NFL in London

National Football League in London

NFL 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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Passing Leaders-Week 4

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Dak Prescott might not be able to get all the W’s, but he certainly is racking up the yards heading into week 4. The cowboys have face some tough opposition, but Dak has been able to keep games close by torching weak midfields with his relentless attacks. He’s facing a tough Browns D this week, so we’ll see if he can hold onto number 1.

Josh Allen is more like ‘Josh Alien’ with his out of this world passing and runs. He needed to pull it all together last week to stop the Rams from ruining his parade. Josh will face the Raiders this week, which has enough holes for Allen to exploit.

Matt Ryan is on fire, too bad it’s like one of those bag of dog poo fires that gets all over you. Matty Ice has been connecting downfield, but not enough to give them the scores. He faces the Packers this week who are tough to pass against. Matty might drop this week.

Russell Wilson is the man, and he could have jumped higher up the rankings had DK Metcalf not been a silly-willy-nilly and let that ball get knocked out in the end zone. He will look to feast on a Miami D in week 4.

Patrick Mahomes might be only the 4th rated NFL player by his peers, but heading into week 4 he’s #5 in passing yards. He’s playing Bill Belichick and the Patriots this week, so let’s see if he can carve those stats even higher.

Who will have the best passing yards this week? Make sure you play along in our fantasy contests to win big.

 

Raider Rot

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He does look a bit odd for a billionaire doesn’t he. Mark Davis is very humble about his looks, and is probably the funniest guy when it comes to cracking wise about his appearance.
You would think that a guy with that amount of money would be able to buy some sort of Face-Off thing where he could snip the looks of some kid who dies in a saw accident where his body is cut in half, but his young visage is still in tact.
Let’s be honest, the 1% probably engage in some sort of illuminati blood leeching rituals of virgins and child stars, but Davis doesn’t look like he fits the bill.
Once the Epstein flight logs come out, you can bet that Mark Davis’ name will not be on it. There’s only so many times you can hear a model scream ‘eww’ before you realise you need to change the guest list.
Kraft on the other hand probably has foody aliases to hide his nefariousness.
Oh to be rich.

 

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.

 

Heating Up-Podcast

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We should be enjoying the NFL preseason right now, but 2020 had some other plans. We’re still left with many lingering questions about the potential of the 2020/21 NFL season, and with summer winding down and autumn looming, it’s starting to heat up.

Wade & Ryan take a break from doing nothing to deliver a blistering podcast-literally. With an unending heat wave in London (no really), the boys sweat it out to prognosticate on the upcoming NFL.
They tackle a myriad of topics and issues around the NFL season so that you don’t have to.

What if Tom Brady Dies?

Shocking headline, but what if a high profile player dies of Covid? It’s a morbid thought, but it’s one that could be on the minds of everyone in the NFL. How will they be able to manage a bubble, and keep everyone safe?

McCoy is a Buc

Congrats LeSeann, you have now joined one of the oldest teams in the NFL. McCoy is quietly making his rounds to every NFL team, before he sets his sights on every XFL team. What will Shady being to an already high powered offence? He was set aside by the Chiefs in the SuperBowl, so how will TB12 find ways to use and abuse him?

Sky Sports NFL

Congrats to Sky Sports for signing a new NFL deal securing 5 more years of American football in the UK. For anyone who doesn’t have Gamepass, Sky sports is an essential element for any NFL fan in the UK. The new deal means that we will have more football programming on a new, dedicated channel. There is also the potential for some UK organically created content for fans. Ahem…two Canadian comedians talking NFL? Just sayin’.

Saturday NFL

If the NCAA Football season blows up as it looks like it will, what will the NFL do with those nights?
Under an archaic TV rule, the NFL wasn’t allowed to compete with high school and college games, but if all of those are cancelled, will the NFL start showing games on those nights? It could be a punch for UK fans, as those games would most likely be schedule at night, meaning we won’t see them until the wee hours. More games, more nights, more NFL. Hooray?

London Viewings

Sadly, it doesn’t look like many places will be keen to show the NFL on Sunday nights in the UK. Sports bars won’t be pushing for late Sundays in this ‘new normal’, and casino’s are a petrie dish of virus potential. We asked UK fans where you plan on watching the games this season and a whopping 90% said at home. We will be working to develop some new ways to watch this season. Watch this space.  Stay safe and keep in touch.