NFL in London

National Football League in London

Wade McElwain

Week 16 Preview

by

The NFL regular season is winding down while Santas’s sleigh approaches, as Wade & Ryan open their final advent window before Christmas in this Week 16 Preview podcast.

Week 15 brought with it some crazy upsets (looking at you Steelers & Jets), and it with changed the landscape of the NFL playoffs. Imagine if Pittsburgh loses all their remaining games and fails to make the finals? How 2020!

Week 16 has some great games over Christmas and Boxing Day, so make sure that you get your fantasy lineup set if you are fortunate to be in your playoffs. This is the finals for many leagues so good luck!

The guys make their score predictions for ALL of the games this week, so make sure that you listen to the whole thing to gleam all of the useless knowledge the boys have compiled over the season. Among some of the games the guys preview this week includes:

Vikings (6-8) vs Saints (10-4)
Saints -7  +52

Minnesota is almost out of the playoffs, and after a bad beat by the Bears last week, it’s hard to see how they can manage it. Their D is a shambles, and there is only so much weight you can shift to Dalvin Cook to carry the whole team.  Jefferson and Thielan are always a threat, if Cousins can find enough time in the pocket, which is rare under the heft of a strong D like New Orleans.
The Saints took a tough hit from the Chiefs last week, so they should be motivated to want to oust a division rival particularly the nasty Vikings.
It’s no secret that the Saints fans will be hating on the refs on Christmas Day, hoping that Santa will save them from previous naughty moves by the zebras in past years to rob them of playoff glory.
Wade & Ryan both think that the Saints will win, but that it might be closer than the Saints like.
Ryan- Saints 30 Vikings 24
Wade- Saints 27 Vikings 23

Dolphins (9-5) vs Raiders (7-7)
Dolphins -2.5  +47.5

Miami looks like they are on the way to the playoffs if they can win these next two games. It will be easier to beat the Raiders than it will the Bills. Tua and the guys had a nice win over the Patriots last week, albeit low scoring and not that exciting.
Where the Dolphins shine is on defence, so look for them to try to thwart the legs of Marcus Mariota at every angle.
Las Vegas is about to call it a season. It is highly unlikely that they will finish with a winning record, and effectively have to retire to the strip to find some action. They also won’t be that motivated to win, as they haven’t been playing with any vigour this season when needed.
Wade sees the Dolphins rolling through while Ryan has hopes for Las Vegas to roll the dice for a win.
Ryan- Raiders 24 Dolphins 20
Wade- Dolphins 28 Raiders 18

Colts (10-4) vs Steelers (11-3)
Steelers -2  +45.5

The Colts and Phillip Rivers continue to roll on thanks to the play of their O line and solid D. Rookie running back Taylor has been very useful, and should see plenty of field against the Steelers.
Indianapolis has been very weak in their 4 losses, and they have the look of a team that could be out in one game should they make it to the playoffs. This game will see how adaptable they are, and how much they prepared for this big game.
Three losses for Pittsburgh, logo dancing, Tik Toks, and the new car smell is gone. Pittsburgh not only lost 3 games in a row, but they lost them epically to bad teams. They could be the first 11-0 team that fails to make the playoffs if they lose all of their next games, so the pressure is on.
Wade & Ryan both like the Colts here, as the Steelers are still in a haze of focus.
Ryan- Colts 21 Steelers17
Wade- Colts 28 Steelers 26

That’s it for this Week 16 Preview podcast, thanks for listening and pushing it up the charts. Listen to the whole thing to get all of the score predictions & game insight. Continue to share, laugh and love, as we have a hoot of a time making it for you.

Draftkings League

Our NFL in London Draftkings League is also a fun way to get involved.
We have FREE & PAID contests every week, so click away and play with us. Hopefully once this is all over we can all get together again.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Have a Merry Christmas, and stay safe this holiday season.

A Stiff Henry

by

If there has been one consistent joy this NFL season, it’s been watching players get ‘A Stiff Henry’ from the stellar Titans running back.
Fantasy owners of Henry have been constantly impressed by his tough and rough play, as well as  his ability to gash for countless yards after the touch.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the runs Derek Henry has put together this season, is the reaction from his own teammates.
Watching the cringes, ‘oh no’s’, and resulting memes and gifs that result have been nothing short of pure, joyous entertainment.

Even his own cum-back kid Ryan Tannehill has been impressed by his running back, not for the least of the reasons being it takes the pressure off of his inconsistent play.

Check out Tannehill’s reaction to one of Henry’s killer runs in 2020, it’s safe to say he was blown away.

You know who else has been HUGELY impressed by Henry this season? Everyone who has had to face him in fantasy and watch him rack up massive points to put you out of the season.

1995 Bills

by

What a blast from the past this week, as the Buffalo Bills finally become the AFC East Champions since 1995.
After a drought of Patriots dominance, it was a seasonal performance worthy of dressing Bill Belichick in a dildo costume and body slamming him into 12 collapsible tables into a vat of wing sauce.
The city of Buffalo is on fire, and it’s not just the chemical spills.
Oh what a time it was since the Bills were able to pull off such a feat, in fact you would have to take a time machine back to 1995 when the world was a simpler place.
Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and a feisty Bruce Smith brought us a Buffalo dynasty like no other. When Buffalo wings had yet to conquer the world, obesity was ‘okay’, and table throws were still in their infancy.
Anyone who was alive in the wondrous mid-time of the 90s’ remember a time without smartphones, influencers, emojis’ and status updates. People LIVED back then.
The 1995 Bills represented a working man’s NFL approach to the big business boar of Jimmy Jones and his deep pocketed Cowboys.
Sure, the 1995 Bills were one of many squads to be swept 4 times in the SuperBowl and the team & franchise fell apart/asleep in the Wilson era to follow…but…1995!!
Among some of the other things alive in 95 include:

Did OJ do it?

That was the burning question in 1995, as we wondered if they would acquire if it didn’t fit. Why would a successful former NFL player with a mild drug habit and fiery temper murder his ex-wife and her new boyfriend? Even Russian president famously asked Bill Clinton immediately upon landing in America in 1995 ‘Do you think OJ did it’?. We all wanted to know. Luckily, his peers deemed him innocent, even if another court ordered that he pay her family everything he had. We went on to stage an unsuccessful robbery of his former memorabilia, spend some time in prison, and now the world relishes in his half-cocked-up social media rants. The Juice might still have a little squeeze left in him even if his victims don’t.

TV

‘Member scheduled TV? ‘Member? ‘Must see TV’ was part of our weekly lexicon as Seinfeld got us saying ‘I’m out’, we all wanted to bang a ‘Friend’, and a Super Bowl ad cost a meagre $1.15 million. Now it’s all apps, crap and streaming. Meh.

George Foreman Grill

Some people might know George Foreman as that loveable old man with 100 kids named after him, but before that, he sold sandwich makers to old people over the TV. He was also a boxer, but he made more money off of sandwiches. The grill became a staple at college dorms, bedrooms for bacon mornings and with poorly skilled cooks who used it to ruin a perfectly good steak.

Wedding Gere

He’s straight guys. No, really. In 1995 Gere married Cindy Crawford after they took out a full page ad the previous year to declare that they were both ‘heterosexual’. A bold move even today and was possibly the only way to dispel rampant Richard rumours about his nasty habits. Some of the more colourful theories include him shoving live gerbils up his rectum, drinking a gallon of Rod Stewart’s warm man juice, hosting an orgy inside his rectum. His rectal activities played a large part in many of these topics, hence his need to marry a supermodel and take out an ad. Of course, everyone saw through it. Gerbil sales are still motioned to this day.

Super Computer

If you wanted to get on the net or do some spreadsheets, you needed a PC, which was the compute at the time. The hot model of 1995 was a slick IBM with a 486ghz processor, about as fast as a cracked iPhone in a bag of rice these days. One of these bad boys wasn’t cheap, costing you a cool $1800 to power up your windows 95. If you wanted to find one of these PCs these days you could check the dump, a hipster cafe, or a school for unfortunate children.

The Internet is a Waste

Newsweek magazine hit everyone hard in 1995 when they declared that the internet will never be anything more than a place to send business data. It was too unsafe to ever do anything like read the news, but tickets, or God forbid do banking. You heard it world, get away from the internet, Newsweek says it’s just a fad.
Read it here
https://www.newsweek.com/clifford-stoll-why-web-wont-be-nirvana-185306

Loser Love

Trying to prove the haters wrong, was a little company that just wanted to show some love. Match.com launched in 1995 hoping to take a bite out of the lucrative ‘Video Dating’ market. Looking at the 1995 version of the site gives you the impression that it’s what pedophile hunters would set up to ensnare some loser, but hey, look what happened.

Music

The 1990s had the best music bar none in 100 years. It’s a fact, ask anyone. 1995 was led by the ‘Common People’ who didn’t have to ‘Think Twice before they belted their ‘Earth Song’, singing ‘This is how we do it’. They climbed the ‘Wonderwall’ looking for ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’ chasing ‘Waterfalls’ near the ‘Country House’ trying not to ‘Scream’ at the ‘Scatman’ or the ‘Shy Guy, but with a little ‘Boom Boom Boom’ & ‘Heaven for Everyone in ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’.

Sports

In other sports, real dynasty’s were either coming to an end, or nearing their beginning.
San Franciso 49ers were the 1995 Super Bowl champs, as Steve Young and Jerry Rice pummelled the hapless San Diego Chargers.
Atlanta Braves won the World Series beating the poor Cleveland Indians. You could say their name back then.
1990s sports was a more nostalgic time for broadcasting. Digital cable was only starting to penetrate the plugs of America, so big networks and big personalities led the NFL slate.
Pat Somerall, John Madden, Jimmy the Greek and Al Michaels all brought with them a certain flair and panache to the pundit booth. Sadly with Jimmy it was racism, and it was a mighty slap of justice when the old bigot was put to roost.

Congrats to the Buffalo Bills on becoming AFC East Champions once again. They have the team to go all the way this year, let’s just see how far that way goes.
OJ did it by the way.

Week 15 Draftkings

by

Has somebody thought of throwing a challenge flag for the 2020 NFL season? As the world descends into further madness, we thought we would add a little joy to your Sunday with our Week 15 Draftkings picks.
If you haven’t been playing along with us this season, there is still time to play along for FREE or in PAID contests.
For many NFL fans, your fantasy season is over, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t play along with our Draftkings daily contests.
We have loads of fun trash-talking each other, and once all this virus nonsense is behind us-we look forward to meeting up with all of you in person again.

Until then, here are some of the top tips you might want to look at for Week 15 in the NFL.

QBs

Jared Goff $6300

Remember the fantasy adage for 2020…’Who are the Jets playing’? Well, this week it is the LA Rams, who have started to push the pedal down for the playoffs. It looks like the Jets are going to throw up a donut in the win column this year, and it’s kind of fun to watch Adam Gase implode. The Rams need to continue to win BIG in the rest of the regular season games, so it’s possible that LA beats the hell out of the Jets before halftime. Regardless, Goff will be a good value for the amount of points he will put up today.

Mitchell Trubisky $5300

Mitch was riding the pines for a good chunk of the season, until Nick Foles became ‘Nick Fails’ and put the nail in his own Bears coffin. Trubisky is auditioning for next season, so it’s no wonder that he is pulling out all the stops to stay in the NFL and avoid being a Walmart greeter.
In the past 2 games Mitch has looked great, moving the ball down the field easily with a balanced running and passing game. The Vikings have a weak secondary that Allen Robinson will find plenty of holes in.

RBs

Derek Henry $9500

Bling, bling baby! If you want to blow your wad this Sunday look no further than Derek Henry. The priciest of the bunch, it’s always hard to justify spending so much on one guy, when savvy bettors know that you can find value in the mid-tier players. With Henry playing a weakened Lions squad, you can easily see the Titans just letting Henry cook.

Cam Akers $6600

He’s back, he’s healthy, he’s scoring, and he’s playing the Jets. Akers has been a light in a running darkness for the Rams, so this game should be a good one to get his confidence up. If the Rams ramp up a big lead, they will rely on Akers to get the first downs.

WRs

DJ Chark $5000

Clark is healthy and ready to disrupt this week, as the Jags take on the Ravens in a big match. A few months ago the Ravens D brought with it fear and uncertainty, but seeing what the Browns did against them last week has dispelled that notion. Baltimore can be beat, and a stealthy WR will cause problems for them when he gets behind the lines. He’s averaging 11.9 fppg, which is a good deal for $5000.

Cooper Kupp $7000

Kupp is also playing the Jets, and has been finding big holes and gains all season. Kupp plays by his own tune, which is why he is found open so often as defences just don’t factor in t contain him. Kupp looks to have another big game against a horrendous Jets team.

Russell Gage $4700

With Julio Jones out, Gage is a great value play for Matt Ryan to hit on Sunday. Averaging 10.4 fppg, Gage has the wheels and hands to find some gaps in the Bucs D. It’s always good to see what value players you can get for under 5k, and Gage certainly dings that.

TE

Tyler Higbee $3800

Another Ram? Yep. Highbee has had an impressive year so far, and it should get even better on Sunday when he rips apart the Jets in the redzone. He’s too big and strong for the Jets to handle when they’re busy trying to cover Keenan Allen.

DEF

Bears $3200

The Bears play the Vikings on Sunday, but this game will be different than the one that was played a few weeks ago. The Bears are more invigorated from the desperate play of Mitch, and the D has responded by playing lights out football. They rattled Deshaun Watson relentlessly in week 14, and they should be ripped to take the head off of Cousins in this divisional match.

NFL in London League

If you want to play along with us every Sunday, make sure you join our Draftkings League here.
It’s called ‘NFL in London’, and we play every week.
https://dkn.gs/r/kwxDR0JIokKPkA6cPjCtNA

Good luck to everyone for Week 15, and have a Merry Christmas to all of you!

 

The Picks Six-Week 15

by

Welcome to another edition of the Picks Six! We’re about to get rolling on Week 15, as the climax of the NFL regular season rolls on. However, to be honest, I would be completely doing this wrong if I didn’t talk about the absolute masterpiece that was last week’s Monday Night Football. I didn’t get to sleep until gone 5am in London, but it was 100% worth it. What a game. I need to thank both the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns for that absolute rollercoaster ride. It was fantastic to see both Lamar (cramps aside) and Baker both looking back to their best, and whilst it was hard on the Browns not to win that game after such a stellar comeback, you have to respect the Ravens’ ability to withstand that and keep their playoff hopes alive. Let’s hope we get another game of that quality somewhere in this week 15 slate.

This week, I love, and I mean LOVE, like looooooooooove, this slate of games. I think there are numerous teams who should have way bigger margins of victory, and I am very happy to take those favourites. Let’s have a look!

1st and Goal from the 1yd Line

This is my nailed on – has to happen – pick of the week. 

I’m trying not to just pick on the hapless Jets this week (it feels too easy at this point), so we’ll look beyond the obvious LA Rams pick, and trek to the AFC South for our winner.

The Tennessee Titans are on the verge of claiming a second straight AFC South crown, but with the Indianapolis Colts breathing down their neck, they can

scarcely afford a slip up. Luckily for Mike Vrabel, he’s got Tractorcito and THIS – mid-December NFL Football – is #TractorcitoSzn. Derrick Henry looks unstoppable right now, seemingly rushing for 150-250 yards and 1-2 TDs every single week. The man is a machine, and correctly getting plaudits that are even suggesting he should be in the MVP conversation. I don’t think there’s any chance he can win it, because Mahomes and Rodgers are who they are, but King Henry deserves his respect, and I think he – and the underrated Ryan Tannehill – can take the struggling Detroit Lions to the cleaners this week. The line is Titans -11.0, which is a lot to cover, but I do expect Tennessee to take control early and feed Derrick Henry down the stretch. They need it way more, and the Lions are in absolute disarray.

Titans to win.

45yd Field Goal

This is my toss up, but likely winner. Odds around evens.

Chiefs -3.0

This line makes no sense to me. Yeah, fine, Drew Brees is back. Yes, I get it, the Saints defense is very good. BUT COME ON. This is Andy Reid’s Chiefs offense. Patrick Mahomes’ offense. The Legion of Zoom and Travis Kelce. I can’t grasp how the chiefs aren’t favoured by more. It’s the game of the week – without question – and I just can’t see a way that KC don’t continue their charge towards the #1 seed in the AFC. I’m taking the Chiefs.

TD Treble

Mark Andrews – Lamar looked electric on Monday running the ball, but when he needed a big play, he still looked more often than not towards his big Tight End. Andrews is an exceptional receiver and I think he’ll have a good chance of finding the endzone. 

Rashard Higgins – Higgins has become Baker’s favourite endzone target, as we saw on Monday night. The Browns must win against the Giants and I think they’ll have to throw a couple times – despite the bad weather – as the Giants seek to stop the run. 

Justin Jefferson – This is the risky one, because I’m trusting Kirk Cousins against the Bears defense, but Jefferson has been so electric this year – surely offensive rookie of the year?! – that I think he has enough to find the endzone this week. Chicago are on the brink of official elimination and I’m sure Minnesota would love to finalise that this week.

£10 on this treble pays about £130 depending on your bookmaker. At this price, I think this treble is well worth it.

If you don’t like the above options, I think Travis Kelce & Cam Akers are equally good options, but with considerably shorter odds.

The Overs

This week’s totals are a bit tricky. As much as I think there are numerous games that are very straightforward in terms of their outcome, there are a number here where I have no idea how many points will be scored. I’d say these two are the best of a bad bunch. 

Over 52.0 – Chiefs @ Saints – Brees is back, so even though Michael Thomas is out, the Saints should be able to get some points on the board. And they’ll need to, because Patrick Mahomes is 31-1 against teams who score less than 28 points… The Saints defense is no doubt an impressive crew, but nobody is better than the Chiefs offense. I think they Chiefs win this game and score a lot of points whilst doing it. 

Over 48.5 – Buccaneers @ Falcons – This one is weird because of how streaky the Falcons are… some weeks, they look like a team stacked with first round talents, and some weeks they look like the New York Jets. Makes no sense. Similarly, some weeks the Bucs look unplayable, and some weeks they look anaemic. But both offenses are explosive enough that I think this line should be a little bit higher, and as such will take the over. 

The Parlay

Not a great Paay last week, as the Bears decided to remember how to play offense, and the horrible Broncos and Washington teams disgustingly stole another win each. The good news? I might have mentioned this before… but I LOVE the board.

Bills -5.0 – I cannot fathom why Buffalo are not larger favourites here. Is it because it’s IN Denver and the altitude could play a part? Maybe. But still. This Bills team are 

Packers -8.0 – Aaron Rodgers wants a bye. Aaron Rodgers needs a bye. The Packers won’t let him down.

Titans -11.0 – See above. #TractorcitoSzn. It’s a big line, but they should run all over Detroit.

Dolphins -1.5 – You either believe that the Dolphins are for real, or you don’t. This game is everything to Miami. If Brian Flores’ upstarts are going to sneak into the playoffs, they’re going to need either the Ravens to lose (unlikely), or to win out themselves. That starts here. The Patriots ran all over the Fins in week 1, but this is a different Dolphins team. The 2nd ranked defense in the league is raring to go, and it’s a revenge game for so many former New England employees who have sensibly moved southeast to a nicer climate. I think now is the time for the Dolphins to finally slam the door shut on the Patriots dynasty, and start building their credentials to challenge the Bills for AFC East supremacy. They have to win on Sunday.

Browns -6.0 – Baker is cooking. You all saw that on Monday Night. I’m a big believer in Stefanski and this offense. Yep, the defense needs work, but the Browns rushing attack can control this clock and grind down the (actually quite good) Giants D. Colt McCoy cannot win this game. Browns.

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

(If you’re reading this after the two Saturday games have happened, I’d suggest adding Ravens -13.0 & Chiefs -3.0 in place of the Bills and Packers)

The Full English (Season Record: 74-35)

9-6 again last week; a number of ridiculous upsets in my opinion. Washington continue to steal wins at an alarming and outrageous rate. Here’s hoping that ceases this week. We’re still above 67% picking for the season – not bad at all – so let’s keep it rolling with this weekend’s slate. 

Bills @ Broncos – Bills

Panthers @ Packers – Packers

Bears @ Vikings – Vikings (Sorry Mitch)

Lions @ Titans – Titans

Texans @ Colts – Colts (I still don’t trust the Colts, but hard to believe in the Texans right now)

Jaguars @ Ravens – Ravens

Patriots @ Dolphins – Dolphins

Seahawks @ Washington – Seahawks (Washington are frauds, Haskins is starting, Seattle need to win… it’s clear for me)

49ers @ Cowboys – 49ers (This is maybe the tightest game of the week. Complete toss up for me. The Niners defense should be good enough to stifle Andy Dalton, but their offense is bad… hard to say, but I’m going 49ers, led by their defense)

Buccaneers @ Falcons – Buccaneers

Jets @ Rams – Rams

Eagles @ Cardinals – Cardinals (Hurts did great last week, by Kyler and the Cards need this for the playoff push)

Chiefs @ Saints – Chiefs

Browns @ Giants – Browns

Steelers @ Bengals – Steelers

Week 16

Next week is Fantasy Football championship week so here’s hoping my three semi final teams are still alive and playing for the money… 

We get Christmas Day football, a Boxing Day triple-header, and a Sunday slate including Seahawks vs Rams & Packers vs Titans. Tasty! I hope you’re all staying safe amongst this insanity of a festive period. Whichever Tier you’re in, stay safe this Christmas. As ever, I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter and Instagram if you wanna hear more from me. Have a great week.

Callum Squires is a safe distanced friend of NFL in London and a great Dolphins fan.