NFL in London

National Football League in London

New England Patriots

Week 13 Picks Podcast

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It’s December you snowflakes, as we bring you our Week 13 Picks Podcast.

Wade & Ryan have been busy in the toy shed making their predictions for this next slate of games as the ground starts to harden in the league and around us all.

To say it’s been a bizarre season would be an understatement, as legends have faltered, new heroes have emerged, and the Eagles are 10-1. Who would have thunk?

With that in mind, the boys look at the more interesting matchups for Week 13 in the 2022 NFL season, with fun anticipation that anything can happen.

Here’s the link so that you can get the full Week 13 Picks Podcast.

 

Jets (7-4) vs -1.5 Vikings (9-2)  +44.5

The Jets and Vikings have surprised us all with their stellar start to the 2022 season.
Despite being Zach Wilson’d with a solid core, New York has found their way with a flash of Mike White.
Minnesota is shining bright under the light of one Justin Jefferson, while Cousins still shirks like a vampire in the shine of primetime.

New York has brought back Mike to lead the way after a beatdown of the Bears worthy of an Aaron Rodgers belt.
It’s the Jets D that has really kept them in games, and with 7 wins and the Patriots taking one on the chin from the Bills, a W here could start to set some separation.

No one believes in the Vikings, as if their wins are somehow as mythical in tally.
Kirk Cousins can still make some bonehead moves, but with a offence like his, he can pretty much fail to win.

Ryan likes Minnesota to swing their Viking hammer at home, knocking back the White-ness to reality with a display of scoring. He believes that the hype will be enough to beat the Jets.

Wade is backing the Jets here to upstart the shaky Minnesota miracles. The D will shake up the cousin flicking festival, and use their running game to keep themselves competitive.

Ryan- Vikings 29 Jets 24
Wade- Jets 30 Vikings 28

-1 Jaguars (4-8) vs Lions (4-7)  57.5

With a game boasting a 57 plus point total, Las Vegas knows that this match is gone to be a slugfest.
Both teams lack the D to deliver, and they’re both on an upward ascent of winning time.

Trevor Lawrence finally looked like an NFL star, leading his team down the field like a real leader.
Finally. It’s been along time coming, but can he sling together a series of wins after too many years of rebuilding?

Detroit has been hard-knocking their way back to the wins, as Dan Campbell has got his Lions ready to roar in this battle of the big cats.

Ryan likes Detroit here to upset the Jaguars at home, and bite out a chunk from the Jacksonville junkies.

Wade is also big on the Lions, betting that the running game and speedy receiver match-ups will be a sure source of fantasy picks.

Ryan- Lions 30 Jaguars 27
Wade- Lions 33 Jaguars 26

-5.5 Browns (4-7) vs Texans (1-9-1)  +47.5

Let’s talk about the Deshaun in the room shall we?

Buried beneath the big games, the NFL snuck us back the return of disgraced quarterback Deshaun Watson to face the team we wanted to leave.
You don’t mess with Texas.

Whatever the boo’s or shenanigans organised to shame this young man, it’s still an NFL game so show some respect.

Respect is something the Browns don’t have for themselves as they have blundered their way through some pretty easy picks and opportunities over the past few years.
Watson has a chance to at least hobble together a team that has Amari Cooper, and an underused running duo in Chubb and Hunt.

No respect at all for the Texans. Only Rodney Dangerfield could run a team with no respect all the way down.  Davis Mills is gone, so its on Pearce to run the ball up the line.

Ryan likes the Browns to get through the boo’s and get the win, although he thinks that the hometown Texas faithful will rally them to cover.

Wade has the Browns coming together to support Watson, and Cleveland getting a win to save some face.

Ryan- Browns 24 Texans 22
Wade- Browns 27 Texans 21 

Make sure that you check us out on all our social media, and listen to our podcast.

 

 

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!

 

 

AFC/NFC Preview

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Well NFL darlings, it’s that time of the year again, as that giddy feeling in your stomach turns into the excitement of another NFL season!

The preseason is done, London games set, initial rounds of injuries have skated across the league, and it’s time for some football!

To commemorate the start of the 2022 NFL season, once again Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull have taken the task at hand of trying to determine who will emerge as the top teams to face off in the 2023 SuperBowl.

Thus we present to you our AFC/NFC Preview Podcast!

As a Bears and Bills fan, they have a skewed barometer of how their teams will fare, but there’s no loyalty in making picks.

To make sure that you get the best out of both guys, we have recorded not ONE, but TWO podcasts on this-one for each division!

AFC

The Buffalo Bills are heavily favoured to take it all this year, but as any seasoned Western New York fan knows, the wing might be spicy, it doesn’t mean that it’s fully cooked inside. (aka-expect failure0

It’s the Bills to lose this season, but the AFC East has the much touted Dolphins and their diminutive QB looking to be the big man.
The Dolphins have all the tools, but will those tools fit into the new machine?
Billy B will be looking to pull off some sleight of hand, convincing many preseason pundits that the Pats don’t have it together-they will.
The Jets…two words…Joe Flacco.
They’s be better off with Edie Falco.

The AFC North has all the drama for your mama this year, as Deshaun Watson immediately makes the Browns the least favourite team of any female fan of the NFL.
Cincy is fresh off a Superbowl appearance, but as history tells us-that isn’t always a good thing.
Lamar has a lot to prove this season, let’s just hope he doesn’t get hurt before he gets paid.
Pittsburgh has Trubisky. ‘Nuff said.

The West is Best in the AFC in terms of team calibre, but which of these rats can chew off the others faces to pip the top.
Patrick Mahomes is a safe bet to put on a show, as the Chiefs shrug off some dead weight to make another run at the title.
Hot on their heels will be the strong arm of Justin Herbert and a rejuvenated Chargers D. Is this his Joe Burrow year?
Vegas went all in on Carr, giving him the pieces he needs to make a buffet to feed the city their dreams.
Denver has Russ-but can he ever cook again?

Matty Ice is in the AFC, as he hope to run off of Taylor’s legs and take this AFC South division with ease.
Tannehill has lost loads of weapons this season, with the Titans trying to make a run, without all the tools they had before.
Houston-we have a problem. Davis Mills is fine, but you can’t build a team around him.
Jacksonville has to do something this year now that Urban Meyer is back working as a manager at Hot Topic. It’s all on you Trevor!

NFC

The NFC claimed the SuperBowl title last year, with the LA Rams and the noodle-elbow of Matt Stafford winning it all after a woeful time in Detroit.

It’s hard to repeat as champs, so they’ll need all the Cialis in their wallets if they want to stay hard this year.
The NFC West is a feast of talent, so the Rams will need to stifle the tough D and running game of the 49ers if they want to move ahead. This is your chance Trey!
Kyler asked to ‘show me the money’, now he needs to show he can score. Boom or bust year for him.
Seattle is famed for being a depressive place that led to grunge and copious coffee drinking. Put another pot on.

NFC East is the least in terms of being impressive, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t gotten better.
Hurts and the Eagles were able to make the playoffs during a rebuild year-and that running game should move them to the playoffs again this year.
The Devil and Daniel Jones have one last chance in the Big Apple before the angels of Harlem chase their asses out of town.
‘Dem Boyz are looking more like the Proud Boyz, as many people are turning on them, as wondering who the hell they are.
Washington sucks so bad, they should change the name again.

The NFC Dirty South has TB12 and his mama drama. Will that stop the Bucs from returning to the big game and send Tommy Boy to retirement?
Jameis is ready to rock the Saints and their top tier D into the playoffs-they have enough talent to do it, but do they have enough discipline?
Baker has to cook something up in Carolina this year, before he finds himself carrying Pat McAfee’s golf bags.
Atlanta is a great TV show starring Donald Driver.

Aaron Rodgers has taken a full dose of himself, and he is ready to lead the Packers to another early round playoff exit. Is his team ready to this to the NFC North?
The Vikings have an amazing team on paper, but paper doesn’t play every week.
Hard Knocks fans have swallowed the Dan Campbell pill, and have them beasting the league this year. Do we all remember the Lions of last year? Good.
The Bears are slated to be the worst team in the league this year. They will definitely have the worst O line…and draft picks!

Wade & Ryan will be back with their Week 1 predictions, as well as more NFL in London fun.

 

London Tickets

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Tickets for the 2022 London NFL games are on sale and flying off the digital shelves, did you get any London tickets?
No, huh?

First off, we want to assure our dear readers that we have nothing to do with the NFL London tickets, games, or general sadness that you feel when you realise you might not go to the games this year.
We throw NFL events, viewing parties, betting pools, and in general-oodles of fun for all NFL fans in the UK.
We have nothing to do with the league…
Please don’t get mad at us…

That being said, it seems that frustration was the word of the day for NFL fans in the UK, as thousands of fans took to social media to express their outrage at not being able to secure tickets.

You only have to pop onto social media to see the vented anger in play, as it emerged that despite being told there would be no queue until 9:30am, that many were already told that there were 170,000 people ahead of them in line for tickets.
Eeks.

Ticketmaster

Often touted as the ‘devil of tickets’, Ticketmaster once again was the target of wrath for many NFL UK fans looking to secure tickets.

With the moral turpitude of Jeffrey Epstein, Ticketmaster has long drawn ire from sports fans who tire of the constant BS from a company often with its head up its own ass of incompetence.

Ticketmaster had also assured fans that tickets would not be appearing on secondary and tertiary ticket sites, only for those very tickets to pop up throughout the afternoon on various nefarious ticketing sites.

Will I Get Tickets?

As the old expression goes, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’, pointing to the fact that if you really want to go to the games this year, you will!
(The power of positive thinking!)

The NFLUK has been running these games for a few decades now, and given how well they have gone-there’s a great confidence that they will continue to pull them off.
So why worry?

Having witnessed ticket frenzy for the past 20 years, there are plenty of ways to secure tickets over the next few months if you use the right channels.
Keep an eye on social media, follow the fan groups for all of the teams that are visiting, and keep checking this site.

There is a Facebook Group that focuses on NFL tickets for the 2022 games, and is well vetted to eliminate scalpers and salty ticket touts.
You can find it here.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nflfansukbuyandsell

As far as getting tickets, we will let you know as we do.

Travel Hell

Making things worse for the NFL games in the UK for 2022 is the ripe-ass travel hell that seems to be slapping its way across the world.

Cancelled flights, lost baggage, a war in Eastern Europe, and monkeypox are all adding to the eye-watering shit show that has been the past 18 months.

Just remember that none of that crap matters, this is the NFL we’re talking about!
Think ahead to get ahead!

Book your tickets now, and plan on just bringing a carry on with you to the UK.

Unlike US ‘Goodwill’ stores, our charity shops have great clothes, at great prices, and doesn’t fuel a corrupt organisation where the CEO makes more than the president of the country.

Once you’re in the UK just find a local Wetherspoons to be your home for a fortnight, it’s open early and you can start drinking at 7am.

It Will be Fine

Yes, things seem dire and daft now, but wait a few months to let the air clear.

More tickets will go on sale, people will need to sell their tickets, and it’s always on TV.
Don’t freak out just yet, the games aren’t until October.

We will also be throwing some great events around the games, so watch this space for more info!

 

 

 

Half Bakered

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We’re into the first week of July, which means the preseason is only weeks away as we get set to kick of the 2022 NFL season.

With all the hoopla and huzzah, Wade and Ryan take some time in this podcast to look at some of the lingering NFL news prior to the start of the season, with this Half Bakered Podcast.

Here’s the link to get your weekend sorted.

Among some of the things the guys talk about in this episode includes:

Baker Boy

Baker Mayfield is officially a Carolina Panther. Or is he?
Further to a medical test, BM could be shooting his load down the coast this season to help the woeful Panthers move on from Darnold Time.

With all the drama coming out of Cleveland, it’s nice to see some sort of finality come to the situation for Mayfield, who has been trending dirty water in the wake of the Deshaun Watson trade.

Whether Watson plays this season is up to the football Gods (or Goodell)-but the way it’s looking, he’ll be riding the pine, while Baker has a chance to start and finish the season.

It could be the Jacoby Brissett show now in Cleveland, as Baker can finally go off to his own pizza oven and get baked.

Jimmy G

Now that Baker has finally found his new forever home, the lens of focus hits over to Jimmy Garoppolo and his perfect jaw.

With Baker shuffling off to Carolina, the only real places to fall for Jimmy G are the Seahawks, and the Seahawks.

Given the divisional double tap, it’s highly unlikely that San Fran would want to allow him to come back and torch them twice.

Jimmy might be best to wait until week 4, when many of the teams will have already lost their starting QB to injury  or jail.

That’s Jimmy’s perfect sweet spot-sliding into the DMs.

Nice Tat Bro

A few weeks have gone by without anyone mentioning Aaron Rodgers, so he did something about that…he got a tattoo!

True to Rodgers form, the tat is cryptic, mysterious, and way to expensive for regular chums like us to afford.

Aaron went all witchy with this one, incorporating lions, the all seeing eye, and only black and white bro.

If only the tattoo could run a 4 second 40, then it might have a chance to really impress the fans this season.

Bear Up and Down

The rumours are swirling that the Chicago Bears are teasing the city that they are indeed ready to pack up and move for 2026.

With a big ass facility in Arlington Heights, the Bears could benefit from creating a whole new world around the team, adding shopping, hotels, bars and a home for Aaron Rodgers to own the team.

The city of Chicago came back this week with a plan-put a dome on it!

Mayor Lori is proposing taking the NFL’s smallest stadium (61,500) and raise the roof, adding a dome and another 15000 seats.

Sure it would take away from being an outdoor stadium in one of the coldest NFL cities, and erase the gorgeous views of Lake Michigan…but Soldier Field!

The Bears have the city over a barrel right now…finally someone they can dominate!

Lion Bite

Who has the most expensive NFL offence heading into this season?
Nope-not them.
It’s the Detroit Lions. Wait, what?

Yep, the Detroit Lions have the highest pad roster this season, with a whopping $123m in salaries spread across the Goff.

Ranked by CBS sports as the ‘5th worst team in the NFL’, the Lions are ready to change their fate in 2023, by not becoming the worst team in the league (again).

No matter how much money they spend, they will never be the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And that’s a good thing.

London Games

We will be announcing some parties and social fun stuff planned for the next season in the next month.

If you’re a bar or pub in the UK looking to hist NFL parties and viewing events this season, make sure that you get in touch.