass defense… which this season is the LA Rams. Jalen Ramsey’s stats are insane, but will need every bit of his smarts to stay with Davante Adams. I think the Packers will find special ways to get Adams the ball – he’s too good to not be involved, despite Ramsey’s attention. I don’t think this will be a back and forth shootout and if I wasn’t morally opposed to betting the under, I would suggest doing that. However, as it stands, with the line at -6.5, I like Green Bay to win and move on to the NFC Title game.

Ravens @ Titans 

Ooooooh this game. Saturday night football is electric. Lamar finally got the playoff monkey off his back with the revenge victory against Tennessee, and the Ravens will ride into Buffalo high on confidence and with a mean streak in tow. However, this isn’t the same old Bills team. This is Josh Allen’s Bills team. His partnership with Stefon Diggs is truly Box Office, and that Bills D is showing up late in the season like it should. Buffalo’s run game took a bit of a hit with the injury to Zack Moss, but really Buffalo’s most dangerous runner is… their main passer. Allen is so dangerous in the RedZone, and can create hell for defensive coordinators. That said, the Bills have struggled against the run, and the Ravens seem to want to run over everyone that’s put in front of them, and have done so successfully for about 6 weeks now. I love the one-two punch of JK Dobbins and Jackson in the backfield with their speed and shiftiness, and the threat of Mark Andrews and Hollywood Brown down the field. Baltimore are flying right now, but Sean McDermott has something special cooking in Buffalo.

I do feel that Buffalo wins this game, and I like a lot of points to be scored here. Bills Mafia will show up and be loud and I think will help propel Josh Allen to his second playoff win in two weeks. I think this will be a great game, with these two young star QBs showing why they are two of the new faces of the league. MVP Lamar will have his moments here, but I think the quality of Diggs down the field, with the underneath ability of Cole Beasley and (potential breakout star) Gabriel Davis, will give the Bills what they need to win this shootout.

Browns @ Chiefs 

The Baker vs Mahomes story has been told a thousand times, but that doesn’t make it any less enchanting. Mahomes visited Texas Tech and stayed with Baker, before becoming the Tech QB when Mayfield had transferred to Oklahoma. Then came the absolutely INSANE 66-59 game in October 2016. The game still holds almost every NCAA record for offensive statistics. The number one pick for Cleveland, vs the man Andy Reid and the Chiefs were so enamoured with they traded up to take him, and eventually pushed Alex Smith aside to complete his ascension. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have been an absolute powerhouse for multiple years now, and are the reigning SuperBowl champions for a reason. And, guess what? They’re better than they were last year. However, it’s been two decades since the Cleveland Browns were even approaching being as good as they are right now. Will there be a more confident team this weekend than the Browns? They just beat up their big brother and broke the curse at Heinz Field that’s lasted over 17 years. Not to mention, this is their first playoff appearance in about that long. On the face of it, this is David vs Goliath, and Vegas seems to agree – with the Browns 10 point underdogs. I see two options in this game. Either the Browns control the clock with the two-headed monster in the run game, and keep it close, or the Chiefs offense does what it does and scores 45 points against an under matched Cleveland secondary. Kansas City is so explosive, you can’t rule it out. 

That said, with the momentum from last week, I believe in Baker and the Browns. Do I believe they’ll win the game? … not entirely. But I absolutely believe the game will be close. Baker is playing REALLY well and will continue to put his team in a position to have a chance in this game. Kevin Stefanski’s return to the sidelines will only help the Browns case. The points line is 57!!! Insanely high, so I’ll leave that, but this could well end up being a shootout. That said, Browns +10.0 looks good to me. Furthermore, don’t be surprised if there IS an upset in KC… you’ve been warned.

Buccaneers @ Saints 

Brees vs Brady is a lovely way to end the weekend. Undoubtedly, Brady has been the more successful Quarterback, and yet Brees seems to be the one holding all the individual NFL league records. I saw a stat that says Tom Brady has the same number of playoff wins against the NFC as Drew Brees does… and Brady previous to this year only got to play the NFC in the SuperBowl… Yikes for Drew. Brees’ regular season success has been matched by the levels of playoff heartbreak he and New Orleans have had to endure the past decade. The Minneapolis miracle, the non-call of the PI against the Rams… I feel for the Saints. I really do. And just when they feel like they’ve got everything to make the Super Bowl again… Tom Brady joins the division. Ouch. Credit to the Saints, they’ve beaten these Buccaneers twice this year already, but the old saying goes “it’s hard to beat a team 3 times…” So maybe the Buccaneers can get their revenge? The Bucs are in a much different place now to when the Saints handled them easily around ⅔ of the season mark. Bruce Arians seems to have figured out how to make the most out of the pieces he’s got. I mean, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Scotty Miller, PLUS Gronk and Brate the Tight Ends… The Buccaneers have many different ways they can beat you, especially if they get the “old” Leonard Fournette like they appeared to last week against Washington.

This game is such a toss up for me right now. I’ve been a proponent of the Saints, and a disregard-er of the Bucs for most of this year, but I might have to jump (to the pirate) ship right now. Brady looks good, and the sheer number of weapons the Bucs have is terrifying. The way the Saints win this game is lean on Alvin Kamara, take the ball out of Drew Brees’ hands, and hope their D-Line can wreck the Tampa Bay game plan. That said, I think this is high-scoring and the Buccaneers keep it close. This will be a great Sunday night cap. I would only be surprised if this game was a blowout one way or the other. And whoever wins… gets Aaron Rodgers next week. Oooooooh tasty.

The Parlay

Combining the picks from above, £10 on the following four leg parlay pays about £450 depending on your bookmaker.

Green Bay -6.5

Over 49.0 points & Buffalo -2.5 

Cleveland +10.0

Over 52.0 points & Tampa Bay +3.0

Enjoy the games everybody! As always I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter & Instagram. Come say hey. Let’s get these Championships won next weekend and look forward to the Super Bowl. Stay safe and stay sane. 

Callum Squires is a diehard Dolphins fan, writer, and friend of NFL in London. 

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Divisional Preview

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The wet and wacky NFL Wildcard weekend is now behind us, as we head into the final stretch with our Divisional Preview podcast.
Very few people correctly predicted the winners last weekend thanks to the plucky play of the Rams, and the vroom vroom of the Browns ‘Corvette.’
Wade & Ryan both chose the Steelers to topple the Browns (as did many) thus screwing their perfect playoff pools.

In this podcast the guys reflect on the all of the scores from the Wild-Wildcard Weekend that was for the first week of January 2021 in the NFL. The go through all of the scores, as well as lament some of the bonehead plays that got us there.
Wade spends a bit of time bitching about his Bears, and how close they kept it, although never within the reach of noodle-arm Trubisky.

Among some of the other news the boys discuss in this podcast includes:

Deshaun Watson

DW wants out of Houston, and who can blame him. Despite being the leader of the franchise, at times the organisation treats him like a ginger step-kid who abused the family dog. There is an utter lack of respect for a club that was going to do everything in their power to support him. Now that Deshaun wants to leave the Texans, loads of other teams are lining up to sign up to his services. Is it too late for the Texans to keep him happy, or will he be on his way?

Nagy & Pace

The Bears have brought back their GM and HC for another bash at the NFC North. It was felt that although the Bears did slip into 6 straight losses, the way that these guys recovered was enough to show that they have the skills to manage the team in the future. Tell that to thousands of angry residents of Chicago.

Dead Doug

Doug Pederson is dead. Not literally, just to Philly fans. Turns out his little exercise at trying out his backups during the last game of the season might not have been so wise after all. Doug is out, and you wonder who the heck wants the Philly coaching job? You have to eat Carson’s bloated contract and live up to the hype of a Super Bowl win within a decades reach.

Divisional Games

LA Rams vs Packers
Packers -7  +45.5

It’s Aaron vs Aaron as the boys can talk about how much they were teased as children with an ambiguous name. Kidding aside, this will be a good ole snow fight, as the Packers look to feast on LA after a relaxing bye week off.
How did LA get here? No…really. The Rams beat a hyped up Seahawks team with no QB. Sure, Goff was there, but he wasn’t that effective, although he was more so than Russell Wilson. LA was able to use their superior defence and big brain of Sean McVay to keep them in the game. Doing this against the Packers is another matter.
There are a few teams that have the players to be able to knock the Packers out of the playoffs. Watching the Bucs lay a beating on GB earlier this season showed exactly what needs to be done to keep Rodgers on the sideline. Keeping pressure on him, and shutting down Adams will be key.
Wade & Ryan both like this as an exciting start to the weekend, but sadly this one is going to be pretty predictable. With no real QB, the Rams will continue to struggle on first downs. If the Rams start to really fall behind, Goff will be chucking balls into heavy coverage that leads to picks.
Ryan- Packers 30 Rams 24
Wade- Packers 26 Rams 18

If you want the rest of our scores and predictions, have a laugh and a listen to the podcast. We want to thank all of you for listening, and keeping the podcast a moving up the charts.
Good luck to everyone this weekend, and we look forward when we can all get together soon.

Ryan & Romo

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It’s time for a little ‘throwback Thursday’ as we take a trip back to 2014 during one of the NFL in London games in a little video we call ‘Ryan & Romo.’

Tony Romo was not only a pretty good QB, but we know now that Tony is probably one of the best former player/ commentators in the game. Tony is so good, coaches actually get mad at him the next day for exposing their plays through his nonchalant style of examining play style.

In November 2014, NFL in London was invited by the NFLUK to attend one of the London training camps. (we miss these!). Tony Romo made the trip to London, but it was doubtful if he would play given he had been injured for 2 weeks prior. Coincidentally, the Cowboys had also lost 2 games in a row, so Jason Garrett was keen to get Romo back in for the London game.

Our guy Ryan Cull was determined to get Romo to laugh, and wanted to wait to ask the perfect question. After all, Wade had just got a big chuckle out of Jerry Jones, which led Jones on a strange dovetail story about Elizabeth Taylor (which was awesome).
As you can tell by the footage, both of them had a good time with the question.

Some of the players interviewed by our team have been absolute gems, while a few of them have left a permanent stain on our psyche’s.

As for the game, the Cowboys would go on to snap their two game losing streak and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-17 in an uneven affair on November 9, 2014.
Tony Romo did indeed play in this game, going 20/27 with 246 yards and 3 whopping TDs. Two of these TDs went to Dez Bryant, who also had one heck of a game. DeMarco Murray (remember him) also had a TD in this game.
83600 London fans had a great time at the game (and an even better time with us all afterwards).

We really miss hosting these parties for you guys, as well as getting together with players and fans alike to celebrate all of us in the UK who love this sport.
Hopefully, we will all be together again soon.

Do you have any footage or great interviews from you fave NFL in London moments? Get in touch and fell free to reach out and we can help share them. We’re always looking for writers as well so get in touch.

Wildcard Preview

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Are you ready to get Wild? You’re already getting wild enough America, what about the rest of you? All kidding aside, stay safe USA, we love you, and don’t want you to cancel any NFL with all your anger. It’s time for our Wildcard Preview podcast!

After 256 regular season games, we’re finally ready for the playoffs, and oh what a year it’s been. From Covid to no crowds-thanks to Covid, the 2020 season will certainly be one to remember (and for many others-one to quickly forget).

Wade & Ryan look back at the crazy week that was 17 in the NFL, from the big wins to the near misses. The boys reflect on the scores, and the elements that were needed for teams to clinch in this fun romp through the scores.
They also look ahead to the Wildcard Weekend in the NFL, previewing the 6 big games slated for Saturday and Sunday.

Among some of their predictions include:

Colts (11-5) vs Bills (13-3)
Bills -6.5  +52

It’s looking like a windy and snowy Saturday afternoon in Western New York, as the Bills look to starve the wounded Colts on the barren plains of Buffalo.
Indianapolis had the best O line in the league, then the injury bug came, and claimed some of their big dudes. Rookie Jonathan Taylor has had an epic season, and will be needed in spades on Saturday. If the Colts fall behind however, they will need Rivers to light it up against a staunch Buffalo D.
The Bills ended the season with a beat down of the poor Dolphins, and it’s hard to not see them carry that momentum to the next week. The team is fired up, and the return of John Brown means that they can now open up more space on the field.
Ryan and Wade are both hot on Buffalo, although as a Bills diehard fan Ryan is pretty nervous about this contest.
Ryan- Bills 30 Colts 20
Wade- Bills 28 Colts 21

LA Rams (10-6) vs Seahawks (12-4)
Seahawks -3.5  +47.5

The Rams limp into the playoffs with lingering questions at QB. Wolford was able to get the job done against a weak Cardinals team last week, but he now has given up some tape to Seattle as to how to handle his style of play. LA has really only gotten by thanks to their defence, and they are going to need them here against a wicked corp of talented receivers. Even if Goff does return, how effective is he really going to be?
Seattle is ready to cook, and Russ has been to the playoffs enough times to not get rattled. He’ll be playing at home in the windy cold, and finally has an offensive line of returnable players. If he can get enough protection in the pocket, he will have time to carve up the Rams holes.
Having Jalen Ramsey back will also be huge for the Seahawks, as he will take down the long game and potentially pick off a rookie mistake.
The Rams have been winning thanks to great clock management, but it’s a whole different game when the opponent can score quickly and repeatedly.
Wade & Ryan both think that Seattle will finally find their footing here, although Ryan thinks that this one will be pretty close.
Ryan- Seahawks 26 Rams 23
Wade- Seahawks 26 Rams 18

As for full winners tags weekend, the boys are agreed on every team.

WINNERS-Bills, Seahawks, Bucs, Titans, Saints, Steelers. 

DraftKings

Why not make the NFL playoffs even better by playing along with us on Draftkings? You can join our League and immediately jump into some fun and easy FREE and PAID contests of your liking. We’re all pretty cool guys, and love a bit of banter among the games.
Click on the link here and you’re ready to roll.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

That’s it for this week’s Wildcard Preview podcast. Have a listen, a laugh, and make sure you share it with your friends. We appreciate all of you for continuing to make the podcast rise up the charts.
Happy 2021, and a good NFL to you all!