NFL in London

National Football League in London

NFL International

Week 14 Preview

by

What a wild week of upsets we had on Sunday! The Seahawks & Steelers took some big ‘L’s’, Bears blew it, Bills nailed it, Belichick was at it again, all this and more in our Week 14 Preview.
Wade & Ryan look back at all of the week 13 games, lamenting how much they got screwed on their fantasy teams.
The boys also look ahead to week 14 from Thursday to Tuesday, but anything can happen in a 2020 Covid-led NFL season.
What are some of the big games that the guys have their eyes on to this week?

Cardinals (6-6) vs Giants (5-7)
Cardinals -2  +44

It looks like people have figured out Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offence. They went from dazzling to dull in a few games, and defences have learned that he’ll sweep right under pressure, so have some guys there. Larry Fitzgerald is a shadow of his former glory, and they have a weak o-line that allows Murray to face constant pressure.
Pressure is something the Giants D has been cooking up lately. Flourishing with 5 straight wins, this New York team is starting to feel a bit of a burn.
If Wayne Gallman Jr. can get the run stuffed in the face of the Cardinals, they might find themselves in a deficit that requires them to make mistakes.
Wade & Ryan both like the hometown New Yorkers to take it to Arizona in this game on a cold December day.
Ryan- Giants 24 Cardinals 20
Wade- Giants 23 Cardinals 20

Vikings (6-6) vs Bucs (7-5)
Bucs -6.5  +57.5

Minnesota is fresh off a few close wins, too close if you really look at it. Their secondary is horrible, and you can only rely on Dalvin Cook if you’re in the game. Justin Jefferson is putting up ROTY type stats to help out. But-if you crush Kurt Cousins and stamp out Cook, then they are pretty weak.
Tampa Bay has exactly the remedy to what ills the Vikings. Fresh off a bye week TB12 will be looking to lay a bruising on the rest of their cruising schedule. This week off is a blessing for a playoff run, they will have been studying for perfection, and will likely bring it this game.
The Bucs are just far too strong and angry to keep this one close.
Ryan likes a close game, while Wade sees this getting ugly in a fun to watch way.
Ryan- Bucs 34 Vikings 30
Wade- Bucs 35 Vikings 24

Falcons (4-8) vs Chargers (3-9)
Falcons -2.5  +49.5

Atlanta has had such an off season. Their 8 losses had some close games as well as some absolutely dumb ones. You have to wonder what motivates the team going into 2021, with many of the guys looking for greener pastures, especially Matty Ice.
They lost to Taysom Hill last week and are prone to defences that rattle the QB. Enter Joey Bosa.
Los Angeles has to feel numb after the drubbing they took at the hands of the Patriots on Sunday, and fingers should be pointing at Anthony Lynn for moronic coaching. WTF is he thinking sometimes?
The Chargers will be looking to fight back for pride this week, as unlike Atlanta, many of their losses have been close.
Justin Herbert and Allen will be hitting Atlanta hard on Sunday, the only real question will be ‘can the Falcons retaliate?’
Ryan has gone against past words and is taking the Falcons for a big win here. Wade on the other hand thinks that the loss to Bill Belichick will motivate them to kick ass at home in front of the Santa Anna winds. According to the movie ‘The Holiday’, they’re crazy and bring change. Something LA desperately needs right now.
Ryan- Falcons 26 Chargers 23
Wade- Chargers 31 Falcons 24

Some of the other big betting tips the boys have for you on Sunday include:

Ryan-Patriots Win, Texans Win, Panthers Win, Lions Cover, Chiefs Cover.
Wade-Jets Cover, Dolphins Cover, Cowboys Cover, 49ers Cover.

Listen to the whole podcast for all of our betting predictions, as well as silly thoughts on nonsensical things. Like all good things our podcast is free and addictive. Take a free sample and pass it on.

Callum’s Week 13

by

Welcome back to another edition of The Picks Six, where we look ahead to see if I can accurately predict the outcomes, and then the Dallas Cowboys let me down and ruin everything. Sorry for the lack of a column last Sunday – life got in the way. Probably a good thing overall, I would definitely have been backing . Don’t even get me started on the TRAVESTY that was the Cowboys on thanksgiving. Talk about ruining a great day. What a joke. I still hate Washington. Spoiler: Steelers by a million on Monday against the Football Team. Anyway, moving forward – we’re really into crunch time of the 2020 season with every win meaning so much from here on in. There’s a lot of games with large lines this week… I don’t really like many of the underdogs but you do wonder if some will be able to keep the games close. Let’s dive in and improve our 56-23 record on the Full English for the season. 

1st and Goal from the 1yd Line

This is my nailed on – has to happen – pick of the week. What do you want when you’ve had a horrible loss the previous week? To face the New York Jets this week. That’s the right answer. So we have to ride with Las Vegas this week. The Raiders are the only team to have beaten the defending Super Bowl Champs so far this year, and yet got absolutely destroyed by the inconsistent Falcons last week. Hard to read. However, facing the most consistent team in the league – the Jets – will help. They’ve been consistently atrocious. Yes, there’s no Josh Jacobs, but Devontae Booker will fill in fine. Derek Carr needs to stay calm, but that shouldn’t be tough against Adam Gase’s tanking trainwreck. Raiders to win.

45yd Field Goal

This one is not a straightforward pick, a bit more of a 50/50 shot. 

Seahawks -10.5 vs the Giants.

Seattle’s defensive woes are well documented but, now they have their star running back reinserted into their line up, they should be able to control the pace vs New York. Russ should be able to cook, even against a Giants defense that has sneakily been getting better as the season has gone on. Believe in Seattle, as they fight their way to the NFC West crown. Seattle -10.5.

TD Treble

This week, we like a couple of Tight Ends and the most underrated running back in the league:

TJ Hockenson – Still no Kenny Golladay for the Lions, and with D’Andre Swift potentially out too I like Hockenson as one of their go to guys.

Mike Gesicki – it’s still Fitzmagic in Miami, and Fitz loves Big Mike. Gesicki caught a touchdown last week, and I’ll back him to do it again against a poor Bengals defense.

Chris Carson – Please show this man the respect he deserves. He destroyed the Eagles on his way to the end zone last week. With Hyde out, you’ll see a lot of Carson. He should score.

£10 on this treble pays about £130 depending on your bookmaker.

If you don’t like the above options, I think Austin Ekeler & Justin Jefferson are equally good options, with slightly shorter odds.

The Overs

Over 51.0 – Jaguars @ Vikings – The Jaguars LOVE giving up points. Their defense is not that of the famed “Sacksonville” name. The Vikings were quite porous to the Cowboys a few weeks back themselves, so I can see this one going over, with Justin Jefferson having a big day and the Jags focus in on the returning Adam Thielen.

Over 45.5 – Saints @ Falcons – You could argue that the Saints D has been so good lately that taking the over here is foolish, but the Falcons have enough weapons to intrigue here, and Taysom and the Saints weapons have been rolling of late. Even Latavius Murray had a big game last weekend. Take the over here too.

The Parlay

Raiders -7.5 – Yes, I wish the line was a flat 7, or maybe even 6.5… but you’ve gotta believe Vegas has enough to shut down the Jets

Saints -3.0 – Taysom has filled in fantastically for Drew Brees, keeping the Saints’ winning run going. Hard to believe the Falcons will have grown so much from beating the Raiders to defeat the current #1 seed in the NFC. 

Texans +3.0 – Can’t trust the Colts (more on this later), so we’ll take the Field Goal as Deshaun Watson seeks to continue his nice little run of performances. 

Lions +3.0 – I actually think Detroit might win this game outright… but let’s take the +3 here against a Bears team that is lacking both confidence and quality on offense. 

Chargers -1.5 – I’ve been burned too many times by New England this year. This is probably the least secure pick here, but I’m just not trusting Cam Newton to be MVP Cam again right now.

£10 on this five-fold returns about £250 depending on your bookmaker.

The Full English (Season Record: 56-23)

Bengals @ Dolphins – Dolphins (who will now be 8-4…!!!)

Browns @ Titans – Titans (I’m leaning Titans largely because of how unstoppable Derrick Henry has been of late)

Lions @ Bears – Lions (the new coach bounce for Detroit? I find it hard to believe in anything Matt Nagy is selling right now)

Colts @ Texans – Texans (This is maybe the hardest game to call this week for me. I’m not convinced AT ALL by the Colts offensively, but they’re very stout defensively, and it’s hard to know how Houston will react to losing Will Fuller, but getting David Johnson back from injury… I’m taking a risk and leaning Texans).

Jaguars @ Vikings – Vikings

Raiders @ Jets – Raiders

Saints @ Falcons – Saints

Rams @ Cardinals – Cardinals (I like Kyler to get back to winning ways here. They really need it)

Giants @ Seahawks – Seahawks

Patriots @ Chargers – Chargers (this is also a toss up, but I’m thinking this could be a chance for Herbert to make a real statement against a sub par Patriots team. Having Ekeler back made a big impact last week. I’ll ride with LA)

Eagles @ Packers – Packers

Broncos @ Chiefs – Chiefs

Washington @ Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh (by the aforementioned MILLION)

Bills @ 49ers – Bills

Cowboys @ Ravens – Ravens (with how downright weird the Cowboys are, I won’t be surprised if they find a way to shock the world and win this game)

Week 14

So we’re finally done with Bye weeks and can look forward to a full slate as we turn the corner into the home straight, and the final quarter of the NFL regular season. Highlights include the AFC North Silver Medal game between Cleveland and Baltimore, and one of the tougher tests left for the Steelers as they face the Bills. Should be good. Enjoy your week 13! As always, I’m @callumjdsquires on Twitter and Instagram – should you wish to discuss any of this – or how good Bruno Fernandes is – hit me up! Stay safe and healthy. Have a good one.

Callum Squires is a London based NFL writer, and good friend of NFL in London.

Week 13 Preview

by

It’s another slug of a week in the NFL, as we take a look at our Week 13 Preview podcast. The previous week of games brought some tough losses, amazing wins, and another batch of injuries to change the playoff outlook even further. The top teams keep rolling, and the Steelers are still undefeated, but are they that good?
Wade McElwain & Ryan Cull are your NFL in London pundits, looking back at the scores from week 12, as well as previewing all of the games ahead in Week 13, as well as their love of seasonal canapés.
Lockdown might be done in the UK, but that doesn’t mean NFL fans are keen to flock to the pubs just yet. It doesn’t help that Premier League games are now directly in contest with the NFL, meaning our fans often get relegated to the side tvs with no sound.
Hopefully we will all be able to watch the Super Bowl together next year. Fingers crossed.

Some of the games the boys hit this week includes:

Colts (7-4) vs Texans (4-7)
Colts -3.5  +53

Indianapolis is still stunned after that viscous beating they took at the hands of the Titans last week. Derek Henry left his boot marks on their D, and they will need to shake off that fuzz if they want to take advantage of a listless Houston team.
The Colts still have a great running game, and short pass options, which will find big gaps in a soft secondary.
Houston are drug cheats. They did it baseball, and now they got caught again in the NFL. Will Fuller is gone, but more importantly this team just received another nail in the coffin that was their 2020 season. JJ Watt must be looking to GTFO of Houston now, so why play hard and hurt your 2021 contract?
Both Ryan & Wade like the Colts to bounceback.
Ryan- Colts 30 Texans 20
Wade-Colts 28 Texans 23

Browns (8-3) vs Titans (8-3)
Titans -6  +53.5

It’s the battle of the 8-3 juggernauts, as we see if the Browns really have what it takes to advance to the post season. All signs point to no.
Cleveland has looked like they have been calling it in all season. Baker Mayfield plays as he does in his commercials, clueless and locked out of the game. The can’t blame it on OBJ because he was hardly even used during the early part of the season.
Tennessee just laid a bit back beating on the Colts and are riding high. They have 8 wins, but those haven’t always been that convincing, barely eeking out victories over some craptastic opponents.
Both teams might play strong, but they could both be easily beat in a first wild card game.
Ryan & Wade are both big on the Titans here at home, although Ryan likes this one to be close.
Ryan- Titans 27 Browns 24
Wade- Titans 34 Browns 24

LA Rams (7-4) vs Cardinals (6-5)
Rams -3.5  +48.5

LA and Arizona were both the victim of an assault last week, except they only have themselves to blame. The Rams were choked out by a superior San Francisco defence, while the Cardinals fell into a Bill Belichick trap. Both of them didn’t see it coming.
Aaron Donald might be carrying the Rams on his shoulders this season, as Jared Goff is inconsistent at best. They failed to get any attacks in motion against a depleted 49ers squad last week, so you wonder how they will be able to keep up punch for punch with Kyler Murray.
Arizona is not as good as many thought. Their 6 wins have been over inept teams, and their 5 losses have at times been very ugly. Kyler looks tiny out there, and is making rookie mistakes in his QB vision. He should be able to wheel out of the way of AD & co., making points with his feet.
Ryan & Wade are both big on the Cardinals for an upset at home. LA hasn’t been definitive enough, and this division contest will mean more to the host.
Ryan- Cardinals 30 Rams 27
Wade- Cardinals 30 Rams 26

Some of the other teams that the boys like to cover this week includes:

Ryan- Chargers Win, Jets Cover, Lions Win, 49ers Win.
Wade-Dolphins Cover, Jets Cover, Falcons Cover, Patriots Win.

Listen to the full podcast for all of our scores and predictions.

DraftKings Thanksgiving

by

Hey ya turkeys, are you ready for some NFL DraftKings Thanksgiving action?
If you haven’t done so already, make sure you join our league, aptly named ‘NFL in London.’
It’s FREE to join, and we have lots of fun each week playing in a variety of contests.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Since it is Thanksgiving in America, we have been spit-roasting a few birds for you in anticipation.
We have two contests lined up for the Turkey Bowl on Thursday, as the third game was sadly cancelled due to ‘bat flu.’

Sweet Potato

Yam it up in our Sweet Potato contest! This FREE contest is the perfect one to get you into learning how to play Fantasy NFL.
All you have to do is follow this link, then put together the best team you can make under budget.
If you win this contest you may be the envy of all your friends.
It’s fun to watch and play along with DK when the games start to heat up.
Here’s your link:
https://www.draftkings.co.uk/draft/contest/97125393

Turkey Lurky

Looking to make some money on Thanksgiving Thursday? Then why not take a shot at out ‘Turkey Lurky’ contest, it’s $2 to enter, and you could win cash if you are able to put together the right squad.
All of this is in our NFL in London League, so feel free to pop on there and explore.
https://www.draftkings.co.uk/draft/contest/97124984

Have a safe and fun Thanksgiving everyone. If 2020 has given us anything, it’s the gratitude for our health, family and happiness.
Good luck and we will be back to chat more crap for week 12.

 

Thanksgiving Podcast

by

Gobble, gobble NFL fans, it’s time for the annual Thanksgiving podcast and we couldn’t be more excited.
Actually we could, but let’s not get into all that yet, as we know that everyone has had a pretty sucky 2020 thus far And if you haven’t, you must be a Steelers fan.
Wade & Ryan break down the terrible games we had in week 11, taking the time to reflect on all the players who screwed them on their bets.
They also preview the 3 games lined up for Thursday, although if you live in the UK the only REALLY good game takes place at 1:20 am Friday morning when the Steelers host the Ravens.
But we’ll get into all that.

Texans (3-7) vs Lions (4-6)
Texans -3  +51.5
5:30pm GMT

Once again the Motor City is hosting a Thanksgiving classic, although the guys think that the honour of hosting these games should switch if the team loses it in a contest. Wouldn’t it be more fun if your team earned a right to host Thanksgiving by winning it the year prior?
Houston is starting to get their groove together, and it only took 7 losses to do it. Their team is somewhat healthier, and the ghost of Bill O’Brien seems to have farted its way out the door.
Deshaun Watson looked better in his beating of the Patriots, but he is still taking way too much time in the pocket before making a decision. He needs to speed up his gameplay and hit targets earlier like big man Fuller if he wants a chance of getting an early lead here.
Detroit as a team is a reflection of the city itself. A paler, sicklier version of itself, beset by financial problems and a dwindling metropolis. They don’t work as hard as they use to, and as franchises go, could be one of the ones that moves first in the next decade.
Matt Stafford has club thumb, and the team is too riddled with ill to even make it through the rest of the season with their heads held high.
They will need their D huge in this game, as Watson looks to rampage across them with the help of Duke Johnson.
Ryan and Wade both like the Texans in a comfortable win here.
Ryan- Texans 27 Lions 12
Wade- Texans 30 Lions 21

Washington (3-7) vs Cowboys (3-7)
Cowboys -3  +46
9:30pm GMT

Dallas is also hosting another turkey bowl, although this year the title seems apt given the state of both of the teams playing in this game.
The Cowboys are bleeding money from the lack of fans, but it might have been a blessing given the injuries that they have suffered this season. Watching Dak get twisted would be enough to make any child fearful for years, not to mention what the Washington has suffered to their legs as well.
The Team has been staying in the hunt for the smelly NFC East title like a rat riding a giant turd down the sewer. Alex Smith brings a wince of anticipation every time he hobbles onto the pitch, as you wonder how long it is before he gets collapsed like a Buffalo tailgate table.
Their D keeps them in games, and if speedy McLaurin can find space, then the Team can stay in this and keep it close like most of their games this season.
Ginger Ninja Dalton is back, and it seems like his team respects him enough to stand up for him the next time someone decided to decapitate him midfield. The Cowboys have the most talented & healthy squad in this division, they just need to get the mojo rolling and this could be the game to kickstart it.
Ryan & Wade both like ‘Dem Boys in this game, although Wade thinks that they might open this game up if they get the lead and force Washington to pass more.
Ryan- Cowboys 24 Washington 20
Wade- Cowboys 28 Washington 20

Ravens (6-4) vs Steelers (10-0)
Steelers -4.5  +45
1:30am GMT Friday

The good thing about lockdown is not having to go to a sportsbar & hear the smarmy gip of a Steelers fan talking about a perfect season. We get it, you’re good, healthy, but you also have a lucky schedule. And Big Ben, who is known to turd it in big situations.
The Steelers host the limping Ravens in this late contest that is on at an enviable time here in the UK. Sadly most of us will have to watch this with our morning coffee, but it still looks to be a great game.
Baltimore is suffering after that beating at the hands of the Titans last week, and now they have to cower into the home of your biggest rival on the biggest stage of America.
Lamar Jackson isn’t the same without an impeccable offensive line. Guys are getting to him and rattling his confidence, leading to poor decision making. Not having a reliable running back also adds to the ills of this team that is looking to reclaim 2019 glory.
The Ravens are lacking on defense as well, with key injuries to some of their top players meaning Big Ben will have plenty of time to find one of his many receivers.
Pittsburgh just needs to hand the ball off to Conner and watch the points come in, with Ben throwing a few easy TDs given to him by his D.
Ryan likes the Ravens to comeback and slug the Steelers with their first loss of the season, Wade likes the idea, but still sees Pittsburgh rolling on to victory here.
Ryan- Ravens 27 Steelers 26
Wade- Steelers 24 Ravens 18

That’s it for this week so far on our Thanksgiving Podcast, we will be back with another podcast this week to preview Week 12 games, as well as review the turkey picks from Thursday.
Thanks for listening, please subscribe, share, laugh, love, and for God’s sake..sanitise.