NFL in London

National Football League in London

London

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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MNF-Chiefs vs Ravens

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As if week 3 couldn’t get any more dramatic, now we have the epic Monday night match-up between Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, visiting Lamar Jackson at the Ravens. One of these teams will be 2-1 tomorrow, the other will be 3-0…who could it be.

UK NFL fans always get shafted on Monday nights, as the games don’t start until 1:20, and finish around 4:30am on a Tuesday morning. Unless you’re an insomniac, shift worker, or happen to be on cocaine, it is very unlikely you will get to watch these games in real time.
Of course we are in the middle of a global pandemic, so who the heck cares?

Lamar Jackson has yet to beat Mahomes, so you can imagine this is probably the top line of his vision board. Last year the Chiefs were able to smother him on D, as well as rely on PM to toss the ball all over the Ravens D. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they don’t have a lot of those key players back, so Patty might find himself being run down a few times throughout the game.

The Chiefs struggled against the Chargers last week, so it gave Baltimore and insight into how to beat Mahomes. Pressure the hell out of him. The Ravens have a superior D to the Chargers, so they should be able to mess up his mojo throughout the game.
The Chiefs have an advantage in the weapons at Mahomes’ disposal. Tyreek Hill should be able to find some space, and Kelce will be looking to grab first downs in key situations.

This is a tough game to predict, and I have gone back and forth on this one, especially after watching the crazy scores on Sunday. That being said, I still believe in the Chiefs more in this one after their scare in LA last week. This will be a back and forth scoring fiesta, but I think that the Chiefs will be able to rally and win this one. Even if they lose by 1 point, I like them to cover in this game.

Prediction
Chiefs 30 Ravens 27

TNF-Prediction

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Google ‘Florida Fight’ and see what kind of results come back, in many cases it will feature a man in a moustache versus a man in a beard. Or a meth head twerking in the streets before she tries to tackle an Uber Eats driver.
This Thursday Night match-up will not be as entertaining as any of those videos.

Thursday night NFL is always difficult to watch in the UK as the games don’t start until 1:30, and finish at 5am. Unless you are actually on meth, it is difficult to stay up that late unless they’re your team and it’s a must see game. This is not.

Florida is always a tough place to play in during September & October. This is when hurricane season is starting to wind down, so the whole place is wetter than the front row of a Justin Bieber concert. This was evident in week 2 when the Bills struggled to move the chains in the moist.
The Thursday night game has a weather prediction of 83% humidity, something we never really get in the UK.

All eyes are on the facial hair in this one, as it is being hyped as the moustache vs the beard, for lack of a better rivalry.
Minshew has been playing some tough football as of late. Sure, his defence was decimated last year, and most of his top talent has been traded away, still Gardner keeps moving the ball.
Fitzmagic has been playing great football as well in the first two games. Yes he’s old, and yes he will regress as the season goes on, but this is classic football for him.
While both of these teams were in the running for ‘Tanking for Trevor’, it seems that both are focused on winning this season, which is nice.

Neither team really holds a strong advantage here, as they are both pretty weak across the board.
Jacksonville’s D played extremely well against the Titans, so it will be tough for the Dolphins to run in this one, as they were very tough on Henry. Fitz’s only hope is to air it out to whoever is left in hopes that can find soft spots in the secondary.

Miami will need to put pressure on Minshew, which they were able to do last week against the Bills. Fortunately last week the Bills were hit by defensive injuries, allowing them a bit more time to spread the ball. Fitz will also need to light up the field to get a good lead, as the Jags have been staying in the past two games.

I don’t really see this happening, as the Jags are feeling pretty good despite the player liquidation sale they held before the season began. There will be home fans at this one, which should provide the punch that they need.
Miami could be feeling let down after letting the Bills get away last week, so this might not be fully motivated in the battle of the swamp.

I like Minshew and the Jags to win again, covering the 3 point spread. I like the under here, as the Florida weather will make it sticky, and anyone who is out of shape will struggle.
Luckily they are both Florida teams, so they should be use to it.

Prediction: Jaguars 24 Dolphins 20

Wade’s Week 2 Upsets

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Wade McElwain is back with his top upsets for week 2 in the NFL.
Who does he think are the teams that will upset or cover their spread?
Just watch the video and you can see.

Some of his top upsets for this week include:

Falcons vs Cowboys -5

This game looks to be a high scoring and fun affair, as Matt Ryan had over 400 yards in a loss. Will Amari Cooper shut out the Falcons, or will they have a chance? Wade likes the Falcons to cover this one.

Broncos vs Steelers -7.5

Pittsburgh is coming off a great game, despite not having RB James Connor. The Broncos were able to keep in the game last week, but lost after some lazy plays. Wade likes them to cover the 7.5 point spread this week.

Giants vs Bears -5

Wade bet against his Bears? What is he thinking? Well, he’s not impressed with Mitch and was impressed with Jones. Add to this the drama of Allen Robinson, and he likes the G-Men to win this one.

If you want to hear all of Wade’s weekly picks, make sure you check out our podcast.

 

Week 2 Picks

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Wade & Ryan make their predictions for Week 2 in the NFL in the latest podcast. They also break down what happened in week 1, and how that will affect some of the scores this Sunday.
Wade had an impressive record of 10-5-1 last week, where Ryan was a more modest 4-11-1, what does this week hold?

The guys look at some of the key games, some of which they agree on and some that totally do not. Among these:

Falcons (0-1) vs Cowboys (0-1)
Dallas -5 +52.5

Both teams lost last week and will be looking for retribution in week 2. Matt Ryan was able to chuck up 400+ yards in week 1, and still takes an L, of course he was facing the Seahawks, but they will need to show more this week. The Cowboys looked flat in week 1, with Aaron Donald and the Rams beating them up and down the field. Will Zeke finally get his legs back?
Ryan likes a Cowboys beating of the Falcons here, predicting a 31-17 victory.
Wade isn’t so sure, and likes the Falcons to cover the 5 point spread, with a Dallas victory of 28-26.

Rams (1-0) vs Eagles (0-1)
Pick +46

This game is a pick, which means both team have an equally bad chance of losing in this one. Philly looked limp in week 1, with Miles Sanders out with an injury. He’s back this week, but will have a tough job against that fast LA front line. Can old man DeShaun Jackson come back to life and score some points at home?
Ryan predicts an LA beatdown of Philly, with a 24-13 drubbing.
Wade likes Philly to win at home, as their secondary should make some big plays off of Goff. He calls a Philly win 23-20.

Giants (0-1) vs Bears (1-0)
Chicago -5 +42.5

The Bears won a heavy fourth quarter battle with the Lions last week, thanks to the last minute antics of Mitch. Of course it helps when Detroit loses a key member of its D allowing Trubisky to find holes. How will the drama of Allen Robinson on social media affect the locker room?
As for the Giants, they were smacked around by the Steelers, but Jones had some great moments of play, and some great efforts from Darius Slayton.
Both Wade and Ryan like the Giants to upset here, as much as it breaks Wade’s Beary heart.
Ryan has the Giants winning 23-20, and Wade sees it as a 27-24 victory for the G-Men.

Make sure you listen to our podcast for all the NFL tips and news. We are hoping to start hosting NFL viewing parties in the city soon, just watch this space.