With week 1 in the books, let’s take a look and see how the two teams got on!

NFL @ Wembley

Chicago Bears

The Bears came out and came out fast against an Atlanta side that had been the class of the NFC last year (for the regular season at least).

Jay Cutler put up nearly 300 yards and Matt Forte had over 150 all-purpose yards. But the stars were on Defense, where poor Matt Ryan was harried and hurried, sacked and stripped. Brian Urlacher was immense and Julius Peppers and Henry Melton got two sacks a piece. This looked like a team with something to prove and hungry for the win.

Whilst the “them V us” will wear off at some point, they’ll be hoping it’ll get them off to a great start this season.

Next game: at New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs had a tough game against the Lions who are fashionable picks to do well this year. The offensive line struggled to protect Freeman, the defensive didn’t get enough on Matthew Stafford and they gave up 4 long drives for scores. It was not a good start and that they were still in it at the end was a product of special teams and mistakes by the Lions.

But to quote Josh Freeman “It’s the first game of the year. It’s not going to make or break anybody.”

Next game: at Minnesota Vikings

Prediction

Based on these performances, I’m sticking with the Bears and actually extending the winning margin: Bears by 7-10 points.

In the AFC

That the New England Patriots are the number 1 team is in no doubt after successive thumpings of the Jets and the Bears. The Patriots are looking at home field advantage. The Steelers are also the proud owners of a bye-week, but have the Ravens one game back but behind on tie-breakers – they hold a wildcard spot.

The Jaguars are leading the AFC South, but are behind the West leadering Chiefs thanks to that week 7 loss in Kansas. The Chiefs are coming off a humbling loss to the Chargers this week and need to bounce back or the Chargers will hunt them down in the remaining weeks. In similar fashion the Colts are lurking right behind the Jags and next week’s match between those two teams is vital to both teams.

Despite two successive losses, the New York Jets hold onto a playoff spot. One more win will be enough to see them in (unless I’ve miscalculated).

This week’s AFC matches would be:

• Baltimore Ravens @ Jacksonville Jaguars
• New York Jets @ Kansas City Chiefs

Bye: New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers

In the NFC

The Falcons have the best record at 11-2, but have the second best 10-3 Saints right behind them. They meet in week 16. One of these two teams will be a very dangerous wildcard.

The Eagles edge out the Giants in the East despite their 9-4 marks as they are 3-1 in-division. The Packers loss to the Lions at the weekend means that the Bears stay top despite also losing.

And in the West… well. The Rams are still leading, but the Seahawks are only 1/2 game behind and the 49ers are – at 5/8 – are one game from the lead thanks to their superior divisional record. This is a sad looking division.

This week’s NFC matches would be:

• New Orleans Saints @ St. Louis Rams
• New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

Bye: Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears

Alex Smith, 49ers QB

His three TDs, 255 yards and 0 interceptions took the 49ers past the Seahawks in some style. And whilst the importance of the defensive showing in this match cannot be understated it was a composed and confident performance.

The post-season is still looking like a stretch. At 5-8 they’re one game behind the Seahawks and Rams but crucially they are 3-1 in the fairly weak NFC West. With the Rams and Cardinals to come after next week’s trip to San Diego there is still hope.

Image Credit: John Martinez Pavliga

Lets hope that they fix it soon and we can all get back to the games we were watching. The replays are fine, but there is nothing as good as watching live.