Blog

Fri – 1:25am: Browns @ Bengals (Sky Sports 1)

Sun – 6pm: Cowboys @ Jaguars (C4 & Sky Sports 2)

Sun – 9:25pm: Giants @ Seahawks (Sky Sports 2)

Mon – 1:30am: Bears @ Packers (C4)

Tues – 1:30am: Panthers @ Eagles (Eurosport 2)

We had the big clash between the two AFC giants in Boston and Brady came out on top against Peyton. Manning completed 34 of 57 passes for 438yds, two touchdowns and two interceptions, in the Broncos’ 43-21 loss against New England. His stats were marginally better than his rival, Brady completed 33 of 53 passes for 333yds with four touchdowns and an interception.

This was the 16th duel between the pair and New England outfoxed Denver on both sides of the ball. The defense was in Manning’s face so much his offense struggled on numerous occasions to get the snap off on time. Edelman was the star in this game, catching 9 of 10 targets for 89yds and a touchdown. He also scored on an impressive long punt return.

It was also a case of deja vu for Ben Roethlisberger as he helped the Steelers pick apart Baltimore in their important AFC North contest. Big Ben completed 25 of 37 passes for 340yds and six touchdowns in their 43-23 win. Pittsburgh are now 6&3 and they’re looking hot in their three-game winning streak. The pressure is on Andy Dalton and the 5&2 Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals welcomed back A.J. Green to the fold, scoring a touchdown on his return against the London-bound Jaguars. Cincinnati had their rookie RB to thank in their 33-23 victory on Sunday. Jeremy Hill ran for a career-high 154yds and a pair of touchdowns. He added a bit of guile in an otherwise sloppy performance by the AFC North leaders.

The shock of the week came in San Francisco. 49ers fans must be worried about their weak O-line. Colin Kaepernick was sacked eight times against the Rams. This was the 9ers’ second straight loss and they’re now 4&4 for the season. More worryingly is that they’re 1&2 against division rivals and it looks like Arizona are running away with the NFC West. Harbaugh has key men to return in the coming weeks as his side prepare to face Seattle twice and travel to New Orleans this week. We’ll see how they’re set up for that play-off push at the end of a tricky November.

Dallas head over here hoping to get their season back on track after the wheels appear to have come off their play-off wagon. They missed Romo as Bradon Weedon completed 18 of 33 passes for 183yds and a touchdown with two interceptions against the Cardinals. The Cowboys are now 6&3 after their 28-17 loss on Sunday.

People will be holding onto their MVP nominations for Philip Rivers. The Chargers QB completed 12 of 23 passes for 138yds with three interceptions and a loss fumble before exiting the game in the third quarter in Miami. San Diego were shut out in the 37-0 defeat. Rivers injured his throwing hand during the game, so he’ll be hoping for a quick recovery during his bye week this week. The Dolphins have now won their last three.

Teddy Bridgewater outplayed RGIII, who made his return from injury. The rookie completed 26 of 42 passes for 268yds. Giffin was sacked five times and went 18 for 28 for 251yds, a touchdown and an interception. Minnesota went 4&5 in what was a rough day for Washington who started it with a crash between their two buses on the way to the stadium.

Oakland remain without a win, although they came within a touchdown of beating Seattle in the North West. The Raiders appear to be in the race with Tampa Bay for the first round pick in 2015. The Bucs lost again, this time to Cleveland as Brian Hoyer helped the Browns grind out a 22-17 win.

The week ended with another superb performance from Andrew Luck. The Colts went to New York on Monday night and defeated the Giants 40-24. Luck completed 25 of 45 passes for 354yds and four touchdowns. He’s now on pace to make a run at the single season marks for passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and pass attempts.

How did your team do with so many of the professional sides on a bye week? Click here to check out Week 9’s top 5 point scorers.

UK TV Schedule:

Sun, 6pm kick-off: Arizona @ Dallas (Sky Sports 2)

Sun, 9:25pm kick-off: Denver @ New England (Sky Sports 2)

Mon, 1:30am kick-off: Baltimore @ Pittsburgh (C4)

Tues, 1:30am kick-off: Indianapolis @ New York Giants (Eurosport 2)

Can you believe we’re more than half way through the regular season? Gaps are starting to appear as teams prepare themselves for their assault on the play-offs.

There are two big games with play-off implications tonight. In the AFC, New England host Denver in the battle of two of the league’s greatest signal-callers. Manning vs Brady, the winner of whom is likely to get top seeding come January.

Then we head over to the Lone Star State for Arizona vs Dallas. Is it too early to consider these two as major contenders? They keep grinding out results, so they must be taken seriously. A lot of tonight’s game will depend on whether Romo plays. The Cowboys’ QB has suffered two fractures in his back, but he still might feature. Dr (Jerry) Jones will no doubt do all he can to get his main man on the field – you would too if your other option was Brandon Weeden! If America’s Team can halt Andre Ellington then they could go a long way to getting the result.

We might see fewer fantasy points on the board this weekend because a lot of the big scorers are on bye weeks. The Bears, Bills, Falcons, Lions, Packers and Titans all have a week off and many teams have a core of players from those franchises. The likes of Rodgers, Forte and Stafford, regular 20+ scorers, are going to be big misses.

Elsewhere, life doesn’t get any easier for Jets fans. They’ll soon be starting their own form of “Suck for Luck” campaign to give any light to their season from hell. Today they travel to the Mid-West to try and stop a Chiefs side who are on an impressive little run. Kansas know they’ll need to keep their winning streak going to stay in the race in the AFC West. It looks like Denver are walking it, but the Chargers have lost their last two and they have a tricky trip across the country to Miami.

49ers fans were hoping to see Aldon Smith make a welcomed early return from suspension this week for good behaviour, but they’re going to have to wait a bit longer. San Francisco have a divisional game against the Rams in The Bay. It’s a game even the most loyal St Louis fan will mark as a home win.

There will also be implications in the huge AFC North clash between the Ravens and Steelers. The C4 game could be a tasty one with Big Ben coming off that huge game last week. Both teams are 5&3, but the Steelers have a losing record in the division. They need a win tonight to maintain any real hope of making it into January.

How did your fantasy team do in Week 8? Click here to see who this week’s top 5 fantasy performers were.

What a week that was! We were treated to one of the most exciting endings to a game, right here in our own backyard. I was a great advert for the sport.

83,000 UK football fans were glued to their Wembley seats as the Lions fought back from the brink. Matt Stafford said it was the most emotional he’s been around a game – just keep them coming.

If you kept Big Ben Roethlisberger on your bench you must be reeling. The QB completed a whopping 40 of 49 passes for a career-high 522yds and six TDs in the Steelers’ 51-34 win over the Colts. He joined Roger Staubach and Tom Brady as just the third signal-caller in the Super Bowl era to win at least 100 games from their first 150 starts. Big Ben appears to be in total sync with Antonio Brown, who had ten receptions for 133yds and two touchdowns. I had Heath Miller on my bench. To be fair he’s done nothing all season, but his seven receptions on eight targets saw him claim a season-high 112yds + TD in that Colts win, clocking him 20.20 points in the process.

The rookie wideout, Sammy Watkins, had another big day. He had three catches on six targets for 157 yards and a touchdown on Sunday as his Bills side defeated the disappointing Jets 43-23. The Jets, who saw Percy Harvin start his first game, pulled Geno Smith at the end of the first quarter after he threw interceptions on three consecutive possessions. Enter Michael Vick. He didn’t do much better with one pick and two lost fumbles. Coach Rex Ryan said after the game, “Let me tell you, I’m getting sick and tired of the losing, that’s for sure”. They’ve now lost seven in a row for the first time since 2005 and Week 9 doesn’t get much easier for them with a trip to KC.

The Chiefs are unlucky to be in their division. Alex Smith is having a strong season, he completed 24 of 28 passes, in Week 8, for 226yds in Sunday’s 34-7 win over the Rams. Jamaal Charles lived up to his 1st Round pick once again, clocking up 23.70 points for me as he rushed for 73yds from 13 carries and four catches on four targets for 44yds. He’s my only standout RB, although I’ve waivered Carlos Hyde in time for Week 9. It’s difficult to see past the Broncos and Chargers in the AFC West, though.

Drew Brees and the Saints kept their play-off hopes alive in their impressive 44-23 win over the in-form Packers. Brees completed 27 of 32 passes for 311yds and three touchdowns. The QB enjoys the primetime spotlight. He lead the the Saints to points on eight of their nine competitive drives, including a run of four consecutive touchdowns in the second half. It was his best performance this season and Brandin Cooks also had his first big game since Week 1. He caught six of seven targets for 94yds and a touchdown. They’ll be primetime again on Thursday, so Saints fans will be hoping for more of the same.

Yet again we saw another standout performance from J.J. Watt. The DE had three tackles, two sacks, one batted pass and forced one fumble in Sunday’s win over the Titans. He’s up to seven sacks for the season, including five in the past three games. He’s one of my most consistent performers and deserves to be amongst the front runners for this year’s MVP.

Were you at Wembley on Sunday for the Detroit Lions vs Atlanta Falcons game? Check out our gallery here

As 83,000 fans watched the Detroit Lions come from 21-0 down at half time to beat the Atlanta Falcons 22-21 at Wembley on Sunday, one newspaper was reporting that we might be treated to FIVE regular season games next year.

The Mail on Sunday revealed that NFL bosses are planning for more games in 2015 to lay the groundwork for a London franchise.

It’ll be interesting to see where they schedule the fixtures because Wembley is already committed to hosting Rugby World Cup games during September and October next year. The England soccer team will also host two Euro 2016 qualifiers during October.

This week Chancellor George Osborne pledged that the Government will do all it can to bring a franchise to London. If we do get five games next year it could go a long way to securing us a franchise sooner than we know it.

London hosted its tenth International Series game on Sunday and it was arguably the best game yet.

It was certainly the best finish we’ve seen at Wembley. Matt Prater kicked a 48yd field goal as time expired to clinch the game for the Detroit Lions as they came from 21-0 down to beat the Atlanta Falcons 22-21.

He missed his initial attempt, but the play was repeated because of a false start. There were scenes of celebrations from the road team as they sealed their victory right at the gun.

It was a game of two halves. Atlanta flew out of the blocks, scoring on each of their first two drives. Matt Ryan was sublime in the first two quarters, completing 14 of his first 17 passes for 160yds and those 2 TDs.

Steven Jackson was the main threat for the Falcons, rushing for 60yds off 18 carries, scoring 1 TD.

Matt Stafford struggled in the first half and as the Lions went in at half time they looked odds on to go into their bye week 5&3.

The second half was all Detroit, though, with Stafford leading them through five straight scoring drives. One of the highlights came during the 3^rd quarter as he threw a bomb to Golden Tate for a 59yd scoring strike. Tate was the main man for the Lions in the absence of Calvin Johnson. The receiver had seven catches on a season-high 15 targets for 151yds and a touchdown.

Credit must also be given to Detroit’s defense. Like their offense, they struggled in the first half but they stood strong in the second to deny Atlanta at crucial stages. Falcons fans will be concerned at their side’s capitulation.

The last losing team to leave London fired their coach almost as soon as he touched down back in the States. The Falcons are now 2 & 6. Mike Smith won’t be sitting comfortably on his flight home.