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Week 2 Review

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Another batch of games is done and dusted (as are quite a few quarterbacks), in what proved to be some exciting matches in an epic week 2.

The Raiders move to 2-0 after a dismantling of the Steelers, Buffalo kicks the fish, Trevor Lawrence continues to lose, the Bears survive, and TB12 looks better than ever.
All this and more in our Week 2 Review.

Wade and Ryan both went an okay’ish 8-9 last week after suffering some picking poisonings in the week 2 games.
In fact, it seems that the teams that were more injured, played better than some of the healthiest teams.
Go figure.

Ryan lost on the Chargers & Chiefs, while Wade made out with his picks on the Panthers, and Titans.

Amongst some of the thoughts on this podcast:

NY Jets

Despite making all the trades, new coaching hires, and adding Zach Wilson, the Jets still look like the same old Jets.
Wilson was welcomed to the NFL with 4 INTs and was hassled at every snap.
Many pundits thought this was the year that the Jets might finally be able to poke their way to the playoffs, but all indications point to no.

Raiders

Las Vegas is on a tear, and they don’t care!
The Raiders are 2-0 thanks to beating down the Ravens and the Steelers, a pretty notable start to the season.
Fans can remember Raiders implosions in recent years, building up a streak of wins, only to slide into a losing autumn, with their make-up smeared from tears.
Carr is desperate to prove the critics wrong, even if he sacrifices his body in the process.
How long will this train ride go on?

Cardinals

Pocket rocket Kyler has been chucking loads of deep balls to start the season.
Arizona looks fun, and the addition of JJ Watt and some D line makes them a heavy contender going forward.
The Cardinals also have suffered from playoff gout, so all eyes will be on them if they can keep up the consistent play, or if they leak as many points as they can score.
Arizona has definitely added a fun factor to their games, which has been missing for a few years.

Eagles

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles came out flying in week 1, only to get stymied by the 49ers in week 2.
Despite outgaining San Fran on the field, and a series of dropped balls, the Eagles couldn’t finish them off.
Hurts is still new, but has the benefit of having played some games last season to give him an advantage over true newbies like Lawrence, Wilson and Jones.
Philly might only be getting started.

DraftKings Contest

How would you like to win tickets to the Miami vs Jacksonville game at Tottenham stadium this weekend by playing DraftKings?

Join in our $5 contest and the winner will take home the top cash prize as well as two tickets to the battle of Florida in North London.

The contest is open to UK residents, so make sure you get your entry in now!

Week 3-Old Street

Join us week 3 at the Sports Bar and Grill Old Street, as we celebrate the season and launch our DraftKings event in style.

We will have the contest blasting up live on one of the TVs so that you can watch as your entry rises up the charts.

Do you have the DFS skills required to win this Sunday contest?

London Games

Just an FYI that we will be throwing pre and after parties for both London games.

The Sports Bar & Grill Old Street will be open LATE so that you can party until the wee hours on Monday. Get in touch if you want to book a table.

The Sports Bar and Grill Clapham is the perfect place to grab a pint and some nosh before heading to Tottenham. The pub will be open until 11pm on Sunday so that you can still catch all the action.

The Princess Alexandra in Crouch End is a mere 15 minutes to the stadium and a direct bus ride to Tottenham (W3). Also open until very late, the Alex is a Crouch End boozer with a storied history.
Get in touch so that we can book you in there.

Here’s the Week 2 Review podcast!

Week 1 Review

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The NFL is officially back, and we can confirm that some beatings were handed out in style on Sunday, as we tip this podcast with our Week 1 Review.

Wade and Ryan both went 10-7 on Week 1, which isn’t bad considering how many upsets were flipped.
Both guys had some solid tips that turned into rocking picks, but also missed some glaring big opportunities on the board. (Hello Texans!)

In this podcast, Wade and Ryan look back at week 1 in the NFL, and how they fared with their betting brains.

Make sure that you join us this Sunday at the Sports Bar and Grill Old Street, where we will be showing all the games, as well as running a few DraftKings contests for your chance to win big!
Remember, we are giving away a set of tickets to the Dolphins vs Jaguars at Tottenham in our Week 3 contest, so join away there!

Here are some of the games we look at in this episode.

Eagles vs Falcons

Wade was all over Philly and Hurts, pegging this one as a big upset over the host Falcons.
Ryan figured Matt Ryan would find a way to win this one, although he never did.
The Eagles beat the heck out of Atlanta on Sunday with a solid combination of a dual running game, great new receivers, and an inspired Jalen Hurts.
Philly truly could be special this year.

Steelers vs Bills

To say Ryan was gutted in this result is an understatement.
The Steel curtain of D was all over Buffalo and thwarting Josh Allen’s ability to get going.
Despite being a 5.5 point underdog, Pittsburgh was able to frustrate a home crowd and their chances at going all the way in the AFC.
It did make this conference a whole lot more interesting though.

Cardinals vs Titans

Wade called this game the best DFS opportunity of the week, and boy was he right.
Kyler and co. pounded the hapless Titans D relentlessly, making Tannehill look like a chump in his own house.
Not only was Murray able to spread the ball, but the Arizona D was able to spread Tannehill out with repeated sacks.
Ryan thought his Titans would reign supreme, but now the world is looking at them to get it together if they have any chance in the AFC.

Seahawks vs Colts

Wade was sure that the hometown Colts would be able to buck away the limp Seattle D and establish their running game.
Ryan was chanting ‘Russ! Russ! Russ!’ ahead of this match, confident that RW would be able to rally the troops together.
Ryan got this one right, as the Seahawks actually looked good in this one.

Packers vs Saints

Hahahahahahahaha.

Bears vs Rams

Wade thought his Bears might put up some sort of fight against the LA D, but it wasn’t to be.
Matt Stafford had a career high night, and Justin Fields stayed healthy…so there’s that.
Chicago is going to need to find some resolve to win some of these tough games ahead in a weak ass division.

Ravens vs Raiders

Ryan was sure that the Las Vegas Raiders would roll big dice in their home opener against the Ravens, and boy was he right.
This exciting game was an up and down affair, with the Raiders coming out with an inspired win.

How many of our picks did you take?
What was you pick of the week?

Make sure that you listen in to our upcoming Week 2 podcast, where we make our picks for the Week 2 games.

Here’s a link to the podcast. Listen responsibly.

2022 Super Bowl Picks

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With the start of the NFL season, comes flurry of football speculation.
How will the extra games affect the season? Will injuries continue to dominate the league? Which team has the gumption to win it all?

Wade McElwain & Ryan Cull break it down with their Super Bowl picks for the 2022 game.

Yes, it is WAY to early to make such a bold prediction this early in the season, but that’s the fun in the NFL.
Take a punt based on some scraps of knowledge, stats, and mix it in with intuition and a dash of American network garble, and you have some half baked picks.

With LA being the host city for the February game, there is always a desire for one of the two Los Angeles teams to make it in front of the home crowd.
Sure, most of the crowd is made up of bloated execs and ass kissers, but there’s always those 10000 die hard fans allowed in to rally up the Chargers/ Rams.

Ryan’s Pick

Ryan is very cagey in his predictions thus far due to the potential implications of future ridicule from fantasy football chums.

One thing is clear though, is that this kid from Brantford, Ontario is sauced and baked in Buffalo Bills pride, and he believes this is the year that they make it to the Super Bowl.

Josh Allen is a ‘beast’, they have a ‘solid’ wide receiver group, and his praise is muted enough not to curse the potential gauntlet of AFC adversaries they need to overcome to get there.

Ryan has the Buffalo Bills win win the AFC Championship and move on to the Super Bowl.

Meeting them in the big show will be…the Los Angeles Rams.

That’s right, Ryan has drank the Matt Staffy Juice and thinks that the Rams with their bright new rocket, speedy sets of WR hands, and monster D will be the champs of the division atop the other imitators.

Prediction

Buffalo Bills vs LA Rams

Wade’s Pick

The AFC will be a blood bath, and with a relatively healthy group of teams ready to roar, it’s easy to pick a few contenders that have the stones to make it through a long season.

The Bills, Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Titans and Raiders all have the potential to rip it to the finish, but they don’t have the sustainability to endure themselves.

Kansas City has the team, the vision, the drive and the positioning to repeat as Super Bowl visitors, and that’s the pick for the AFC.

The LA Chargers will be plucky and fun to watch, and should be a great team to potentially make it all the way. Sadly, Justin and the team need another year in the grow room before they’re ready to bud.

As far as the NFC goes…it’s the Rams!

Yes, it’s a Los Angeles double set with the same lame pick as Ryan.

The Bucs are good, and they’ll be hot, but everyone will be gunning for them. That gets tedious after a while, just ask Captain America.

Green Bay’s Dream Machine will break down on the side of the road when they realise you can’t power a team on personal ambition and nostalgia.

The Bears will do great. People will be surprised. Justin Fields is a new messiah.

Prediction

Kansas City Chiefs vs LA Rams 

That’s it for our 2022 Super Bowl Picks, hope you can use them.

Sadly, there is no betting sites that are good in the UK to allow us to make those picks, but we thought we would throw those out there.

Who do you have winning it all? Let us know.

 

Hey Fantasy!

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With the NFL officially less than a week away, fans will be assembling their fantasy teams for the 2021 football season.

To celebrate this annual last rite of summer, we offer you our ‘Hey Fantasy’ podcast, a look at some of the biggest fantasy news, picks and avoids for this year.

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull flip through all the fancy NFL magazines from across the pond to compile their basic knowledge to offer you top tips for your draft, what to look at at each position selecting, as well as some basic draft psychology.

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

Strategy

Where you pick in the draft reflects the kinds of choices that you will need to make to be successful in this years’ draft.

Choosing early will get you those tempting top picks, but you’ll have to wait until it swings around again until you get 2 more picks.
Given that you will be picking in chunks, you need to adjust your picks so that you are still able to get top talent, but also to grab enough RBs and WRs to fill out a solid roster.

Middle picking in the draft seems like it would suck, but you actually get to a choice of players at a fast and furious pace.
Being mid-pick in the draft means that you really need to pay attention.
You can get really good value in the middle, as you can make those bold picks while carving away at the desperation of folks on the end who have to make two quick picks in a row.

Draft Dunces

There is always going to be that person who takes WAY too long to draft their team.
You COULD tell them that the draft is on another day, and that they ‘missed’ your draft do to some scheduling snafu (you need the other draftees in on it), but that’s a poor way to start out the season.

When it comes to Draft deadbeats, you need to be clear as to the outcomes.
2 minutes is more than generous these days for a player window thanks to digital drafting.
If it takes a person more than 2 minutes to make their pick, you are more than free to put up penalties and deductions for delating the draft.

Unless this person absolutely slaughters everyone in your draft, they shouldn’t be taking that long to hump down a roster.
Give them the parameters ahead of time, and make it get all nervy with 30 seconds left to pick.

Bad drafters are like bad dogs, you have to get that behaviour out before the draft even starts.

Flee Agents

Cam Newton couldn’t learn a playbook?
Maybe his big ass hat was in the way?

With Cam now looking to ride the season long bench, there are plenty of opportunities for teams to snag some value players moving forward.

AP, Mitchell Schwartz, Geno Atkins, Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley and the gales Frank Gore are all now without an NFL home for this season.

Sure, some of these guys are old, but with the way injuries gut-punched the league last year, it’s safe to say that a lot of these guys will be back in a new uniform at some point this season.

Cam? Might be a hard stretch to get behind him as a starter.

Empire Fantasy Football League

Why is it so hard to find good , season long, fantasy football?

Well the team at Empire Fantasy Football League are here, and they have a fun new product to help you play season long NFL.

With no manager limit, Empire Fantasy football will allow thousands of us from around the world to compete against each other every week.

Just like DFS, you choose your team by balancing out an NFL fantasy roster.
Unlike DFS, there’s no daily, so that you can play and compete against other players from around the globe every week.

Make changes and tweaks to your roster each week, and you could be on your way to winning $1000 USD just for playing!

It’s FREE to play and the game is in beta mode, which means there are some features that haven’t been added yet.

Try Empire Fantasy Football League now, and take us on every week!

https://www.empireff.com/main

Clapham

Do you live in Clapham?
Well we’re showing NFL every Sunday in Clapham at the Sports Bar and Grill!

Get in touch with us and we can make sure that you get to watch EVERY NFL game that you want to see.
South London is now rocking the NFL!

Enjoy the latest podcast, we have more to come this week!

Why do UK sportsbooks suck at NFL?

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With sports betting exploding around the world, we often get asked ‘what are the best websites for NFL betting’?
Surprisingly, there aren’t very many available to UK fans that actual focus on NFL games, odds and options.
In fact we always find ourselves asking ‘Why do UK sportsbooks suck at NFL’?
There are a few reasons for this, which we will explain, as well as point you in the direction of our Top 3 NFL betting websites. 

Betting Britain

Britain has been betting on sports for decades, so one would assume that the betting product would be sleek, slick and easy to navigate.
Nope.
Betting in Europe is more ‘football focused’ (aka soccer) meaning that many of the betting options and parlays simply aren’t available to the public.
While the NFL betting options accelerated during the 80s’ NFL boom in the UK, it didn’t really translate into dedicated product.
Even as UK sports books increase their offerings in the face of American growth, they still lack the gumption to tailor their products to North American sports. 

Moneyline

One of the biggest issues for NFL betting fans comes down to formatting.
Europe and the UK prefer the use of ‘Decimal Odds’ or 

‘Fractional Odds’ when it comes to setting their weekly lines, whereas North Americans prefer the standard ‘Moneyline.’

For anyone not used to seeing odds formatted in ‘Decimal Odds’ style, it can be a confusing and intimidating style of play.
Many European sports books lazily refuse to add Moneyline odds, which essentially deprives them of a new, hungry audience.
North Americans are new to NFL betting, and intimidating them right off the bat is no way to sign up new customers. 

Options

Any NFL fan who has ever walked into the sports bar of a Las Vegas casino, knows that a magical experience is about to happen.
Not only do Vegas sports bars display countless betting options, the employees who work at sports books are all too happy to help with the numerous different ways you can wager.
UK casinos rarely even sports books, as was the case when we ran events at the Hippodrome in Leicester Square.
Fans who were desperate to wager on games were pointed to the Ladbrokes down the street, which benefited HUGE from the thousands of fans who wanted to throw down money each week.
Betting became so big there, that Ladbrokes employees from down the road would attend viewing parties because they had ‘so many people coming to bet on games’, they wanted to see what it was all about. 

Authenticity

Real NFL bettors usually have a weekend plan for success.
If you know which of the games on Sunday are ripe for betting, you will work out how many parlays, over-unders, and long shots you are willing to make.
Attempting to then make those wagers on a UK betting app then begins the problems.
Not only are the odds radically different from the US, but the ability to make ‘out there’ bets is only possible if you go into a shop, and find a competent worker.
While it is rewarding to burn a lazy bookmaker for not paying attention to NFL news across the pond, it’s frustrating to have to Scooby Doo down all the information from an app. 

Over the years we have tried to discuss the poor NFL betting options with bookmakers, but it has always fallen on deaf ears.
Either they don’t care about making money from a massively untapped market, to they’re just lazy.

So what betting websites would we recommend?
They’re pretty limited, but here you go.

1. Bet365

When it comes to NFL betting in Europe, Bet365 seems to be the only one with their head in the game.
Not only do they offer the best betting options for the NFL, but they also have a wide selection of parlays and novelty bets on offer.
Sure, the layout is a bit laborious, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to get betting.
You can also switch between betting pricing, allowing players to compare moneyline vs decimal options.
The best past about Bet365 however is the ability to watch the games.
Provided that you have bet on some NFL matches, bettors have the option of being able to stream the game to their phone or device.
With limited viewing options in Europe, this is a ‘MUST HAVE’ feature for NFL fans, as it allows you to watch the game in real time, for no extra cost.
Expats in Europe have been raving about this option for years, as it also extends to MLB, NBA and NHL games, which are hard to find across the pond.
Bet365 has pretty good customer service as well, which is really helpful if you are looking to bet on specific options. 

2. Betway

Second on the list is Betway, which has seen a drop in its NFL product in recent years.
With a very simple and straightforward layout, Betway’s NFL betting is a far simpler option than that of Bet365.
Parlays are quite easy to manipulate, and the overplay is quite crisp and simple.
Betway’s NFL product dropped in quality in 2020, so we are curious to see if they are going to improve on it.
Customer service is slow, but effective once they’re on it. 

3. Paddypower

Remember when Paddypower use to be edgy and funny?
Good times.
The Irish lads have gone corporate, and it shows in their North American sports betting options.
Like Betway, the NFL offerings on Paddy are pretty straightforward.
Nothing too fancy, and there are some muddled parlays and novelty bets in the mix, although they usually look like they were assembled by a soccer fan.
Customer service at Paddy is hit and miss, and on a busy game day, you’re more likely to encounter snark than satisfaction. 

We are still holding out that one day a UK sports book will actually take North American sports in Europe seriously.
With bookmakers on the continent on a frenzied mission to gobble up as many American betting properties as possible, you would think that they would actually look at what is successfully stateside and try to replicate it in Blighty.
 
The NFL is only going to get bigger in Europe, which bookmaker is finally ready to take it seriously?