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International Series: Spring Forward, Fall Back
Oct 29th
With just two days to go until this weekend’s match at Wembley I’d imagine most people already have their plans in place. And so I’m sure nearly everyone has realised this by now, certainly as it’s the 4th year it has been the case – but the clocks turn back one hour this Saturday Night/Sunday Morning.
Because the US change their clocks a week later than us, we have 1 precious Sunday where the London game can start at 5pm and be in line with the US games, which start at 6 UK Time every other week of the season.
So when the tickets say “Kick Off 5:00PM” they’re talking about GMT, not British Summer Time. If you don’t put your clocks back you’re going to be there early.
Actually, that’s not such a bad thing, is it?
Week 8, 2010: Green Bay Packers @ New York Jets
Oct 29th
This week sees me heading to Wembley along with Andrew and Graham for what should be a great game of football between the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers. That won’t stop me from taking a look at other games however, and this week I’ll be focusing on the Green Bay Packers at the New York Jets.
Mark Sanchez
Brandon Jackson has now had time to settle into the Packers offence and show us what he is made of. I do commend him and he has done a decent enough job. Sure he’s not the feature back that Ryan Grant is, but considering his lack of playing time previously he can be proud. I do think that the Packers are desperately missing the presence of Jermichael Finley, Aaron Rodgers more than anyone else. He was a focal point in their passing game and to be honest that has looked a little stale since he has been out. They really need to try and utilise Greg Jennings more than they have done, because when he has had the ball thrown at him he has made some good plays and showed everyone why he can be the number 1 receiver at Green Bay. He has already beaten his touchdown total from last year in half the time, but his yardage is suffering and at the moment he isn’t even close to breaking 100 yards. More >
NFL 2010 Week 8 Predictions
Oct 28th
We’re all at Wembley this week, so watch fewer games than is usually the case! We’re also late with these as we’ve been looking towards Brent more than anywhere else. But here we are…
There are 13 games again this week. For a list of the games, visit http://www.nfl.com/schedules.
NFL International Series – Anthem Singers and Honorary Captains
Oct 28th
If you missed the official announcements the I’m pleased to tell you the following…
Jeff Beck will be playing God Save The Queen, and Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child, Strictly Come Dancing) will be turning out The Star Spangled Banner. Personally I find the US anthem incredibly stirring (especially given that most of it is about dastardly English soldiers *shakes fist*) and given the response it’s received in previous years I guess I’m not alone.
The captains are, as I think we all knew, Jerry Rice and John Elway. They’ll be accompanied by UK sportsmen Mo Farrah (for Denver) and Ben Ainslie (for the 49ers). This is the perfect mix of NFL legends and UK representation. Seeing Jerry Rice and John Elway in the flesh will be pretty awesome, and both Ainslie and Farrah are inoffensive enough to not get booed like John Terry. It’s perfect.
NFL International Series – Denver Broncos @ San Francisco 49ers – Prediction
Oct 27th
The time is finally here! This is not just a regular season game to us NFL fans here in the UK, this is like Christmas time…err…on Halloween. These International Series games at our national stadium Wembley have meant so much to us, we know we are going to love this one and we also hope there are many more to come.
Mike Singletary
I had been unsure if this years UK game at was going to be as close as we had all hoped. However, it seems that the San Francisco 49ers are on the up and Denver are heading in quite the opposite direction.
The Denver Broncos travel to London on Friday, electing to get their prep in at home before taking in the London sights and distractions. You can catch up with their movements here http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/london-calling-2/
I caught up with the Denver v Oakland game last night, I had been warned by Andrew that the first half was a bit of a horror show and it really was. Denver’s defence had more holes in it than my first car! It wasn’t just the defence either, Mac favourite – Kyle ‘I stole my hair from the 80′s’ Orton didn’t have much joy leading the offensive charge and was under more pressure than Gordon Brown was to smile during the election build up.
NFL International Series: Meet Your Starting Quarterback
Oct 27th
Troy Smith
I have to be honest and say that I don’t know much about this other Smith, beyond the broadstrokes I know he won the Heissman, can scramble, had limited use at Baltimore and that he’s not practised with the firsts at the 49ers. Also that I can’t find a decent picture of him as a 49er.
There are worse places to make a debut though, than at a neutral venue. As I said in an earlier post, Josh Freeman has developed well after taking over for Josh Johnson in last year’s game – it’d be nice to see Troy’s career take-off in a similar way. We wish him the best of luck.
Image Credit: Keith Allison
Oh no! Romo!!
Oct 27th
By now I’m sure you have all heard about the injury to Tony Romo. He took a hit in Monday night’s game against the Giants and had to leave the field never to return. Well, that night anyway. Now we know the extent of his injury the forecast shows that Tony will miss at least 6-8 weeks with a fractured left clavicle. Good news? No surgery is required, and it is his non-throwing shoulder. Bad news? I suppose the fact that the Cowboys will be without their franchise quarterback during this harsh time is bad news enough… for Cowboys fans anyway.
Tony Romo
NFL International Series 2010: Wembley Watch – Morning Update, Wednesday 27th
Oct 27th
A quick update and some team news. As injury statuses are updated later today, we’ll get a clearer picture of where things are.
San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith‘s status is still unknown. A scan has confirmed that he’s got a seperated shoulder, the extent of it hasn’t been revealed. It’ll be later today when a status is given to him, but he was in a sling yesterday so it doesn’t look good.
Nate Clements and Delanie Walker are both expected to play. Eric Heitmann is still out.
EDIT – I really should have waited. Troy Smith has been announced as the starting QB for the 49ers. Hopefully he’ll go on to do as well as Josh Freeman (who also made his debut at Wembley) is doing.
More >
The Little Travel Guide to NFL Wembley
Oct 26th
With the Wembley day fast approaching I know a lot of people are wondering what time to show up, how is best to travel, how much wonga should I bring along etc… So, for all you good people heading up to London I’ve created what I like to call, ‘The little travel guide to the NFL at Wembley’. Catchy eh?
The first thing you want to make sure you do: WEAR YOUR COLOURS!
This way I’ll know who to avoid…. I mean, that way we can all have good banter and a general good time with deep discussions and opinions regarding the NFL and said team.
Now, there are many ways to get into Wembley itself. What we like to do is drive the long drive down the motorway and stop at a lovely little place called Hillingdon just outside of Wembley itself, and right on the A40. There we can park up and just hop on the tube (Met. line) for a short 15 minute journey to Wembley Way. We miss a lot of traffic (both vehicle and human), don’t have to worry about parking near the stadium, and have a pretty much stress free time. Obviously getting out of Wembley is harder than it is to get in, but this way you only have to brave the queues once, get off the tube and then make your way home. There are many little ‘connection’ stations like Hillingdon that will make your journey easier, take a look at http://www.wembleystadium.com/ and plan your route accordingly. More >
Results, Week 7 2010
Oct 26th
With Dallas going down last night (and out?) 11-3 represents my best mark so far this season, and I’ll look to build on that. Craig and I are now level, with a small advantage on Graham – we’re all well behind Jason Cole at Yahoo! Sports and his 66-38 though.
We’ll be back later this week with our predictions for week 8, including a look at the Wembley game this Sunday.
For the full scores and results, have a look at nfl.com
| Andrew | Graham | Craig | |
| Week 1 | 8-8 | 10-6 | 7-9 |
| Week 2 | 9-7 | 7-9 | 8-8 |
| Week 3 | 9-7 | 7-9 | 10-6 |
| Week 4 | 9-5 | 9-5 | 9-5 |
| Week 5 | 6-8 | 8-6 | 7-7 |
| Week 6 | 7-7 | 8-6 | 9-5 |
| Week 7 | 11-3 | 7-7 | 9-5 |
| Total | 59-45 | 56-48 | 59-45 |
| Total % | 57 % | 55 % | 57 % |