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National Football League in London

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Week 5 Picks

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Holy schmoly, another NFL London game with Jags and Bills plus our Week 5 Picks podcast?
Did Christmas come early?

With the NFL giving us another great game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars, the guys look at all the other games that are popping this weekend, with a full slate of top notch games following the 2:30 game.

To listen to the podcast, just have a click here, and let all your NFL picks get suitably questioned by the half-assed analysis of Ryan and Wade.

London Game Notes

Hope everyone heading to the game has a great time, and the weather looks so good, global warming is okay for a weekend such as this.

There is no transit strike on for Sunday (hooray), so folks should have an easy-peasy journey to the game.

Arsenal is playing Manchester City at 4:30pm on Sunday, which means that north London is going to be a pickle to get around post game.
The match should finish after 6pm, so expect a double flush of fans looking to hit the rails post game.

Week 5 Picks

You’ll get most of the fun bag shenanigans on the podcast, but for the folks looking for a few hot tips as the turtle head rises from the steam-shute, we got you covered.

Here are a few of the games that the guys think might be some traction action.

-2 Titans (2-2) vs Colts (202) +43

This is a hot steaming pile of nothing game, that even the flies don’t want to be a part of, but one of these teams has to come to London next weekend.

The Titans have no O-line and the D secondary is giving up big yards, so how are they going to stop the Colts with a running QB?

The Colts too have a slew of injuries that beset both sides of the ball, but Jonathan Taylor is back? Is that good?

Both guys think that this is a stinker, but has some fantasy gold in the nuggets of dung.

Ryan likes the Titans to rise above the Indianapolis team at home, and Derek Henry a win.

Wade smells the rot on the glove, but likes the tandem of Richardson and Pittman to put up the points.

Ryan-Titans 24 Colts 21
Wade-Colts 20 Titans 18

Texans (2-2) vs -2 Falcons (2-2) +41.5

CJ Stroud and the Texans have been causing enough fire to justify a smokehouse BBQ session, as the D has also responded by keeping games tight with tough opponents.
Nothing to lose, but something to prove.

Atlanta is coming home after a sad sack loss to the Jags in London that made many of the players question why they even got a stupid passport in the first place
The Falcons and the Ridder scheme isn’t working, so how do they get off the run?

Ryan likes the Texans to win here, as his habit of betting on the Falcons in the past brought him nothing but trouble.

Wade is taking the Falcons at home only because the Texans aren’t very good against an inside run unit that can gash them for yards.

Ryan-Texans 21 Falcons 17
Wade-Falcons 23 Texans 19

That’s it for our Week 5 Picks podcast, make sure that you listen to the whole thing on all of the good audio channels aside from ours.

Hope everyone enjoys your Week 5 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Stadium, and please do make sure to send us photos of all the fun you’re having.

Tailgreeter Thames River Cruise

Last call for the Thames River Cruise sponsored by Tailgreeter as well.

If you want to join the cruise that leaves from Festival Pier at 9am, returns at 1pm, and has you to the game by 2:30pm kick-off, just click the link here.

Make sure you use the promo code NFLLONDON to get a FREE drink!

Here’s the link if you want to join in!

https://tailgreeter.com/tailgate-the-thames-buffalo-bills-vs-jacksonville-jaguars-in-london

 

 

DraftKings Week 9

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Who had Dalvin Cook in Week 8 of Fantasy NFL? Dude was a beast on Sunday, running for 4 TDs and over 200 yards. So who is going to be the next Dalvin Cook for week 8, and who should you put in your DraftKings line up?
All your fantasy tips are here.

QBs

Justin Herbert $6800

Can we just award the rookie of the year award to Herbert and get this over with? Despite having an O-line that’s more porous than a homemade condom, Herbert continues to chunk up big yards. He’s averaging 27 fantasy points per game, not to mention almost 3 TDs per game. He’s great value under $7000.

Nick Foles $5500

Foles has been about as accurate as a guy circumcised by a cross-eyed rabbi. He sprays it all over the place, and even when he does hit a receiver, they hold onto it like someone just pissed in their hands. Why Foles? Well, they’re playing the Titans, who got absolutely gashed by Burrow and the Bengals last week. The Titans have problems covering receivers, which should give Robinson and Mooney some time to catch the balls. He’s good value, and sure to get some deep points.

RBs

Dalvin Cook $8200

What does a guy do after gashing a division rival for 4 TDs and 200 plus yards? He does the same thing the next week. Detroit has an atrocious D, so they will struggle to contain whatever the Vikings throw at them. Cook is too fast and strong to be held back, and should be able to grab at least 2 TDs and 120+ yards this Sunday.

David Johnson $5600

The Texans face the Jaguars in Week 9, in a contrasting match up between both teams. Houston is buoyed by the loss of their coach, and the return of healthy players. The Jags lost Minshew and loads of others, with QB Jake Luton at start. David Johnson will be employed by the Texans often, and the Jags will struggle to control all the movement on the field.

Justin Jackson $4900

The Chargers are going to need someone reliable to run the ball against the Raiders, and Jackson is a steal at $4900. No one has emerged as the go to Chargers running back, but Jackson has be valuable in short yardage and Redzone chances. He’s a great deal and should get at least 1 TD.

WRs

Keenan Allen $7000

As a fan of pairing, Allen is the perfect side dish to Herbert. Allen has been on fire since Herbert joined, and provided he stays healthy every game, he’s the go-to wide receiver for pretty much every down.

Justin Jefferson $6100

This speedy rookie has had some up and down games. Last week against the Packers he wasn’t really needed, as Dalvin Cook ran right through Green Bay like melted cheese. Jefferson should see plenty of targets against the Lions. He is great with yards after catch, which should be substantial in this game.

Jerry Jeudy $4700

Drew Lock looked great last week, if you only look at the fourth quarter. He’s not that great of a QB, but at least their D keeps them in the game. Luckily Lock has Jeudy, who has been a tight little blazer in the Broncos offence. At $4700 he’s deffo worth it so you can save money on other players while still banging points.

TE

Noah Fant $4600

Fant has been a steady target for a Broncos team that lacks them. Solid hands and big presence, Fant has been a goldmine for fantasy points this season. The Falcons D is capital B ‘Bad’, so Fant should have no problem scoring against them.

Hunter Henry $4000

If you’re taking Herbert, why not look for Henry as well. The Raiders struggle against big tight ends, so this should be a real mess for them on Sunday. The Raiders are still hobbled by injuries, so this could be a big day for Henry.

DEF

Washington $3400

They might be the lowly Washington Team, but their D has been pretty fast and ferocious of late. Their pass rush has helped keep them in games, and with a hobbled Giants O-line, they should make life hell for Daniel Jones.

DraftKings League

If you’re looking to play DraftKings this week, why not join our DraftKings League? It’s free to join, and we have paid and free contests to join.
Here’s the link! Look forward to playing with you.

https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Good luck on Sunday, and stay safe during this messed up year!

 

Jaguars Leave London?

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The Jacksonville Jaguars contract with the NFL quietly ended this week, with many UK NFL fans wondering if this is the end of an era for the Jags in London.
The Jags have been playing regular season games in the capital since 2013, solidifying a new fan base, and fostering a reputation as the first potential UK franchise.
But then 2020 came along.

Will the Jaguars sign a new contract, or is this the end of the Florida/ UK NFL experiment? Let’s take a look at some of the factors involved in this.

Jacksonville

When the NFL first started hosting the Jaguars in London, their team was in a very different state of affairs. The stadium was a mess, the city was reeling from economic hardships, and the fan base was one of the lowest in the league.
Shad Khan injected much needed funds and energy into the franchise, and used international expansion as a way to not only drum up press, but also explore the potential of a European operation.
As the Jaguars continued to play London games, dissension was building at home. The new stadium with its shimmering pools was drawing bigger crowds, and the Jags themselves began to reach the NFL playoffs.
When the team announced that they would be playing two home games in London in 2020, local press and ardent fans rebelled, signalling that they wanted their home team home.
While the London games represented 11% of home ticket revenue, Jacksonville locals lobbied state and city government officials to help out.
They listened too, with plans to revitalise the downtown around the stadium, bringing in over $2 billion in salaries and over 10000 new jobs.
Urban Jacksonville would be a new ‘Shi Tpa Town’, so why would locals want to lose that momentum?

Khan

Shad Khan may be the 4th richest NFL owner, 66th richest person in America, but like many over the past few years, he’s taken a hit to his back pocket. He even recently has had to sell his 300 foot yacht the Kismet , which can be yours for a cool $166 million.
With xenophobia rampaging across America, you can see why he might just want to keep his nose down and focus on his franchise during an election year, and Trump-Mania spreading across Florida.
The impending noose of Brexit  is threatening to choke out international business opportunities, which has left many multinational companies to adopt a ‘wait and see’ policy when it comes to moving to the UK.
Wait til the dust has settled and see what kind of deals a desperate UK government is willing to offer.

Covid

Did you know that there was an a virus epidemic going on? No, it’s true. Although not much in the news, apparently some nasty bug has been disrupting our way of life.
Businesses hate surprises, and Covid 19 is one of the biggest viral-reveals we have had in our lifetime.
Like Brexit, no one wants to make long term plans when infections and rolling shut downs continue to affect and infect our way of life.
Until we have a vaccine or this nasty sucker under control, all UK-US sports matches will be put on hold.
Can you imagine if they had gone ahead with the London games, and had to postpone at the last minute?
It would be a logistical nightmare.

Tottenham

With the NFL and Tottenham stadium agreeing to a 10 year NFL deal, it doesn’t really make sense to negotiate separate matches with Wembley. If the league is all in this together, then maybe spreading out the games and structure doesn’t really fly in the face of the new normal.
The Spurs have spent a lot of time and money on the new stadium, and fan reaction has been wholly behind the new digs in favour of crusty old Wembley.
Tottenham have a massive vested interest in developing and hosting the games there, so the Jags could save a lot of time and money on working with the league as bubbles and lockdowns become part of the new NFL dynamic.

In the end Shad Khan might just want to take some time off and reflect on the London experiment. Covid has provided a timely opportunity to gauge the want of international expansion, with the need for keeping the home fans happy.
We (should) have NFL games in London in 2021, but with the way 2020 has been going, we need to learn to expect the worst.
That’s what Jets fans do.

 

London 2020 Games

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Damn you Covid 19 for taking away the London NFL games for 2020. Imagine, we could be basking in the glow of having these four games played on our soil right now. But alas, that damn virus has other plans.

The NFL will be back. We can’t guarantee this, but with the amount that the NFL has invested in the UK, coupled with the huge appetite for NFL tickets, it seems pretty dang likely.
Tottenham literally changed its stadium to accommodate the game, and tied in sponsors and partners to make the game happen here, so all signs point to the NFL returning to London, and potentially other places in the UK.
Liverpool and Manchester have all signalled moves that they would like to adapt their stadiums to host NFL games in the future.
The only real question is when.

Earlier in 2020, when everything was rosy and had the potential for an amazing year, we took a stab at which teams would be coming to London for the 4 games split at Tottenham and Wembley equally.
We used some maths, insider tips and our own gumption to determine which teams MIGHT be coming to the UK for this year.
We have no idea if they were right or wrong, but we did use some logical inference based on previous years.
Here are the games we THOUGHT would happen.

Broncos vs Falcons
Week 3-Sept 27/ 20
Tottenham Stadium

Arthur Blank had confirmed that the Falcons were going to be hosting a home game in London, although he didn’t know who they would be facing. Given that the Jags usually host the last 2 games of the London series, we assumed that Atlanta would be one of the first games up.
London gets very busy in the autumn, and their are traditional events like Diwali that are big draws in the centre of town.
The NFLUK usually dresses Oxford Circus in NFL garb at the beginning of the season to get the UK crowd hyped for the start of the season.
We looked at other events scheduled, keeping in mind the London games signify the start of bye weeks, to give teams a chance to rest when they get home.
Given all of this information, and prospecting on the Falcons schedule, we chose an AFC/ NFC matchup between the Falcons and Denver Broncos.
Were we right? We’ll never know

Patriots vs Dolphins
Week 4-Oct 4/ 20
Tottenham Stadium

Part of what determines who comes to London is home attendance. If your team is struggling to draw home fans, then the league will move you up to chuck across the pond. The Dolphins have seen attendance dwindle in recent years, so they would be at the top of the queue to come over. Add to this the mercurial hurricane weather in Florida up til November, and Miami made sense.
You also have to look at which teams HAVEN’T been here in a while, and the Patriots are a prime candidate. The Brady-less Pats and a scorned Robert Kraft might not have the gumption to say no to the league, so this AFC East matchup would make sense.
We also had an inside tip from Boston that this was on the cards, so we went with our gut.
Again, we will never know if we were right.

Colts vs Jaguars
Week 7-Oct 25
Wembley Stadium

One of the takeaways from previous NFL in London games, is that the NFLUK generally likes to schedule games around the time change. This makes the difference between the east coast only 4 hours, as the US time changes happen on different weekends. They have also made an effort to finish the UK games before America gets hit with November holidays.
Jacksonville Jaguars were due to play 2 games at Wembley, with a division rival being one of the prime targets. Since Indy hadn’t been to the UK in ages, and Phillip Rivers was at the helm, we assumed that this would be a logical bet.
Too bad, because this would have been a heck of a game.

Lions vs Jaguars
Week 8-November 1/20
Wembley Stadium

Detroit Lions were another team we were secretly told was on the chopping block for a trip to Blighty.
Their home attendance was at Covid levels even before the virus was discovered, and they hadn’t been to London in a few years.
These dates also branch over the time change, so week 7 and week 8 were the Jaguars weeks here we assumed with a great deal of certainty.
Ending the UK games by November 1st also allowed the teams to return to the chaotic November schedule, and the start of the REALLY rainy season in the UK.
Did we get this one right? We’ll never know.

Optimism is rampant for the 2021 games, as the MLB has confirmed that their 2020 games will be moved to 2021 in London. Will the NFLUK follow suit?
Hopefully, but it’s too hard to say at this point.
This damn virus is showing no signs of weakness, and adapts more than the Terminator.

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