NFL in London

National Football League in London

New Orleans Saints

Week 5 Preview

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It’s Week 5 in the NFL, so Wade and Ryan are here with another rousing podcast looking at all the games ahead.
It was a bit of a brutal week 4 for both guys, as Wade second guessed himself changing his picks last minute and dooming himself to a 6-9 record for the week. Ryan was a bit better at 7-9 for the week, consistent with his picks thus far this season.
Heading into week 5, Wade has a 35-26-1 record, and Ryan is battling a 24-37-1 record.
What does week 5 hold? Let’s take a look at some of their top picks.

Week 5 Picks

Panthers (2-2) Falcons (0-4)
Falcons -1.5  +54.5

The Falcons are favoured by 1.5 points, despite boasting no wins for the season thus far. The plucky Carolina team has been getting some nice wins and close games despite being without the best running back in the league. The Panthers defence has been playing solid every week and Teddy Bridgewater is starting to groove nicely into his role as starting QB.
Atlanta has been poor and porous, letting in more than a drunken doorman. They have tonnes of tools at their disposal, but despite Matt Ryans best efforts, their D continues to allow huge gains to wide receivers.
Ryan likes the Falcons to take their first win of the season, while Wade is calling for a Carolina upset.
Even more upsetting, if they win, they must sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ with their masks on.
Tragic.
Ryan-Falcons 24 Panthers 20
Wade-Panthers 31 Falcons 26

Eagles (1-2-1) vs Steelers (3-0)
Steelers -7  +44

Pittsburgh has benefitted from a Covid week off, while the Eagles are currently sitting in first place in the trash-tastical NFC East division.
Three games isn’t really enough to get a full grip on the Steelers, but they have looked pretty solid across the board. James Conner is ready to bust out for the rest of the season and establish himself as one of the premier running backs for the rest of the season.
The Eagles beat a depleted 49ers team last week under the helm of Nick Mullens, which isn’t saying much.
They have no real receivers, Carson Wentz is inconsistent, and they have relied on Myles Sanders to do all the dirty work. They have a fast front 4, but that will only get you so far.
Ryan likes the Eagles to cover a Steelers team that might not be fully focused, whereas Wade thinks that the battle of Pennsylvania will go to the hosts.
Ryan-Steelers 24 Eagles 20
Wade-Steelers 30 Eagles 18

Dolphins (1-3) 49ers (2-2)
49ers -8.5  +47

Jimmy G is back, and so is Raheem Mostert, but the team still doesn’t seem like it has all the pieces together to look like a contender.
Their defence is still full of holes, which was evident last week when the Eagles were able to move the ball down the field with ease.
No one expected much out of the Dolphins this year, but for some reason they have been close in most of their games. Miami has started with one of the toughest schedules in the league, and the games ahead should bode well for them. Most importantly, they’re having fun which is nice to see.
Ryan think that the 49ers are ready to romp over the Dolphins at home, but Wade has another plan…a Miami upset.
Ryan-49ers 23 Dolphins 20
Wade-Dolphins 23 49ers 20

DraftKings

One of the best ways to enjoy the NFL is to play along with Draftkings fantasy NFL. We have our own league called ‘NFL in London’ where we host loads of Sunday contests. Join the league and you can play every week for free or for paid contests. Our paid contests are modest, so you won’t be spending more than $5 to have some fun with new friends.
Enter here:
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian friends, hopefully you can get together with your friends and family.
If you’re in London, pop down to the Maple Leaf in Covent Garden which will be showing the NFL until 10pm.

Stay safe, and have a great week in the NFL.

 

Draftkings Week 5

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Week 5 in the NFL is here, and what a sloppy mess of the schedule it is. Covid 19 is running rampant on the games, and we still don’t really know what games have officially been slated for Sunday. Hopefully all of this will be sorted soon.

Week 4 had some big scores and upsets in it, not to mention some HUGE value from some of the top players in DFS. Joe Mixon was a beast, running for 3 TDs and crushing everyone in fantasy who went against him. Dak Prescott was on the ball with 5 TDs, too bad he couldn’t turn it into a win. Odell Beckham and Amari Cooper were also beasts, cruising for loads of yards. The big man of the upset was the Packers TE Robert Tonyan who pulled in 3 TDs and was relatively cheap on Draftkings.
So who do I like in Week 5?

QBs

You’re always going to do ok taking QBs like Dak and Lamar, but it’s also about finding value in some of good DraftKings player combinations, and of course anyone playing the Giants or the Jets.

Kyler Murray $7200

Kyler has been up and down in recent weeks, having moments of brilliance followed by moments of true idiocy. Luckily Kyler is playing the Jets this week, so he will have time to redeem himself. The only thing that could work to his disadvantage is the field at Met Life stadium which at times looks to be in worse condition than the field in Batman-Dark Knight Rises which Bane blows up. Kyler likewise should blow up this field.

Teddy Bridgewater $5900

Teddy has been playing ok football since the loss of Christian McCaffery thanks to his D keeping him in the games. Atlanta is known to allow gaping holes in their secondary, which should give him time to link up with Robbie Anderson on some slant routes through the middle, not to mention the deep ball. Good value at $5900.

RB

Clyde Edwards-Helaire $6800

Clyde the Glide will be taking on a Las Vegas D which has allowed some of the biggest runs of any NFL team. Once the Chiefs get moving, there will be very little the Raiders will be able to do to slow him down. C E-H should be on point for 100 yards and at least 1 TD.

Le’Veon Bell $5100

Le’Veon who? This impact player has been absent this season as Adam Gase runs the Jets down to Tankville. While it’s up in the air if he will play at all, you can imagine that if he is, they will use him as much as possible given that the rest of the team is injured/ sucks. Keep an eye on the injury report on Sunday as you might have to swap him out, but deffo worth a punt.

James Conner $6900

Conner has been having an increasingly big season, as he improves week on week. Playing their state rival Philly should not only inspire him, but given the putrid state of the Eagles defence, he should have a big day. The Eagles will struggle to stop him all day.

WR

Christian Kirk $4700

Kirk & Kyler are facing the Jets on Sunday which means that there will be loads of points to go around. If the Jets try to thwart Hopkins in this match, then Kirk will get lots of looks. He’s a great value for $4700 as he has the wheels to get loads of yards after the catch. He will be a pain in New York’s butt all game.

Robbie Anderson $5900

The Panthers have had a surprisingly successful season without C McC, and the game on Sunday should be a big one as the Falcons struggle in freefall. Anderson has the speed and moves to confuse the Falcons D, so expect him to find some big holes and even bigger scores.

TE

Dalton Schultz $4800

Schultz has been a favourite of Dak since the start of the season. He is one of the go to guys when they try to mount their numerous comebacks. Dak will go to him often, so at $4800 he is a good choice for a solid TE.

Evan Engram $4600

On the other side of the field is Engram, who has been very useful to the Daniel Jones all season when he needs short yardage. This will be a slugfest between two sucky D’s, so either of these guys will do well for you.

DEF

Steelers $3800

The Steel curtain is hosting the Eagles this weekend, and the Watt boys are out for a rumble. Wentz and company are going to be on their back feet all day, so expect Pittsburgh to take him down and pick him off often.

DraftKings League

Want to play DraftKings for free, or even win cash? Then join our League ‘NFL in London’ and join a community of NFL fans in the UK who love fantasy football.
Link here:
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Good luck on Sunday!

Jameis 30

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Jameis Winston certainly has had a topsy turvy career. From first round pick, to number one in pickoffs, Jameis brings as much excitement as he does disappointment.
It only seems fitting then that Jameis should have his own 30 for 30.

Ok, maybe not a real ESPN 30 for 30 episode, but a YouTube mockery version that takes aim at both his greatness and ineptitude.
Jameis now riding the pines in New Orleans, but it was only a year ago that he was leading the Bucs on a mediocre charge in which they missed the playoffs.

Sure Jameis has a great arm, unfortunately the aim of that arm had more picks than a crusty nosed cokehead the next morning.
He was never one that you could count on to either take or regain the lead, but he was good at being able to create excitement in a game that you never really cared about.

To honour Jameis, so wise asses online decided to make a mock 30 for 30 episode about the main who gets 30 TDs and 30 INTs.
A fitting tribute to the mid range QB that he is.

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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Week 4 Preview

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Week 4 of the NFL is here, and oh what a doozy it is. Or is it dizzy? Number 19 Covid has lined up in this weeks formation, and things just got a whole lot virusy.

Wade & Ryan are at the hot mike mess, breaking down some of the games from last week as well as offering some top tips to help you win this week in fantasy and on your bets.
Wade bested last week with an 11-5 record against the spread, while Ryan potted a nice 7-9.
We learned that the Jets suck, Giants suck, hell most of the east coast of the US is sucking a big one. It’s going to be tough for some teams to turn it around down 4 games to start a season.

Colts vs Bears
Colts -2.5  +45

The 0 and 3 Bears are underdogs to an inconsistent Indianapolis team led by Philip Rivers. Is it fair to up the Colts when they have shown that they can beat by teams like the Jags? The Colts have shown a solid D and fast paced running game, but playing the Bears is not like playing the Jets. Chicago are swelling with pride after Foles came in to save the game, so a home game should be factored in their favour.
This should be either be really low scoring, or really high scoring, but given recent weeks look to the latter.
Ryan-Colts 27-23
Wade-Bears 28 Colts 24

Jaguars vs Bengals
Bengals -3  +48

Minshew versus Burrow in an important home game for Cinci. Minshew looks lost without DJ Chark, so his absence will put all the heat on Robinson. Jacksonville has played some tighter D, and some of their injured players will be back to bolster the secondary. Tyler Eifert might look to offer a ‘screw you’ touchdown to his former club.
Ryan-Bengals 24 Jags 16
Wade-Jags 24  Bengals 21

Browns vs Cowboys
Cowboys -4.5  +56

Oh Dem Boyz are off to a weird start of 1-2 despite chucking up loads of points every game. They have comebacks and beat downs, so the Browns will offer an interesting contest. Cleveland has some injured players returning on D who will be much needed in the pass rush to help Miles get to Dak. Baker has to prove himself in this one as he hasn’t really shown the zip he use to. Maybe playing in his collegiate state will help fire the loins of his youth.
Ryan Cowboys 34 Browns 24
Wade Cowboys 28 Browns 26

Patriots vs Chiefs
Postponed

Bill Belichick plays his best player this week, sending #19 Covid onto the field to take down all of the best players. It was a bold move for Belichick.

DraftKings

Love to play fantasy NFL? Then join our NFL in London league and play this Sunday. Play for free or join some of our small money games.
It’s fun, and we sometimes throw live parties with them across the UK. The more we play, the more they pay.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

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