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.

The 49ers have been very good against the run so far this season, and the Broncos have been terrible running the ball. Don’t be surprised if the Broncos revert to type quickly this weekend and start putting the ball in the air.

Denver Broncos

Andre Goodman and Brian Dawkins will likely be available for the game, which is a big plus against the pass. Goodman has played at Wembley before when he was a Dolphin in 2007. Laurence Maroney has also played there (Patriots, last year) and got a TD (he can be seen running in on the Wembley Memories posters on the Underground) Although Brady got multiple passing scores, no player has received or rushed for multiple TDs. Maroney could be the first. Tedd Ginn Jr for the 49ers also could… neither look incredibly likely at this point though.

Kevin Vickerson is doubtful as is Perrish Cox, who suffered concussion and experienced memory loss after leaving the game last week. Eddie Royal has missed some practice, but expect to see him get involved.

More later!

NFL at Wembley... Not Long Now

The 49ers have arrived and are settling into London and the UK timezone for a good number of days ahead of Sunday’s game. Yesterday Alex Smith underwent some tests on his shoulder, but it’s still not known at this point if he’ll be able to play or not.

If he can’t, expect to see some serious time spent running the ball. The Broncos gave up 328 yards on the ground against the Oakland Raiders this week, a number which… well, wow. If the 49ers can get their young offensive line to create some seams, Frank Gore could have another great day and possible his third consecutive 100 yard game. If that’s the case (and I know there’s a lot of ‘ifs’ here) then backup QB David Carr won’t be asked to win the game, just not to lose it… something which he didn’t manage this past week.

The Denver Broncos are not leaving until Friday, forgoing the additional acclimatisation days for rest, training and then late travel. Teams have done this in the past, and there are pros and cons to both approaches, but they could still be out of sorts come Sunday. Anyway, they need the time to review the horror show that was the Raiders’ game and work out what they need to fix. Although as the home team I want the 49ers to win, I have Brandon Lloyd and Kyle Orton in my fantasy team (currently 6-1-0!) and I like to see a passing game as much as the next fan.

There is a lot to look forward to in what is looking more and more like a close game. There are some great looking matchups in both team’s secondaries: Lloyd and Nate Clements, Bailey and whoever the 49ers line up against the Champ. I’m also looking forward to seeing Taylor Mays, and it’s a shame that Brian Dawkins is almost certainly out.

More tomorrow as we count down the days to the great day out that is the NFL International Series at Wembley. Keep checking back.

Image Credit: Jess Loughbrough

Dallas Linemen Marc Colombo (vocals), Cory Procter (drums) and Leonard Davis (bass) are 3 of the 4-strong heavy metal band Free Reign who have now been signed to label Riot Entertainment and will have their debut album out later this year. Guitarist Justin Chapman sees out the lineup.

I’ve played in a band, and I’d argue that it’s a lot easier than protecting Tony Romo from the likes of Willie McGinest or chasing a Brian Dawkins’ produced fumble return. (Yeah, that’s a cheap shot. Hello! Redskins’ fan!).
The three lineman weigh nearly 950 lb, which puts them well ahead of Guns ‘n’ Roses announced weight of 850 lb (Get In The Ring) for all six of them at the time. It’s probably fair to say they wouldn’t get into many fights on the tour circuit and can say what they want about Axl Rose.

I like my guitar work heavy, but the vocals let this down for me. But I’m sure they’ll do relatively well.
Check them out at their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/freereign