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Week 9 Picks

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The season is halfway done, as we rock our way into our Week 9 Picks for the NFL season.

Winners are now losers, losers have become winners, and the Eagles are undefeated.
Matty Ice and Baker ride the pines, Brady and Rodgers are making whine, and Geno is looking like everybody’s MVP.
Oh, and the Raiders suck balsam.

Wade & Ryan have done well betting wise heading into week 5, then the next three weeks happened throwing the league into a topsy turvy Vegas bounce of betting badness.

How will it all turn around in Week 9?
The Bills continue to throttle opponents, while team alike the Bucs, Packers, Rams and Colts, have lost the lustre of previous years, cocooning into a shell of their former selves.
Giants, Seahawks, Vikings and Titans have also made surprising runs when they were thought to be fodder this year.
Don’t write off the Falcons, Jets, Dolphins, or Bears either.

If you want to hear all of our picks, why not listen to this weeks podcast, where you can get all the info, plus plenty of funny from the mediocre charms of Mr McElwain and Cull.
Listen to it on Soundcloud here, and look for it on all major podcast networks.

Here are some of the fun games Wade & Ryan are looking at in their Week 9 Picks.

-12.5 Bills (6-1) vs Jets (5-3)  +47

The Bills continue to steamroll through the AFC, as the hobbled Jets are next up in this New York throw down.
There’s no way that the Jets can upset the mighty Bills in this one (is there?), but they might be able to keep it close’ish if Buffalo lets off the gas.

Ryan is true blue Bills on this one, doubting that Zach can MILF his way to any offence in a one sided affair. The Jets are beaten down, and this one will be a Josh Allen and Gabe Davis bonanza.

Wade likes the Bills to win, but isn’t a big fan of the spread. Big lines have rarely paid this season, and the Thursday night Eagles gap proves you can’t rule out the home team to allow a blow out.

Ryan-Bills 30 Jets 14
Wade-Bills 30 Jets 20

-5 Dolphins (5-3) vs Bears (3-5)  +45.5

Miami and Chicago have made some trades of late, although in the opposite direction.
The Fins think that Chubbing it up will bolster their D enough so they don’t have to play catch up every game.
The Bears shed some expensive, and whiny D to build for the future, and let Fields roam in an homage to the improv scene of the city.

Ryan doesn’t think that the Dolphins will have as much luck against the Bears secondary, and sees a frustrating day for Tua, with the Bears keeping it close.

Wade also likes the Bears to keep it closer than the spread, with the weather forecast calling for horrible.

Ryan-Dolphins 27 Bears 24
Wade-Dolphins 23 Bears 20

-3.5 Packers (3-5) vs Lions (1-6)  +49.5

Winter has come to the NFC North, and if the white walkers had any idea how to play football, they would be quickly signed by either of these two struggling teams.

Aaron Rodgers is now blaming his ‘thumb’ for the woes, as he has run out of buses to throw his teammates under. The Packers need to beat the Lions for a divisional win, or else things are going to get trippy, but in a bad trip way.

Dan Campbell will probably lose his job and any potential soup sponsorship deals if he can’t get these Lions to finish a kill. They could score the points, then let the points get scored right back on them.
TJ’s gone, and he left salty. Hmmm.

Ryan thinks this is the week that Green Bay is ready to rock, and score some points. He thinks the running game of the Pack will be too much for Detroit.

Wade is calling an upset here, and not just because he is a Bears fan. Detroit is at home, Rodgers might be injured, and losing TJ might just be the motivation they need to flush out the toxins and get a win.

Ryan-Packers 30 Lions 17
Wade- Lions 27 Packers 26

Panthers (2-6) vs Bengals -7.5 (4-4)  +42.5

The Panthers have been declawed, neutered, and put up their kittens for adoption in a season that hasn’t gone the way anyone planned. Baker is on kitchen duty, and a stupid mistake last week cost them the game.

Cincy showed signs of life, then got the Ohio pulp beat out of them by the Browns in a slap to reality that made us question if the Chase is gone from the Bengals.

Ryans is calling upset on this one, picking Carolina to kick the nards of a wounded Bengals squad, and pull off the upset on the road.

Wade likes the Bengals to win, but doesn’t see how the cats could be favoured by 7.5.
Cincinnati will win at home, but not by that much.

Ryan-Panthers 24 Bengals 23
Wade-Bengals 23 Panthers 18

That’s it for this weeks picks. Make sure you join us on DraftKings to play along in our NFL in London League!

Here’s the link!
https://dkn.gs/r/jPPbmLURQUWWfYH-Md1G9g

Good luck on your NFL bets this week, and thanks for listening.

Humpway There

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The final London game is done and dusted, trades have been made, and we push on to the second half of the NFL season, as we are officially Humpway There.

Anyone who says that they predicted this season needs a serious slap in the face, because no one foresaw the shiteshow demise of some of the biggest NFL franchises.

Rodgers, Brady, Stafford, Wilson and others have had a bad, bad season, while Geno Smith is looking to lock up the MVP award this season (seriously!)

Let’s look back at the week that was.

Week 8 Games

Panthers 34 Falcons 37

This game needed a bag over its head it was so ugly. From a kicker who warmed up so much, he missed, to D.J. Moore removing his helmet and getting the penalty that would put them out of field goal range.
A game that was truly tough to watch, but that’s the NFC South.
Mariota is not the solution, while the Panthers have to frustrated that they let this divisional game slip away due to stupid mistakes.

Raiders 0 Saints 24

What do you do when you have one of the worst defences in the NFL? Score ZERO points.
The Raiders have been sucking hard this season, with their D ranking at the bottom of everything.
So why didn’t Carr, Jacobs and Adams rip them a new one?
New Orleans snagged a much needed win when the Bucs and  Panthers both fell, but they still have a huge hill to climb ahead.

Bears 29 Cowboys 49

Dem boyz are back! Or did they just take advantage of a depleted and defeated Chicago squad?
Either Zeke is on a hunger strike, or Dallas is just refusing to feed him anymore, as it was the Pollard show all day.
Despite being shaken and stirred, Justin Fields and the boys were actually able to rally and put points on the board-something previous Bears teams have struggled to do.
Big win for the Cowboys, but not a horrible showing by the Bears.

Trade News

Well the trade deadline came and went, and this one did NOT disappoint!
Among some of the big trades that happened prior to the deadline.

Christian McCaffery to the 49ers was probably the biggest trade to kick off the action.
The Panthers continue to shed their previous incarnations, and San Francisco adds a breakable beast of a RB that will either take them to the promised land, or tear his ACL in week 10.

Jacksonville Jaguars started the season strong, which is probably why they made a few tweaks to secure wide receiver Calvin Ridley from the Falcons.
Having traded James Robinson to the Jets earlier, the Jags are looking to give Trevor Lawrence the speed and compliment to Christian Kirk.

Miami knows their D sucks, which is why they made the play for Bradley Chubb of the Denver Broncos.
The Dolphins have a serious playoff shot if they can plug in some holes in their backend, and Chubb certainly brings presence and play to the field.
Denver gets some picks, as well as RB Chase Edmonds who must be thrilled to go from contender to bender in a week.

Like sleeping with your sister, it’s generally not a good idea to pass players to teams in your division, but that didn’t stop the Lions from shipping off TE TJ Hockenson to the rival Minnesota Vikings.
By adding TJ, the Vikings get a nice compliment to Justin Jefferson, and another target for Kirk Cousins to overthrow.
Detroit knows that this season is over (again), and it’s time to build (again).

Chicago Bears were thought to be the bin bottom of the league this year, but looky-loo, they are tied with the Packers for second place.
The Bears starting shipping off the D early, shipping Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for draft picks in 2023.
They pulled apart the D even further when they dealt Robert Quinn to the Eagles, who are looking to fulfil that perfect season.
Lastly, the Bears picked up Steelers WR Chase Claypool to give Fields that speed and height option that Mooney lacks.
The Bears might know that this season is over, but that hasn’t stopped them from looking towards next year.

Aaron Rodgers got nothing. No tools, no toys, no respect.
Maybe it’s because he took all that money?

Let’s see what Brady and Rodgers can do now?

 

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!

 

 

Due Date

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Deshaun gets his back to work date, TB12 takes time off work, and our man Ryan is having another baby!
All this and more in our Due Date podcast.

 Goes to 11

So the NFL has finally finagled the Deshaun Watson situation, and the ruling is…11 games!

How weird that his first game back is facing his old team the Texans? You sure know how to write a script NFL!

Despite howls of ‘Boos’ and ‘Boo-Urns’, Watson has been rather oblivious to the whole shit-suation surrounding him.

With the league finally nailing down a return to work date, we can all get back to what’s most important in this league…making fun of the Cowboys.

TB Time

TB12 checked into training camp, then promptly checked out having declared a need for personal time.

This sent internet sleuths into a tizzy, who quickly claimed that the reason Tommy Boy was taking time off, was to appear on FOX’s ‘The Masked Singer.’

Like the Korean dish kimchi, ‘The Masked Singer’ has invaded our shores with ear-shredding celebrities surprising C-list celebs with their singing skills (or lack thereof.)

If Brady did sign up for this show, it would surely signal his shark-jump of cool, going from the goofy drunk guy who tossed the Lombardi into the drink, into…Rudi Guliani.

Hopefully this is all a horrible nightmare, like Marvels ‘Eternals.’

AB Me Me

Have you forgotten about Antonio Brown yet? Well, you should.

AB is desperately trying to get anyone to listen to him, as he makes his case for the Dallas Cowboys to take a chance on him.

Despite signs of dementia and poor decision making in the past, owner Jerry Jones was quick to poo-poo any chance of AB becoming one of ‘Dem Boyz’.

Maybe AB could appear on ‘The Masked Singer”? Oh, that’s right, he already did in 2019 when he skipped Steelers practices.

Catfish

Who wants catfish for dinner?

Certainly not Manti Te’o, who is the subject of a new Netflix documentary about the nut-bar situation he was placed in when catfished during his college career.

At the time, Manti became fodder for the late night talk shows, who were quick to trash this kid who got suckered in by a catfisher, instead blaming Te’o for ‘making her up.’

Nice to see that despite a country accusing him of lying, trashing his mental health, and not even investigating the truth at the time, Manti was able to come out with his sanity.

Injuries

It wouldn’t be the preseason without a slew of injuries to kick it all off, and the NFL preseason did not disappoint!

Zac Wilson broke a boner on his moms’ friend-is what the trash rags like the NY Post will have you believe.
Wilson will be out for 2-4 weeks after a bone bruise during PS-hopefully the press can be a bit more forgiving with this young man.

The Bucs lost a big chunk of their O-line after losing several key members to injury in training camp.

Browns centre Nick Harris tore his ACL, and will be out for the season.

This goes to show you why you NEVER run your fantasy draft until the season starts.

Favre KO

Anyone who has heard Brett Favre talk, knows that he has spent a career taking hits to the head.

It’s a bit of a surprise however when Brett revealed the extent of his head hits, reckoning that he has had ‘thousands’ of concussions throughout his playing daze.

From bight white lights, loss of sound and vision, to being front row at a Nickleback concert, these hits have made a mess out of Favre’s head.

You only have to watch highlight of Brett’s career to realise that he wasn’t exaggerating…much.

Fantasy

What kind of fantasy do you guys like to play?

Straight-up season? Daily? Pick’em pools?

Well, we’re going to offer you the chance to join in some of our pools for the 2022 season.

All will be revealed next week!

 

 

Decision Appeal

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It’s August NFL fans! Which means that it’s okay to start talking about football all day every day!

Wade & Ryan are back at the mike, and ready to dose out a healthy heaping of NFL banter, in this Decision Appeal podcast.

With the regular season only a month away, there are plenty of things to discuss in this episode, including:

Watson Appeal

Not even Gomer Pyle would be ‘surprised, surprised’ to find out that Roger Goodell and the league would appeal the 6 game suspension doled out to Deshaun last week.

Players and fans took to social media to compare the unfair punishment levied on Watson, and how other NFL players fared for weed, abuse, and drunk driving.

Whatever the result, this DW sitch ain’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

Whether Watson plays, is suspended, or is dragged into the streets and beaten with a switch-fans just want to watch football.

Save the drama for another channel.

Breaking Brady

Miami was also hit by the long arm of the NFL, as it smacked the Dolphins for decades of douchery when it comes to their hiring practices.

From secretly approaching Tommy Boy and Sean Payton, (but not throwing games)-the Dolphins lose Draft picks over the next two years.

Fortunately for Miami, two years is too far for Tua to throw.

Broken Brady

Bad news for the Bucs, as TB12 has already started to leak weapons before the season has even started.

Centre Ryan Jensen is out for the season, and Bucs beast Tristan Wirfs has also experienced injuries to kick off training camp.

Like last season, there will be a lot of ‘bondo’ players brought in to patch up the holes for attrition.

The real question is, which teams injuries will take them out of the post season before they even have a chance to qualify?

Deebo

Deebo Samuel can finally relax, after having been paid by the 49ers for his ridiculous efforts at multiple roles last season.

Fantasy owners were equally pumped and fearful each week, as DS became the heart of your team, but could also leave you in ruins if he got smoke out.

Deebo will take home $71.55m over 3 years, with $58.1m guaranteed. Even better are the bonuses he will make for getting over 380 rushing yards ($650k), 3 rushing TDs ($150k).

Deebo should be able to do all that by week 3!

Bucking Broncos

Bad news for the Broncos, as they have already lost speedster Tim Patrick and RB Danarea Crockett for the season to ACL tears.

Patrick was a surprising uptick in the second half of fantasy last year, given plenty of points to players whose teams were riddled by injuries.

It would have been nice to see Russ cook with Patrick, but as it seems now, he’ll have to stay on the warming tray on the sidelines until 2023.

Fantasy Party

Have you hosted your NFL fantasy party already? Are you insane?

We have already seen plenty of keeners on social media, putting up pics of their ‘epic’ NFL Fantasy Draft.

Dudes, it’s August. There’s plenty of shit show to come, and you risk have a totally ruinous league by drafting too early.

Injuries, firings, more injuries, and depth rosters still have to be adjusted, not to mention that the preseason hasn’t even been played yet.

You could draft a whole team in August, only to find out that most of your squad was either hurt, benched or traded before the opening kickoff.

It’s good that you’re a keener, just be careful that your gusto doesn’t get you going too quickly.

Fantasy Pools

Are you interested in joining Fantasy Pools this year?

We’re looking at hosting a Weekly Pick’Em, and a Survivor Pool this year for our fans.

Would you be interested?

We will roll out more news on this in the next few weeks, so watch this space!