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National Football League in London

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2021 Wins

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Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
A phrase you might hear ripping through the cavernous casinos of Las Vegas of olde, but not so much these days.
But now we’ll take a look at the 2021 wins.

British betting giant William Hill has already taken a look at the 2021 NFL teams, and released a set of projected win totals for teams this season.
If you’re a betting fan, you can look at these odds and think ‘malarky, I’ll have a bet on that!’
Or you might get pumped up with anger that the betting world thinks so lowly of your team.
Or…you might be a Jets fan.

It comes as no surprise that the ‘super league’ teams of the NFL have the most predicted wins for the 2021 season.
The Kansas City Chiefs once again emerge as the big favourites, with the pundits picking them to win 12 games in 2021.
Of course, it doesn’t matter how many wins you get if you’re going to eventually lose to the Buffalo Bills.

Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heralded to win 11.5 games this season (yes, .5 of a game), in a testament to the champs tuning up their late season surge in 2020 to open a bigger can oh whoop-ass.
The champ always has a target on their head, and the Bucs will be ‘the team’ other teams will use to set as their playoff bar.
This number might even go up higher if Julian Edelman decides to jump out of the broadcasting booth.

Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens are both predicted to win 11 games by William Hill, despite lingering questions on both sides.
Aaron Rodgers has been asking questions all off-season like ‘Why am I filling in for Alex Trebek?’, ‘Why do people care about my personal life’, ‘Can I host Jeopardy full time’ & ‘They’re never going to get me a #1 receiver, are they?’
Lambeau is turning into an NFC north drama, and if the Packers don’t make it far enough to choke in the NFC final again, maybe they will show Jordan some Love?

Baltimore is an interesting pick for 11 wins given their up and down past 2 years.
The Ravens are missing several key players to make a threatening push for the playoffs, and unless Lamar Jackson is given a porta-potty-tent on the sidelines, his heroic ‘number two’ performances may become less frequent.
Baltimore feels like they’re still discovering the pronoun that they want to describe them.
Are they a ‘running team’, a ‘passing threat’, ‘Lamar’s Lament’ or a ‘Harbaugh-apocalypse’?

Pumping out with a projected 10.5 wins are the LA Rams and Buffalo Bills, both of whom will be massive threats to the two previous teams.

The Rams finally have their QB to go with that staunch defence and solid coaching by McVay. Unlike the previous Rams appearance in the Super Bowl, this feels like a whole new team with more options and attack than ever seen before.
LA will be looking to showcase their ‘post-off’ body, and the NFC is going to see a whole different Rams team.
Look out Green Bay.

Buffalo Bills predicted to win less games than the Baltimore Ravens? Pishaw! Josh Allen was the sweetheart of the league last year, racking up loads of touchdowns, highlights and ‘aww shucks’ moments.
Buffalo has always been that underdog team that America forgets about, and Canada wishes was theirs.
Although their stadium sucks, it starts snowing in September, and Rachel Bush posts more Insta than the city itself…they have wings.
Both chicken and spiritual wings that guide them through collapsable tables.
And this season, the Bills should be flying high.

Among some of the other win projections that seem off:

Cleveland Browns-10 Wins

The Browns won 10 games in 2020, so why are they predicted to win the same amount this year? Cleveland is a way better team than last year and were a victim of circumstance as much as they were tools of their own ineptitude.
Browns will win more than 10.

Indianapolis Colts-10 Wins

It’s the Carson Wentz led Colts, with a projected win total of 10. Really? The Colts limped into the last half of the 2020 season like they ran half the Grand National before dumping the rider and trotting along to the finish.
They had one of the best O-lines and used Jonathan Taylor well to gash for yards…then they lost tough games.
With other teams spending huge and others looking for fresh blood, it’s hard to believe that they can win 10 in 2021.

Are you ready for the NFL Draft?
We will be making our predictions shortly, as well as on our next podcast.

Make sure 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!

Meme Marchness

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What a wild week this was in the NFL!
Does anyone else have the cold sweats?
To celebrate, we have compiled a collection of some of the greatest memes from the week in what we call Meme Marchness.

We will of course go into bigger discussion about some of these topics in our podcast, and throughout the week. Some of the hot topics we will be touching on include:

DeShaun Watson

It’s all starting to crumble for Watson, as his exploits at massage parlours makes him the perfect Patriot. The reports that are starting to emerge are troubling, and could potentially spell the end of a career for DeShaun.
Like anything in life, you can rush to hasty decisions without all of the facts-something we don’t have yet.
A truly unfortunate situation for everyone.

Patriots

Speaking of blowing the wad, New England has splashed some cash this week unlike any other time in their history. Bill Belichick got Cam for a nifty deal, then splashed out on enough tight ends to last him 5 years. New England is in a tough division, and we shall see if Belichick still has a magic touch, or if he is truly out of touch.

Trubisky

Ding dong, Mitch is dead. Well, not really. But Mitchell Trubisky is no longer a Bear, as he has shuffled off to Buffalo. After being flogged by Chicago relentlessly since being selected, Mitch should look forward to going to Western New York where the fans are recognised as the nicest in the league.
These good feels might even help Mitch get his confidence back.

Here are a selection of memes for you to giggle yourself over.

Brady’s Bored

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The SuperBowl is almost a month ago, and it shows, because Tom Brady’s bored!
Or at least he must be if he had to give an interview with James Corden on the Late Late Show.

TB12 visited the virtual LLS with JC in the first week of March to give an interview about all of the Super Bowl shenanigans that we saw after their epic Tampa Bay win in February this year.

Corden might be moving weight prior to his move back to the UK, but wearing a purple suit for this interview brought out his inner Grimace.
It’s obvious that Corden knows nothing about the NFL, despite interviewing, karaoking, and driving around with some of the best athletes on the planet.
Luckily, Corden is good at faking it to make it.

Some of the highlights of the video below:

Drunk Brady

Can we all agree that drunk Tom Brady is the best Tom Brady of all?
In a league where alcohol can release the inner demons of some players, a little tequila down Tommy’s throat brings out the mischief-monster.
Would sober Tom have tossed that trophy off a boat? No.
Perhaps the NFL should consider creating a ‘Drunk Game’, where all the players in the game are under the influence?
Drunk Tom Brady would once again be putting on a ring.

Rings?

In the interview, it’s quite obvious that Tom’s 7 rings are nowhere in site.
If anyone of us owned those rings, we would be wearing them all day every day.
Where do you keep them rings Tommy Boy?
At least assemble them in some sort of ‘Newton’s Cradle’ where they can bang against each other in some sort of perpetual motion.
The GIF would be the most popular of all time.

Bill Beli-Bore

Bill Belichick is currently experiencing what it’s like to be in a cuckolding relationship.
Part of him got turned on by Tommy tearing it up in other colours, the other part is ripping himself a new one for being so silly.
While not referenced at all in the interview, you can only imagine Bill, his GF and the dogs watching this one with a bit of slut-shame.
Tommy has never looked so happy, shiny, and fun.
You go girl.

Super Model Sensitivity

Tommy acknowledges that his Gisele said to him after the latest victory ‘what else do you have to prove’?
Clearly she doesn’t know TB12. That just made him want to play more.
When you challenge the GOAT, you get the horns.
By saying that his wife has just unleashed another 20 year run of NFL titles until Brady is in his 60s.
We can rebuild him like the Bionic Man, and he’ll still have less filler in him than most of the Insta influencers.

Buc Dynasty

With the victory in Tampa, comes with it a whole new douchey bunch of fans.
OG Bucs fans from the 80s were the real deal. They embraced a losing seasons in a row, horrible team colours, and a creepy moustached mascot that looks like he went along side an Amber Alert.
Those fans were and still are cool, it’s the new legion of Bucs fans that suck.
You can hear their stifled ‘Baws-tawn’ accent, make out the shadow of their former facial hair shaped like Tony Stark, and hairs stand on end when they go off on a new ‘Die-Nasty’.
If you or one of your friends is one of these idiot-sticks, please consider jumping in freezing water until thoroughly numb.

Here is the full interview for your consideration. Make sure you check out all of our social channels for lots of fun.

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.