National Football League in London
There’s nothing funny about this Corona virus…unless you are really looking for some laughs…and we are.
Corona and the Lockdown is no joke though, so listen to the authorities, stay inside & think of others!
Luckily ‘The Draw Play’ has come up with all of the NFL logos reimagined if they were under Corona lockdown. Anything about sports…humour and the NFL, we’re in.
Have a look, a laugh, and stay safe!
Patriots vs Dolphins at Tottenham? 2012 was the last time they came. It’s possible.
We have changed our predictions for the 2020 London games based on some recent info and projections for the season after CBA.
The Dolphins are coming, but who will they host. There’s a 1/8 chance, but the factors that mitigate who comes lead us to believe…it will be the Patriots!
Who will be playing in London in the four international matches of 2020?
We know a few teams thus far, but who will actually make it across the pond to entertain us hungry fans in this new decade?
Short answer-we don’t know yet.
There is much speculation as to who will come, and when you add in rumours, schedule confirmations, attendance and mitigating factors like who HAS to play here, we can come up with some pretty close projections.
There has been a pattern to when, who, and how teams are allocated to our fair city, so we have come up with our predictions of the London 2020 NFL International series.
NFL in London fan guesses.
Corona virus is also going to have a massive impact on the game going into 2020, especially if the NFLPA is realistically protective of their clan.
Please know that this not official (don’t sue us NFL), we are just having some fun, backed by some factish ideas. Feel free to comment of make your own conjectures.
The NFL is scheduled for four London matches in 2020. Once again, these would be divided equally between Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley Stadium.
In the past the London dates have been held earlier in the season, between weeks 4-9, so as not to affect the US based schedule, travel, weather, holidays and fall attendance.
UK dates are also done in consideration of English Football and Champions League commitments for various clubs, who might need the stadiums as the season and Leagues move on in the autumn.
Previous London hosting have broken up the 4 weeks, which means a double/ double weekend within September, October and November.
It’s tough to book out the city of London with so much going on, as well as hosting parties for a month straight.
Previous NFL UK events involved blocking Trafalgar Square, closing Regent street were great, but the security landscape has changed in scope and costs.
They will probably look to book Regent street again in late September, as it is also a good way to sell Gamepass.
Daylight Savings
The NFL has also taken advantage of the daylights savings time difference between the UK and US, which occurs on Oct 25th & Nov 1st this year.
This means only a 4 hour difference which is more manageable for TV and travel & quite negligible for the players once they are in the UK.
2020 Schedule
NFL games will most likely start on Sunday September 13th, as the 10th is listed as the first Thursday, even though that would mean week 17 hits 2021.
It would mean that we would be looking at weeks 3-9, with London getting weeks 3, 4, 7 & 8.
Our prediction is Sun September 27th, October 4th, 25th, and November 2nd for London to host games at Tottenham & Wembley respectively.
The Falcons name has been confirmed by Arthur ‘Blankity’ Blank as being a London player in 2020. He acknowledged in an interview that they were playing the Broncos, which is confirmed by various other sources in Denver.
With this AFC/ NFC matchup in the books, there will mostly be divisional matchups after this, as to not get owners knickers in knots.
Given that this one is the first confirmed, it will most likely be the first as they have had to alert their season ticket owners that London is in the works, so book now.
The Broncos haven’t been here since 2010, and the Falcons since 2014, so it makes sense since both of their home attendance records have been slow.
We predict that this will be the first game in week 3 at Tottenham.
Miami is in for a London home game as of Feb 2020.
That settles the debate on the last home team, so it’s only a matter of looking at their home schedule projection & who hasn’t been here recently.
Miami hosts their division rivals as well as the Chargers, Chiefs, Rams, Seahawks & Bengals.
All of these teams have been here recently, save the Chiefs.
There is no way the SuperBowl champs are risking a repeat on an Atlantic journey.
New England Patriots haven’t been here since 2012 the Bills in 2015. The Bills have stadium issues, but the Pats might look to spin the story to the continent.
It’s their turn.
Don’t forget, it’s also about who has a stadium problem, attendance problem, or fan problem. And if Tom Brady leaves, they have a problem.
What if one of the reasons for his hold out is having to go to London?
While the players aren’t keen on it, it’s amazing for the game-but try selling that during the CBA when owners want you to work another week of body damage for the same pay.
Give ’em weed, give ’em London.
The Patriots would make the most sense if the Brady era ends, Bostonians would be shell shocked & less likely to watch their team lose to a second rate QB.
It will be an AFC East rival, but who?
We predict Patriots vs Dolphins week 4 at Tottenham.
Jacksonville has officially confirmed that they will play back to back London ‘home’ games to make ticket money. They were a hot sale a year ago, but somehow fell down the stinkhole once again.
Fans will be looking for some Minshew Mania or any kind of miracle to turn this team around again.
Sadly, the best hype the team had last year was on the Netflix series ‘The Good Place’.
The Jags are going to play at Wembley. They always have, and despite the bidding to buy it being stalled/ killed/ murmured, he has a tie to the place and it is his home stand.
Jacksonville has usually played the last of the London games, and will probably do the same this year.
Hopefully by the end of October they will have chalked up some wins.
We know that they have to play the Steelers and the Bears at home, which leaves 6 home games potentially for London.
Those 6 include: Texans, Colts, Titans, Browns, Dolphins & Lions.
The Texans & Titans were recently here, so that rules them out.
Miami has been announced as an international team in either London or Mexico, but it would seem logical Miami would go to Mexico given the massive Latino fanbase.
Cleveland was also here a few years ago, and it might be a tough sell to the players given the ego and salary stipulations.
That leaves us with the Colts and the Lions, both of whom are also struggling.
The Lions have been rumoured in local press, which smells like a Michigan scoop.
Indy is still reeling from losing Andrew Luck, so they might need a year or two to get the star power buzzing again.
Detroit has November issues with Thanksgiving, so we see them as the last of the games to give them a break before the schedule gets nutty at home.
The Colts will most likely pile in the week before, as they lack the star power to challenge playing a London game, & their young squad might be keen to get their Europe on.
We predict Colts vs Jags week 7, and the Lions vs Jags week 8 at Wembley.
The 2019-2020 is officially over, and what a wonderful way to end the season.
SuperBowl 54 will go down as one of the best ever, with a heroic comeback by QB Patrick Mahomes, whose poise and calm outshone his years in an epic battle.
A fantastic job by the Kansas City Chiefs, and their whole organisation for owning the AFC and using the ‘comeback’ to their advantage.
Every time you saw them down, it was like watching Hulk Hogan of the 80s’ simmering as he takes the blows, only to explode with a phenomenal leg-drop of the opposition.
The San Francisco 49ers displayed an awesome presence throughout the whole season. From being a losing team the year before, they gouged their way through offences and used their legs to power through hapless D’s.
They almost had it. It was close. You could smell it. Amazing.
Congrats to both teams, the fans, and of course the NFL for giving us this great game of entertainment every Sunday.
We will be looking to do big things in London in 2020, please get in touch.
The LA Rams would like to speak to a manager, if their latest logo unveil is anything to look at.
Let’s be clear that this image was leaked, so we don’t really know how real it is.
But if this is the new Rams logo, dear Lord what have they down.
First off, it looks eerily similar to the LA Chargers with that yellow swoosh. At least the Chargers logo was supposed to look like a lightning bolt or some sort of charge, whereas this yellow loop looks nothing like a Ram or any derivation of a sheep.
How many Rams are there in LA really? Were there ever any male sheep walking around the Hollywood Hills, and some rich owner thought ‘they embody the spirit of this city!’
No way.
If this is the logo that the Rams settle on, it’s going to be a looonggg year.
Way longer than last year when Goff played scared for a whole season after a TB12 beatdown in the SuperBowl.
Ram on!
The SuperBowl is done and dusted, congratulations to the Chiefs, Kansas City, the state of Missouri, and of course Patrick Mahomes. They defeated the 49ers in epic style, and made for one of the more entertaining SuperBowl’s in the Tom Brady era.
Our podcast is back after a wee break from everything NFL. Wade is joined by our very own Brit Callum Squires as we jump back into all things NFL.
In this episode the guys talk about all of the big issues in the NFL at the moment, including:
SuperBowl 54. What happened in the game, what were the refs doing, and what a machine Patrick Mahomes is.
Tom Brady. What’s up with this dick-tease? Is he really going to leave bean town, or is he just testing the waters to see what the Pats will do?
Drew Brees. Db is back with the Saints for another year. What does the team need to do to excel at the next level.
Taysom Hill. If Drew is back, what about Taysom? Should be looking at a starting role somewhere else, or should be a happy back-up?
Phillip Rivers- 9 kids and fired from his job. Where’s a good River to flow?
Myles Garrett. He’s back, and immediately calling ‘racism’ again. Is this going to hurt the team?
Please make sure you listen, like, share and love this podcast.
Our thoughts go out to our buddy Ryan Cull, who is back in Canada taking care of family business. Can’t wait to have you back bro. You are missed.
They bloody well went & did it, didn’t they? The Chiefs are the 2019-2020 SuperBowl Champions in a wild game that ended out a decade of Patriots domination.
Patrick Mahomes was a beast, spear-heading a Chiefs comeback of 3 touchdowns in 3 minutes to stymie the 49ers and win the big cup.
So what were the big factors that led to this victory?
This kid is the real deal. Patience under pressure, pocket poise, and a great field of vision to spread the ball to his top receivers. Let’s not forget those wheels too.
Mahomes was a true leader when his team needed it.
He led the charge and was able to take Andy Reid’s walrus voice in his ear to stab San Francisco relentlessly in the last savage minutes of the game.
He had a couple of INTs that were BAD, but he was able to salvage them, and rely on his defense to defuse any comeback attempts of the 49ers.
It’s hard to say if this is the beginning of a dynasty, or whether he will one-off this like Russell Wilson or Cam, but this team looks good to repeat next season as returning champs .
They were lamented numerous times prior to the match, but shut up all of their critics with a savage attack on the 49ers. They looked like they played their guts on on every play, and fought tough for any down that the 49ers went for. Where they really shined was in that final 3 minutes, bashing the run, choking off Jimmy and holding tight when the game was on the line.
They picked off Jimmy G several times, and made them earn every hard down.
Credit to them for keeping it a 10 point game, as there were a few chances that they might have gone down even further.
Well fought chaps.
‘Ugly Kid’ Shanahan was ready to rap-battle his way through this hizzle, but Andy stayed firm like a beached walrus to keep the game in check.
He called smart plays, and relied on the wits of Mahomes to improvise when he needed to.
Andy must have a real zen about him, because all of his guys stayed calm, cool and collected during the whole game.
Reid finally brought in the bowl to the fine folks of Kansas City after a 50 year drought, and it was a noble effort for all of those involved.
It was a relatively painless ref game despite a season of controversy and contention.
Aside from a blatant pass interference call against the 49ers in the fourth quarter that allowed the Chiefs to score, there weren’t too many blind calls or needless delays.
That PI penalty was bogus, and some might say that it capitulated San Francisco after that, but losers will always whine.
There will need to be some serious internal talks with the league and officials next year, to get over the technical hiccups from the 2019 season, but this was a clean game all in all.
Another flawless and exciting SuperBowl from the NFL and hats off to them. Despite the talk of saggy ratings, the NFL put on a powerhouse fiesta of fun and NFL action.
Sure, it would have been nicer to have Tony Romo in the box instead of Troy, but no one really listens to them any way.
The only real blight was the halftime show. Like what the heck was that about?
Why focus on some ageing singer/models who haven’t been relevant in decades, when there are loads of great an exciting acts on the musical landscape.
They could have taken the chance to showcase 30 new artists who could use the fame, tap into influencers or even gone back to the standard ‘Up with People’.
Whatever happened to them.
We had a great night at the Long Acre, and will have loads of news for you in the off season. We are poised for a bigger, better 2020, so join us in the fun.
It’s the biggest NFL night of the year, so don’t trust any old crap bar to host your party.
We are throwing ours at Long Acre in central London.
Get your tickets asap to avoid disappointment.
Book a single ticket, or book a table for you & your friends.
We are also hosting an NFL Quiz prior to the game, so make sure you register your team to win great prizes.
It’s the final game of the last decade, so who wins SuperBowl 54?
As you can see from the image above, I have already touted the 49ers to upset the Chiefs and win the big game.
Am I crazy? Did I smoke the wacky tobaccy?
Maybe, but let’s break it down.
First off, what a great game we are in store for.
I’m not just saying that because the Patriots aren’t in it this year, but that is a HUGE motivation when it comes to the excitement level for the big game.
We are also in the midst of a dynasty transition in the league. With Mahomes and Garoppolo at the helm, we are finally seeing a change in the league, and in the potential for the future.
No Brady, Brees, or Big Ben, this is a new horizon in the NFL.
Let’s look at how I see the break down of the two teams.
Mahomes is by far the superior QB in this match-up, but Jimmy G isn’t horrible, in fact he really hasn’t had to do anything. In the past few playoff games, the 49ers have employed the run, because it works. Fans are quick to say that Jimmy was useless in these games, but why throw when you don’t need to. Let’s not forget that he torched the Saints a few weeks ago, and has barely even used Kittle.
Mahomes on the other hand has had to come from behind the past 2 games.
Down 29 points to the Texans, the game relied on him to rally the team to over power Texas, and finally win the game.
The 49ers don’t let you come back from deficits like that, so it will be a long road for the Chiefs if they go down.
Jimmy will have a better game than you think.
Advantage-Chiefs
San Fran has the advantage here, as the Chiefs have had a mad lib of RBs since the start of the season. The 49ers have a triple threat of speedsters who will look to explode on the Chiefs D. KC was able to choke off Derek Henry, but these RBs are very different as they have buckets of speed to run roughshod over the backfield. They will keep hitting them with the run until they don’t need to.
Advantage-49ers
San Fran has been hurt in the receiver department with a slew of injuries this season. KC on the other hand has some of the fastest dudes in the league ready to bounce across the Miami field. The main difference here will be the secondary covering the WRs. San Fran has a great shut down unit, while the Chiefs might struggle in the back to stop the relentless pressure of Deebo and the boys. Tyreek will be looking at a Richard Sherman sized shadow all night.
Advantage-Chiefs
The battle of the beasts is here, as Kelce takes on Kittle in a hotly anticipated match-up for the ages. Kelce has had a heck of a season, and Kittle has continued to impress with his yards after catch explosiveness. I have to give the edge to Kittle here because of all the ways he can be used. Look for the Niners to use a trick play to their advantage with him.
Advantage-49ers
San Fran holds most of the cards here. Sure, the Chiefs have made some big improvements here, but they will still struggle to match the shutdown power of the 49ers speed and front 4. It will be up to the Chiefs to try to shake up the momentum of the Niners, and make them miss.
This will be their biggest challenge.
Advantage-49ers
In the end, I think that the 49ers will prevail, for the reasons outlined above, and in general.
-the 49ers have used the rush because they haven’t needed to toss.
-the Chiefs have had to come from behind in every game-not a good sign.
-the 49ers D is too good.
So my final prediction-the 49ers win by a field goal.
Come join us at Long Acre London in Covent Garden. See you Sunday!
Ricky Williams is an iconic NFL player.
With 12 years in the League under his belt, plus a spell in the CFL and a Heisman Trophy to back him up, you would think that Ricky had it all.
But remember that famous contract that screwed him royally?
If you don’t, this video breaks it down nicely.
Essentially, Ricky decided that he wanted the big Saints cash up front, with the rest being driven by bonus incentives.
This would allow Ricky to ‘cash in’, and make the big jingles the more he scored.
But the contract wasn’t that fair, & Ricky would soon find himself having to deal with the ‘man’ as well as returning much of that cash.
Ricky got screwed royally by the NFL, especially when he started getting into weed. The NFL is notoriously anti-weed, so he put a target on his own head as soon as he did it.
An interesting video nonetheless. They need to bring him back in a commentator capacity.
Most London bars NEVER show the NFL, so why would you trust them to put on an authentic SuperBowl experience?
That’s right, you wouldn’t.
Which is why we are throwing an authentic SuperBowl experience with football, food and laughs.
We will be hosting our party at the Long Acre in Covent Garden, as well as promoting for our very good friends at the Princess Alexandra in Crouch End.
Grab your tickets for both of these events so that you don’t miss out.
If you have ever tried to watch the NFL during the regular season, you will know how hard it is to find a good venue to watch it in.
They either start the games late, finish the games early, turn off the sound, or the staff decide that they would rather watch Hollyoaks (true story).
So why would you reward these charlatans with a SuperBowl party ticket?
We have heard some truly horrible stories from fans over the years from venues who ‘forget’ to get late licenses, to others having no food, venues not having sound (or playing music), to ones that try to put on their own halftime shows. (amateur cheerleaders from Essex vs Beyonce hmm).
As North Americans ourselves, we know how important it is to have a fun night of great fans, food and football.
Which is why we are working with both venues to make sure that you have an authentic night of super duper football.
We will be holding a fun NFL Quiz prior to the game. It is a video quiz, so it will play across all of the TVs in the venue.
Sign up for your team ahead of time so that you can win loads of great prizes thanks to BetRegal and us.
Here is the link to tickets to the Long Acre. Make sure you get yours soon to not disappoint.
https://www.designmynight.com//london/bars/leicester-square/the-long-acre/superbowl-54
You can get £5 tickets to the Princess Alexandra here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/superbowl-liv-tickets-90454619201?aff=efbeventtix&fbclid=IwAR2sfLiQE8IjIwh0GSNZRIZoS-pwsTwb7IrwnU-fSjdzIoGjmlwanPVVcsI
We will be giving updates all through to the lead-up to the big game.
Make sure you get your tickets now!
How much do you know about the NFL?
Would you consider yourself a genius of the gridiron, or a straight up novice?
What is your QB IQ really like?
We have created a fun quiz for you to test your knowledge of NFL Players.
You need to be able to correctly identify the players in the quiz to get full points.
Can you get 25/25?
Some of these pictures are pretty tricky, so you will need an encyclopaedic knowledge of the players of old to be able to successfully get perfect on this quiz.
Answers for the quiz are at the bottom of this page.
Here are some of the top players we think of when we think of NFL GOATS.
Jim Brown was an unstoppable beast. Not only did he crush everyone he ran into during the late 50s and 60s, he was also a badass mofo. Brown was intimidating on the field, as his running power was so strong, NFL weaklings of the era struggled to contain him.
Brown would be nightmare for the League this days, as he was always vocal about the calamity of events that were happening around him.
Whether it was segregation, the Vietnam War, or economic disparity-Brown always had an opinion.
Heck of an athlete and not a bad actor as well!
‘Sweetness’ was not only one of the toughest, most fluid runners in the NFL, he was also a remarkably humble man as well. Payton was an iconic Bear, who was nearly unstoppable on the field. Despite the fact that he could easily rush a 100 yard game every week, he didn’t trash talk, didn’t gloat, didn’t rub success in others faces. A truly class act.
Could there be a more iconic QB that Montana? He won so many awards, that many are now named after him. One of the most solid QBs in the SuperBowl, he was nearly perfect in several big games, and was a terror in the fourth quarter. If you have never watched any of his games, go back and watch them!
Another RB who could be considered the ‘classiest’ guy in the NFL. Sanders played with a quiet intensity that was terrifying. He could easily gash oppositions for tonnes of yards, yet he too has one of the most humble players on the planet. He retired before than he really had to, and when Barry talked, the world listened. Always tough to try to make a career in Detroit, but he never turned his back on the city, and gave them everything he had.
Make sure you come and join us for our SuperBowl Party at Long Acre Sun Feb 2nd.
We will have a quiz prior to the big game.
Good luck on the quiz.
Now here are the answers: