NFL in London

National Football League in London

patriots

Week 9 Preview

by

Week 9, which means the final London game between the Houston Texans & Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wade McElwain & Callum Squires break down all the NFL games for week 9.
They have a lot of games that they think the same, and a few surprising ones where Callum is left shaking his head.
Wade is averaging 9 wins per week, so probably good to listen to him.

Some of the games they look at this week include.

Redskins (1-7) vs Bills -9.5 (5-2) +36.5

Both Wade & Calum think this line is way too high. The Bills are coming off a blowout against the Eagles, and the Skins are playing plucky football. Sure, the Bills will probably win, but 9.5 points is too much given how tired they might be after the drubbing last week.
Take the Redskins to cover.

Bears (3-4) vs Eagles -5 (4-4) +44

Don’t get Wade started on the Bears. As a fan he is vehement in his disdain of Trubisky, and the Nagy system. The Bears are continuing to slide, and the D won’t have it. The Eagles blew out the Bills & have some momentum, but can they keep it up this week? The Bears play better away, as the boos aren’t so hurtful. 5 points is pretty high in this one.
Bears to cover.

Texans -1.5 (5-3) vs Jaguars (4-4)

Minshew mania is in London to kick off Movember, but can the Jags use home field advantage to keep the feisty Deshaun Watson at bay?
Callum likes the Texans to spread it around and trouble the Jags, handing them another loss.
Wade likes the Jags to use home field, a power running game, and a tired Texans team that is seeing injuries mount.

Listen, subscribe, & get ready for our new betting options!

Feeding the Pats

by

What does it take to feed the Patriots?
It all depends on who they are.

Tom Brady is well known for his ‘TB12 Diet’ which involves all sorts of weird things to keep Tommy healthy. No meat, no tomatoes, no bread…no fun. Sure, you got 6 rings, but you also have a pissed off stomach.

Bill Belichick is known for his diet of harvested souls, lightly seasoned then purified for eternity and then drip fed into his eyeballs. To each is own.

Robert Kraft is known for his simple tastes. Just some Chinese to go. Nothing too big, just whatever fits in his hand.

In this video, the Pats dietician breaks down how they feed the Patriots, and their hungry defense.
That’s a lot of food! No wonder lots of teams bring their own food over

‘Member the good olde days when players would all smoke, and take a beer break in between quarters?
Those were the days!

 

Gut Rot

by

Ryan Cull relates his DraftKings fantasy experience as a regular player.


WEEK 8 – Go With Your Gut 2 – Gut Rot!

Do you ever have one of those days when you think to yourself “This is a bad day to be a sports fan?” It all started when Wales, once again, couldn’t get over the hump and lost to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals. After the final whistle blew, a chill came through my body, as if all my fantasy hopes and dreams for this week immediately left my body.

I did my usual prep work, checking websites and watching YouTube videos of DFS advice, felt good about some of the bargains I got and was ready to put the rugby behind me. Then came the most depressing six hours of my life. If I could describe it by the hour it would go like this

JACKSONVILLE, FL – JANUARY 07: Fans hold up a sign before the start of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field on January 7, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Hour 1 – Jump out to a few early touchdowns, feeling good. And I still have Rodgers to go. And with the Patriots D is like playing with a second quarterback, it’s money in the bank!

Hour 2 – Slowly watching me fall out of contention. A few of the Double Ups are in play, already a million points behind the first algorithm because it somehow knew every player that would score a TD. I wonder if the winner is actually from the future. One week in the future (Stop playing fantasy and go kill baby Hitler!).

Hour 3 – Starting to realise that having to depend on 2 Running Backs over 30, Frank Gore and LeSean McCoy, is not a winning strategy. Each one of them hasn’t even hit their age in points.

Hour 4 – I call this second bottle of wine time! None of my hot picks that I read online about have panned out. All the smart decisions are turning out to be dumb. This is where the five stages of grief kick in. However you experience them much faster.

Hour 5 – You’ve now accepted defeat. Not only have all my fantasy games gone to hell, I’m reading on twitter about how shit the Buffalo Bills are again. This train is never late and it almost always arrives around week 8.

Hour 6 – Fantasy football is stupid. At least I have a baby scan tomorrow so finally some good news! Or will it be, after this run of bad luck I’m starting to worry the Dr. is going to tell me my child is a Patriots fan. Imagine that! Time for my last tube. It was an absolute ass kicking but that’s what fantasy is right, a few moments of joy followed by weeks and weeks of terrible decisions and never ending regret.

You’re gonna have these weeks a few times a year. The good news is, that it’s usually followed by a great, hard earned victory. It’s Gut Check time!

Rodgers Lover

by

This might be the last article I ever get to write for NFL in London because – WARNING – I’m going to say some nice things about Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. I assume many of you will know that Wade, the boss of this here domain, is a huge Chicago Bears fan. Therefore I am walking on eggshells at best by setting out my stall here and saying I’m going to be positive about the Cheeseheads from Wisconsin… but stick with me.

Sunday Night’s win over the Chiefs wasn’t perfect from the Packers’ perspective, but perhaps that’s what made it all the more impressive. The Chiefs often maligned defense was able to pressure and worry Rodgers, and the usually assured scrambler was hit and sacked at a significantly higher rate than the norm, suggesting the Packers’ O-Line protection needs a little bit of work done to it. But Rodgers was able to use his backfield weapons to great effect. Aaron Jones (I love you) & Jamaal Williams (I don’t love you, STOP taking fantasy points away from my Aaron) both found the endzone twice, and ensured that the team bereft of it’s one truly elite receiver – Davante Adams – still managed to score 31 points in one of the NFL’s most intimidating “home field advantage” stadiums. Jones, especially, is a true livewire, as exhibited on his two huge plays in Arrowhead. The pace he showed to break away from the Chiefs’ secondary will terrify most defenses around the league, and when you have Aaron Rodgers making INSANE plays – like the “heave and hope,” over the shoulder pass to Williams in the very back corner of the endzone – you always have more than a chance.

Rodgers has only one black mark on his surefire Hall of Fame resume. He’s only got one title. ONE. Playing for Titletown. The 2010 run to Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers was fairly magical, with the Packers winning 3 road games against the Eagles, the Falcons and the (sorry Wade) aforementioned Bears, en route to the Lombardi Trophy. But that’s been it. Not just one title. One Super Bowl APPEARANCE for Rodgers. Yep. It’s amazing. Admittedly, he’s not always had the best pieces around him, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but the closest he’s come to glory since 2010 is getting blown out in the NFC Championship game in 2016 by Atlanta. Yes, he’s a two-time League MVP, but only having one Super Bowl win, when you’re considered by SOME to be the greatest Quarterback of all time… It doesn’t quite feel right.

On the other hand, there’s another guy out there who is widely considered the GOAT, who seems to be blazing his annual trail straight back to the Super Bowl in his search for his SEVENTH Championship and the destruction of the planet as we know it. Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr & The New England Patriots. Brady’s run is almost the antithesis of Rodgers’. Brady has usually been supported by a solid team, whilst Rodgers has often had to make more than the sum of the parts around him. Brady can also be glad for the elite coaching staff he’s always had alongside him, and therefore the ability to be good enough in the regular season to almost guarantee home field advantage for his yearly hunt for gold. Since 2008, Brady has played in just THREE true road playoff games. Interestingly, he has a 1-2 record in those games, with the only win being that travesty against the Chiefs last year. And before I hear ONE COMPLAINT from Patriots’ fans, that pre-snap penalty saved you and was an absolute travesty. Ugh. So he’s actually beatable if you can drag him away from Foxborough. He’s just too good to let that happen often. Ugh again. Anyway, basically Brady hasn’t even had to be that good this year so far because the Patriots defense is absolutely mauling all teams unlucky enough to be put in front of them. Seriously, “lambs to the slaughter” comes to mind every time I watch a team try to score against them. But the point is, Brady is rolling towards another AFC Championship game, without really breaking much of a sweat.

But IF the Patriots make it to the big one again this year… could it be Rodgers waiting for him? The NFC is seemingly stacked with very viable teams, but Green Bay – who for once have a defense to support Rodgers – could be the one. We’ve only ever seen Rodgers vs Brady twice (1 win each for the record, don’t all great things come in threes?!), but wouldn’t it be poetic to see these two face off for the biggest prize in North America? There would be a LOT of conflicted people who wouldn’t know who to cheer for… but it might just end up being that way. What a spectacle it would be. Maybe Brady vs Rodgers on the biggest stage in American sports is what we truly deserve… Or worse… maybe it’s what we all secretly want.

Callum Squires
@callumjdsquires

Sunday at the Alex

by

What are you doing for the game on Sunday?
You going to Wembley, or are you toughing it out in a pub?
Most importantly, what are you doing after the game?

The Princess Alexandra in Crouch End is a traditional British pub, with loads of sports screens, a banging menu, and is pretty close to Wembley.
Why not join us there after the game?
princessalexandran8.co.uk

Games on tap include:

5pm
Rams vs Bengals
Looks like a beatdown for the Rams in this wet and windy London game.
Don’t fancy going to Wembley?
The join us for the games.
We will also be showing NFL Redzone and feel free to bring a tablet to watch your own match at your table.

8pm
Panthers vs 49ers
This game will be blasting on Sky-so make sure you pop in to watch it after the game.
We will also be showing NFL Redzone and potentially another match as well.
Kitchen will be open late.

Come to the best NFL joint in North London!