NFL in London

National Football League in London

Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC-Division Preview

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The bridesmaids of 2019, the NFC is looking to hoist one of their top teams to Super Bowl glory in 2020, but will they have enough to wrestle the feisty AFC teams in contention?
Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull break down all of the divisions so that you don’t have you. What will each division yield in a tumultuous new season?

NFC East

In the 90s, the NFC east was a spirited division with rivalries between the Giants, Cowboys and Redskins (the Eagles mostly sucked then). It’s been a while since the Eagles had a dominant victory over the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and it’s hard to see one of them repeat that kind of team intensity this year. Wade & Ryan both think that their strong D and running game will give them a winning record of 9-7 with a playoff chance very likely.
Both guys have the Giants hitting at 8-8, which means that they will have some close games, bad losses and terrific upsets. Daniel Jones has bulked up to shake up this division and inspire some real battles. Dallas is the interesting team in this mix, as they have all of the tools to be very good this year. If Mike McCarthy can get this team firing, plus the added bonus of a competitive Andy Dalton, the Cowboys could be VERY good this year. Wade & Ryan both peg them at a respectable 11-5. As for the Washington…team…guys…thing. They will suck harder than an ‘hourly employee’ paid for by Dan Snyder at 3am. Swimming out of that toxic swamp in a city that is a toxic swamp, during a toxic swamp election year will be nothing but stinky. They have some players who will make for some interesting games, but you will only see those moments on RedZone or in the morning.

NFC North

This has to be one of the toughest divisions in football this season. Aaron Rodgers is now in a ‘prove it or lose it’ position with Jordan Love stroking himself in preparation on the sidelines. The Vikings came so close last year, but injuries and inconsistency left much to be desired in a title quest. They have added some great defensive players & Cook is primed for another stellar season.
Oh those Bears. Ask Wade anything about the Bears and expect a flurry of eyerolls and gasps. What do we do with the Trubisky situation. It’s like when you invite your wife’s cousin over to stay for a few nights because you think he’s cool and lonely, and then he moves in and squats in your garage. Use him or lose him. He has a lot to prove in Chicago this year if he wants to stop having dog shit thrown at his house. The Lions are in for a tough season. They lost a lot of tools, and Matt Stafford will still be chucking the ball to Jones Jr for big plays. They can inflict some damage, but will likely whimper off as the post season looms. Both Wade & Ryan like the Packers but Ryan likes the Vikings a little bit more.

NFC South

Oh the south will rise again, because Tom Brady is here! There are a lot of expectations from the Bucs this year as the old Patriots become the new TB with a few solid weapons. They almost made the playoffs last year with Winston, so they should do very well if they stay healthy. Wade & Ryan both think that they will hit a 10-6 record. If Tampa sucks this year, how much could it affect the dynasty of TB12?
The Saints will be marching in this year with playoffs on the playlist. After coming so close in the past few seasons, they finally seem to put a dent in the NFC. Wade likes them at 13-3, while Ryan sees them a more comfortable 11-5.
Atlanta is that flashing button on the microwave. The oven still works fine, but for some reason you don’t know how to fix it. Matt Ryan has incredible numbers, but their injuries in the past few seasons have been woeful. The are Mr. Mediocre for the past few years and look to stay that way in 2020. Wade says 8-7, Ryan has them at 8-8.
Lastly is team Christian McCaffrey, the little engine that runs over teams and tops all the fantasy tables. Adding Teddy B will take a break off of CMcC’s back, & adding the wheels of Robby Anderson makes them interesting. Just not winners. If Christian gets hurt they are well and truly screwed.

NFC West

The West has a bevy of good teams in it, but are they good enough?
Many have already begun to write off the 49ers after their offseason moves. They had the lead in the SuperBowl and looked poised to lift it up, but just didn’t have the tools to beat a crushing KC team. Wade and Ryan both see the Niners dropped off huge from last season, with Wade calling 8-8 and Ryan 9-7.
The Rams saw their hype get chin-booted in 2019, with the trauma of Tom Brady’s beating in the Super Bowl still fresh on their vibe. Goff has loads to prove, and you can only rely on the defence for so long. Wade has them going 9-7, while Ryan is a .500 man at 8-8.
Arizona has a team with incredible potential and nothing to really lose. Kyler Murray was impressive last year, and could be the softmore to watch, as adding Andre Johnson makes them a fun prospect. They won’t have enough on D to stop the big guys, but they should be able to disrupt and score some fun upsets. Both guys have them at 8-8.
Both guys think that the Seahawks will crap all over the competition. Russell Wilson is primed to explode this year, provided their team doesn’t implode with injuries. They came close last year, this year the go hard.

Want NFL tips? Get in touch and we can help you with your weekly picks. We offer a yearly subscription so that you can get all the tips for your weekly picks and pools. Just get in touch.
It’s a big year of the NFL ahead, get in!

 

AFC-Division Preview

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Everybody is an NFL pundit, so why not listen to the blathering on of some NFL experts?
Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull are ready with their divisional picks to make your life either easier, or more complicated.
Those are the kind of choices you get in a Covid world.

When it comes to NFL picks, Wade & Ryan are quite good at picking NFL winners. Wade was able to hit a whopping 64% correct against the spread in 2019, putting him right up there with Vegas Tipsters.
Ryan was able to hit 56%, which is better than grandma or an octopus can pick. So you’re in good hands.

So who do the boys like for this season? Let’s find out. Or you can listen to the latest podcast where they explain it all.

AFC East

Ryan is a Buffalo Bills fan, so expect a bit of a bias in his picks. He believes that the Bills will finally see their year, outperforming the New England Patriots and taking the division title with an 11-5 record. He has the Pats slightly behind at 9-7, with the lowly Jets and Dolphins finishing up at 6-10.
Wade also likes the Bills, but not so much. This is a tough division, which means that they will probably beat the crap out of each other to .500 records. He has the Bills at a respectable 9-7, with Bill Belichick’s coaching nipping on the heels of the Bills at 8-8. As for the other dumpster fires, the Dolphins will either start strong or finish strong, but they will deffo suck in the middle. Adam Gase will do what he does, and turn Jets fans a fiery red.

AFC North

Can the Baltimore Ravens repeat their Lamar-a-rific performance like they did last year? Ryan says yes, Wade says no. Ryan likes the Ravens have what it takes to take the division, pipping the Browns with the Steelers trailing in third. The Bengals of course are his fourth place,  as are most peoples’.
Wade is hot on Pittsburgh this season as the drama is behind them, and Tomlin is focused on a title run. Their D is incredible and their offence is finally healthy enough to challenge. Wade has Baltimore trailing with a respectable 11-5 record. He isn’t as bullish on the Browns however, as the high profile players will once again implode with a 6-10 season. He too thinks that the Bengals will stink worse than 2020, if that’s at all possible.

AFC South

The Titans rose as giants in their division last year, but will the brilliance of Bill O’Brien save the Texans? Not according to the boys. Ryan likes the pep of Phillip Rivers to take the Colts and their wicked O-line to a 10-6 record and the division title. He has both the Titans &  Texans slightly behind, with the Jaguars playing so bad, they should just be called ‘Florida’.
Wade on the other hand sees ties in the future, in fact a 3 way tie. He has the Titans, Colts and Texans all chunking out 9-7 records with the Jaguars getting shot in the jungle with a lowly 1-15 record.
The south will definitely not rise again.

AFC West

Damn this is one tough division. Not only do you have the Super Bowl champions looking to repeat, but a few other plucky teams who are ready to challenge.
Ryan is all aboard the Chiefs wagon, looking at them to win a whopping 14 games, and smoking the opposition. He has the Broncos in 2nd, Raiders in 3rd, and has the Chargers limping in at 4th place.
Wade is not as convinced on the Chiefs, as many teams experience a Super Bowl hangover, especially young teams with not enough focus. He still has them to win the division, but with only 10 wins, and 1 more than the Broncos. He also thinks that the Chargers will be a surprise this year, as the heat is off, Rivers is gone, and a whole new dynamic enters the locker room. If any team tests positive for Covid, Wade thinks it will be the Raiders, as you can catch anything in Vegas.

Who do you like? Who do you have to win it all?

Get in touch, follow us, and make sure you come to one of our events once this season gets kicking.

Fantasy Time-Podcast

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The NFL is only a week away, have you got your Fantasy teams sorted?
As every NFL fan knows, fantasy time is when you get to assemble your Avengers to take on the legion of dolts you call ‘pool friends’.
It’s nerve racking, logistical and a hell of a lot of fun.

Sadly Covid has claimed another victim in Fantasy Pool Parties, where you get together with your gang and a big board to choose your players for an uncertain 2020 season.
Who are you going to take? What position in the draft are you in? Who’s going to go boom or bust this season?

Wade and Ryan take an overview look at the NFL Fantasy season, and offer some tips to look at in each round of the draft.
The guys also talk about:

Leonard Fournette

He’s a Buc now (Wade & Ryan didn’t know that yet), so what will he do for Tampa? Is he a toxic mess? Is he washed up? Too old? Or is he just one of the drinkers of Tom Brady Koolaid for this upcoming season?

Jason Bell Dances

Congrats to our buddy Jason Bell for making the TV series strictly come dancing. If we watched the show, we would cheer you on. Always nice to see a nice guy get good things. Just a word of advice-if you cross the line holding your partner, make sure not to Gronk Spike her of added effect.

Predictions

Wade & Ryan make their win/loss predictions for each division, and some of the results might surprise you. Ryan loves his Bills to be a force in the AFC, while he sees Kansas City having another great season. Like Wade, they both think that the 49ers will struggle this year.
Wade likes the Steelers and Seahawks to put together some title defining seasons this year, and has his Bears as tough contenders in the NFC North.
If you want to hear all of their predictions, you have to listen to the podcast.

We will have more news about our upcoming plans for the 2020 season.
Listen, Subscribe and Share.

Make sure you get FanDraft for your 2020 Draft! Use our promo code FANDRAFTUK to get 15% off your pro order.

FanDraft your Draft

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Holy crap! The NFL is finally here in an eerie new way. Sure there’s a global pandemic wrecking havoc on our way of life, but football is back, so screw you Covid.

As the pumpkin spice springs back to life on the shelves, so do the Fantasy Football magazines, beckoning us to buy them to flip through those crispy pages on extended toilet breaks. Maybe magazines are old school, but there’s nothing like the nostalgia of dipping through the stats as you’re dropping the kids off at the pool.

Having run numerous drafts, the worst thing is the paperwork. And the alcohol. If you’re going to be a commish, make sure you don’t get too wasted or you’ll have a bugger of a next day trying to remember who had who and in what order.

Good thing there’s FanDraft, a wicked piece of NFL Drafting software that makes your draft simple and fun. With the pandemic blowing out the fun of a Draft Day outing, you can use FanDraft to virtually pump up your party, teaming it with streaming software for a fun few hours of bonding.

Here are some of the key features that makes FanDraft so wicked easy cool.

Draft Boards

Remember the days of the big old draft boards on cardboard that had sticky names on them? There was always one guy who had to build them, order the name tags, or worse-having to write them out manually. With FanDraft the board is a big screen of all the names, ordered in whichever way you like. The commish can switch between the DraftBoard, as well as top players by category and a précis of whatever guys you have drafted thus far. If you make a mistake or a glitch, the commish can simply fix it and the draft is paused until it’s ready to go. The players are also ordered by colour for position, so you can easily see what positions you still have to fill on your roster.

Draft Reports

In the olde days, the draft was written in a notebook, and some schmuck had to enter all the data into a document that would then be shared to the group. Some of you still do that? Damn! With FanDraft as soon as your draft is done you can export the results into an series of documents for the league and each player. This data is just a  copy & paste into whichever app you’re using. The process for a whole league can take less than 5 minutes and you’re ready to go.

Remote Drafting

Like any remote engagement, it all depends on the connection of the devices to really get one going. FanDraft has used an online method previously with increasing success each year. With the new platform for drafting, this is a fun way for everyone to play along in real time. Again your connection speed is going to be the key wherever you are, so run a few dry runs to see how it goes. Careful, some guys get pissed when they see what ‘could have been.’

Music & Pictures

It’s nice to have some tunes when you’re drafting, and FanDraft allows each player to choose 3 songs for their walk-ons. It’s a fun little addition, especially if you like to burn one of your fellow players. There has to be a loser every year, and why not rub it in with some cheesy songs to remind them of their loss? You can also add images, which are pretty handy when you want to see who’s on the clock.

Clock Management

There’s always one person who takes so bloody long, even in the early rounds. Make them pay by changing the selection clock to a shorter length. If you can get the draft down to 60 seconds per choice, you can get a good round down to under an hour. Some people might like the pause of a long and chatty draft, & other people have shit to do.

Conclusion

FanDraft is totally worth it. If you want to run an easy and efficient draft, this program will help you help you in so many ways. We love it so much, we want to give you 15% off the pro version with our promo code ‘FANDRAFTUK‘.
Just go here, sign up and start drafting. You can do as many drafts as you like, so have some fun.

https://fandraft.com/

Here’s a video that will help you run through how it works.

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.