Category: 2014 NFL Season

How nice was it to have football back?

After a summer of court cases, air pressure and disrepute, it was great to see the reigning Super Bowl MVP doing what he does best.

Brady had the look of a man on a revenge mission as he threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns. And all that came off of 28 attempts.

The Patriots QB looked composed and as if nothing had happened this summer. The man thrives on adversity. He uses every knock as ammunition and the Steelers were always going to be on the receiving end in Week 1.

Steelers fans will be concerned about their defensive performance last night. They looked good on offense with Roethlisberger throwing for 351 yards, but they missed opportunities including two field goal attempts. Le’Veon Bell is out for another week and Mike Tomlin will be thinking Week 3’s trip to St Louis can’t come soon enough.

Although Brady and Rob Gronkowski, who scored three touchdowns, picked up where they left off from last season, Pats fans will also be worried about the way DeAngelo Williams, the second oldest RB in the league, rolled over their defense with relative ease.

It’s only Week 1 and both sides will be confident that they can fix things. Come January they’ll each be contending for that AFC crown.

Whatever happens it’s just great to have football back.

Football’s back! Forget Deflategate and all that legal stuff. Come Thursday night it’s all about the game we love.

It’s about stories that are made on the field. It’s back to championship-winning plays by unknowns like Malcolm Butler. It’s about the drama created by catches, tackles, runs, sacks, fumbles and scrambles. It’s about football.

The offseason hasn’t been without incident. ACLs, suspensions and retirements have dented the hopes of teams as we enter Week 1.

So who’s going to be squaring up in Santa Clara on February 7? Everyone has their idea of who will get there, but the fact of the matter is no actually knows.

Here’s one way the AFC and NFC could pan out between now and 2016:

AFC Play-Offs:

1) Indianapolis Colts
They play in a weak division and Andrew Luck has a plethora of weapons on offense. The defense is a weak spot, but expect Luck and co to score more than they concede.
2) New England Patriots
The fact they have Brady back is a massive bonus for this team. Their defense has weakened, especially in the secondary. But let’s not write off the brilliant football mind of Bill Belichick. The AFC East is getting stronger but Brady is going to be angry and an angry Tom tends to get wins.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have one of the best offenses in the game. Unfortunately for them some of their weapons have been hit with suspensions. The defense is going through a transitional period and that’s why they’re picked as Number 3 seed.
4) Denver Broncos
People argue that Peyton Manning is on the decline. That looks to be the case, but he’s got enough in the tank to punish teams. The Broncos have a strong running game, although their O-line needs improving. They also have a strong defense which has the potential to dominate teams in their division.
5) Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are packed with studs. Their defense is strong, they’ve got a powerful backfield and a QB that seems to click up the gears as the season progresses. They’re in a strong division and have to play the NFC West this season. But they have plenty of talent to claim a wildcard spot.
6) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have a solid defense. Although they’re not the most impressive team on offense they have a QB who knows have to grind out wins. Alex Smith has some new weapons this year, most notably Jeremy Maclin. Travis Kelce is also a key target and they’ve got two studs in the backfield. They also play at Arrowhead which is a tough place for any side to visit.

NFC Play-Offs:

1) Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll is a winner. He’s made of similar stuff, dare we say, to the legendary Bill Walsh and players want to play for him. The Seahawks are dominant on defense and their division is getting weaker. They have enough in them to get 13 wins and the Number 1 seed.
2) Green Bay Packers
They might have lost Jordy Nelson, but let’s not forget they still have Aaron Rodgers! Nelson will be a loss, but Randall Cobb is more than capable of carrying the load. They also have a running back in Eddie Lacy that they can ground and pound the ball with.
3) Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones has worked hard on getting the best pieces into the right places. They’ve lost DeMarco Murray but their O-line is so powerful it can create holes for anyone. They’ll pound the ball again to give Tony Romo the best possible chance to fire them into postseason. Expect Dez Bryant to make an impact with his new franchise tag as well.
4) Atlanta Falcons
The NFC South is a poor division and the Falcons have the best team. That will be enough for them to make it into January.
5) Detroit Lions
The Lions have one of the best looking offenses in the league. They’re ready to click and will challenge the Packers all the way. Matt Stafford will have a fully fit Megatron, and Eric Ebron will be stronger at tight end in his second year. They also have a group of powerful runners in the backfield.
6) Philadelphia Eagles
Chip Kelly has been given the freedom to build the side he wants. If preseason is anything to go by then this team will be one of the most fun teams to watch this year. They have pace on offense and have the ability to outscore most teams. Their defense is strong as well, although there are concerns over the QB’s two knees.

So with all that it looks like the road to Super Bowl 50 will be going through Indianapolis and Seattle, but will it be a Colts vs Seahawks showpiece?

The Steelers vs The Cowboys will give us the fairtytale showpiece that will decide once and for all who is the greatest franchise in in the history of the league in this its golden anniversary.

The Hayne train kept on rolling last night as the wonder from down under put on another impressive display in the San Francisco 49ers’ final preseason game at home to the San Diego Chargers.

It looks like the next stop for this express is the NFL. 49ers head coach, Jim Tomsula, has a few decisions to make before he announces his 53-man roster for the 2015 season, but the former Australian rugby league star, Jarryd Hayne, is doing everything in his 6’2″ frame to guarantee a spot in that team.

His run up the sideline which finished with a shoulder charge that pummeled Chargers CB Lowell Rose has gone viral. Hayne has done much more than just roll players over this preseason. He’s shown speed and agility which has paved the way for some big runs.

He’s no longer just making headlines with our Antipodean friends, he’s become the talk of the NFL.

Last year he was awarded the NRL’s (National Rugby League) player of the year. He was a big deal in his sport and was offered the biggest pay packet his sport had ever seen. But he turned that down to pursue his dream of playing American Football.

“He actually looks like an NFL running back. Looks like he could come play with us tomorrow.”

Although he seems to have made that transition look easy it’s no small feat. It’s a testament to the 27 year old that he’s knuckled down and adapted life in professional football.

Long before they became team mates Reggie Bush predicted a career as a running back for Hayne after he watched tape of the rugby star.

If he’s going to make the team it’s likely that Hayne will be a punt returner. He’s been dodging tackles his whole career and the runs he’s made this preseason look better than most rookies coming out of college.

The skills he’s bringing with him are a breath of fresh air to the sport. Don’t be surprised if the teams competing in this year’s International Series games scout a few of the stars at the Rugby World Cup whilst they’re over here.

This autumn Wembley Stadium hosts three more NFL International Series games.

By the time the third and final game, Kansas City Chiefs vs Detroit Lions, kicks off on November 1 there will be one player on the field fulfilling his lifelong dream.

Standing at just 5ft 8in tall and weighing a mere 174lbs, Cairo Santos isn’t your average American Football player. Santos was born in Brazil. Growing up in Sao Paolo, like most Brazilian boys, he wanted to become a football player, but not the kind of football player he is now. “I grew up dreaming of becoming a soccer player and now I call myself a professional football player”, said Santos on his visit to London this week. “The ultimate goal is to become a professional athlete and I get to do that.”

“Ronaldinho was my native hero, but Frank Lampard was my favourite player growing up.” Forget Big Ben, the London Eye, or Buckingham Palace, Santos made Stamford Bridge his first destination when he landed in England. “I was a midfield player in Brazil and worshipped Lampard. I loved watching Chelsea and England playing.”

The Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker completed his rookie season in 2014. The 24 year old didn’t start playing the game until nine years ago. “I moved to the US to learn English when I was 15. I discovered football through the culture and my friends convinced me to give it a go because they saw that I could kick a ball and their team needed a kicker.”

It wasn’t long before a few talent scouts spotted his ability to kick the oblong-shaped ball as he adapted to his new life in Florida. “I started to get pretty good at it, a few talent scouts spotted me and I worked hard on getting a scholarship. Tulane were interested me and I ended up there. The rest is history.”

Santos received interest from Georgia Tech in Jacksonville and Miami University, but he moved to Tulane in Louisiana. He played in all 12 games during his freshman year and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. 2012 was his breakout season as he went 26 of 27 on point after conversions (his only miss was blocked) and a perfect 21 of 21 on field goals including a school record 57-yard field goal. “I did it (play American Football) just through curiosity, so I could tell my friends and family about it back home.”

He signed for the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in May 2014. During his rookie season he converted 25 of 30 field goal attempts, “I was pleased with how the season went. I could have played a bit better and I know the kicks that I missed were down to lack of experience and the cold conditions in Kansas. But I know what to expect from the crowd and the windy conditions, so I’m looking forward to the new season.”

And he’ll get to fulfil his ambition of playing at Wembley Stadium this coming season, “watching Frank Lampard play for England and Chelsea at Wembley I always wanted to go there.” Although he’s playing a different kind of football nowadays he’ll relish his moment on the field of England’s national stadium, “I still get soccer emotions running out in the field. Kicking a field goal is very much like taking a free kick in the 90th minute. The emotions are similar”.

“We get to visit Wembley the day before the game and I can’t wait to have a moment all to myself and reflect on how far I’ve come.” Santos has also examined Chelsea’s fixture list and highlighted their game at home to Liverpool just 24hrs before his Chiefs team take on the Detroit Lions, “I’m hopeful that I will be allowed to sneak out and watch that game.”

Cairo Santos was speaking at the NFL’s Play 60 touch football tournament near Central London, an initiative set up by NFL UK to introduce youngsters in the city to the sport. Six schools from the London Borough took part in the Summer Bowl tournament where each team was coached by an NFL player. A player from each of the teams playing in London this autumn visited the UK on a promotional tour for the International Series.

The Kansas City Chiefs play their home games at Arrowhead Stadium. They host the Detroit Lions on November 1 at Wembley Stadium. Last October the Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley in dramatic circumstances by kicking a field goal in the last second of the game. The Lions won 22-21.

There will be at least three more NFL International Series games at Wembley in 2016.

In an exclusive interview with 5thDownUK, NFL UK managing director, Alistair Kirkwood spoke candidly about moving the sport into its next phase of development in this country.

He also revealed that the NFL had input into Tottenham Hotspurs’ new stadium design and said that he hopes to see children’s football leagues set up across London and beyond.

“We won’t know until September what the likely plans are for 2016”, said Kirkwood when asked for the latest on next year’s games. “Teams only get eight home games a season, so it’s difficult to encourage them to give one of those up. There’s a lot for them to consider; most importantly their fans.”

Alistair Kirkwood attended the International Series Media Day which included the Play 60 flag football event where six London schools were competing in their Summer Bowl. It was the culmination of an intitiative to introduce the sport to youngsters this side of the Atlantic.

“We don’t know if there will be four games next year”, revealed Kirkwood, “we’re certainly not going to go backwards though.” He wouldn’t confirm the rumours coming out of Jacksonville that the Jaguars are about to announce a new four year deal with the NFL which will see the franchise play further games annually in London from 2017, “I’ve seen that story too, but it’s news to me. I see it as a positive though, because that means we’re guaranteed a home team each year.”

“The Jags have been brilliant in pushing us into the community to develop the game more with more grassroots focus, so if they do want to come on board more that would be great.”

Jacksonville’s new Safety, Sergio Brown, was one of six players over here coaching London children at the Summer Bowl. A player from each of this year’s visiting teams had a London school to lead and the competition was as rife between the coaches as it was between the children. “Just ask him how his team did just now”, teased the Detroit Lions running back, Joique Bell, as he broke from media formalities to wind up the Miami Dolphins defensive end, Olivier Vernon.

The players who attended the media day:

Sergio Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars Safety

Cordy Glenn, Buffalo Bills Tackle

Cairo Santos, Kansas City Chiefs Kicker

Joique Bell, Detroit Lions Running Back

Olivier Vernon, Miami Dolphins DE

Nick Mangold, New York Jets Center

Alistair Kirkwood was pleased with the event and enthused about the growth of the game on these shores, “we’re going into the next phase of development. We’ve been well known for our Wembley events, the Regent Street events and such like. The sport’s grown on TV and our fan base is growing. Now we want to grow our roots and offer an alternative to indigenous sports.”

The children were fully engaged in the activities the NFL put on. As well as the touch football games, they took had coaching sessions and even a 20 yard dash. “As a pilot programme we’ve partnered six London schools,” said Mr Kirkwood as he described the events that were taking place. “They have partnered with the six teams that are coming coming over this autumn. They’ve Skype-called the head coaches and players. They’ve also partnered with a sister school over in the States that’s within the locality of the team they’re representing. The chief nutritionist from one of the teams has also come over to give advice.”

This latest phase of work for NFL UK is to develop the sport over here and to get more children playing it, though Alistair Kirkwood pointed out that it isn’t all about keeping children fit, ” this isn’t just a physical activity, it’s also about helping the children mentally.” The NFL offers underprivileged youngsters in the States a way out of poverty. The sport gives them a sense of belonging, values and a college education.

The NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, fully endorses what they’re trying to do over here, “he wants us to stand for more than just putting on games,” Kirkwood confirmed. “We have an aspiration to develop pop warner football across the UK. There’s a huge population, but we plan to spread it across London and if we can do well there then we hope we can open arms elsewhere in the country.”

It was also confirmed that the NFL had an input in the design of Tottenham’s new stadium. The changing rooms will be larger than your average Premier League team’s to accommodate the huge squads that American Football clubs have. The NFL logo will be branded around the stadium as proudly as Spurs’ cockerel.

From 2018 we will have at least two regular season games played at that new stadium. There could be more played there and there is the option of further games at Wembley.

As the game is offered to more schools across the country and with the promise of fixtures for the next twelve years, rest assured that this looks like a sport that’s here to stay.

The beavers at 5th Down UK have been badgering away, not only creating dodgy mixed metaphors, but also a shiny new blog page!!

Check here later in July, as we start ramping up towards the 2015/16 NFL season!!

The NFL have suspended the New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, for his role in the deflategate scandal.

Last night the league punished the Super Bowl MVP with a four game suspension without pay. Brady will miss the first four games of the 2015 season. The Patriots received a $1 million fine and lost two draft picks, including next year’s first round pick and the fourth round pick for 2017.

The games Brady will miss:

Week 1 – home to Steelers

Week 2 – at Bills

Week 3 – home to Jaguars

Week 4 – Bye

Week 5 – at Cowboys

Last season’s Super Bowl winners were under investigation for ball tampering during their AFC Championship game at home to the Indianapolis Colts.

Last week a report found that Brady was “generally aware” that balls had been deflated. The game was played in wet conditions and balls that have a lower psi allow the quarterback to grip and control them better.

A statement from the NFL said:
“The New England Patriots were notified today of the following discipline that has been imposed for violations of the NFL Policy on Integrity of the Game and Enforcement of Competitive Rules relating to the use of under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game of this past season.”

“For the violation of the playing rules and the failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation, the New England Patriots are fined one million US dollars and will forfeit the club’s first-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft and the club’s fourth-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft.”

“If the Patriots have more than one selection in either of these rounds, the earlier selection shall be forfeited. The club may not trade or otherwise encumber these selections.”

“Quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2015 regular season for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL.”

“Brady may participate in all off-season, training camp and pre-season activities, including pre-season games.”

What happens to the guys who tampered the ball?

Locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski were suspended without pay by the club after that independent report found it was “more probable than not” that they “participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee”.

The NFL said, “Neither of these individuals may be reinstated without the prior approval of NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent.”

“If they are reinstated by the Patriots, Jastremski is prohibited from having any role in the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs to be used in NFL games during the 2015 season.”

“McNally is barred from serving as a locker room attendant for the game officials, or having any involvement with the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs or any other equipment on game day.”

The pressure will be on Brady’s back-up QB, last season’s second-round pick, Jimmy Garoppolo in those opening weeks. Rex Ryan and his new look Bills must be relishing the thought of putting one over their divisional rivals as early as Week 2.

Tom Brady will return to action in Week 6 when the Patriots travel to…you guessed it, the Indianapolis Colts. You couldn’t make it up.

The agent for New England Patriots’ Tom Brady today said that the NFL’s ‘Deflategate’ probe was flawed.

Don Yee, the QB’s agent, called the NFL’s investigation “a significant and terrible disappointment” and suggested the league reached its conclusion before hearing the facts.

“Its omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later,” Don Yee said in a statement.

On Wednesday the NFL said the New England Patriots probably deliberately deflated footballs to gain an advantage in the AFC title game in January.

Last night saw further acquisitions made by all 32 NFL teams in this year’s draft.

The clock started ticking at midnight and each team had fewer minutes to make their picks.

Trades were being made quick. The Giants moved straight away to take the Titans’ first overall pick of the night. They took safety Landon Collins to help fill a secondary that had just one safety on their roster.

The Titans spiced up their offense with the exciting wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, whilst the Saints took quarterback Garrett Grayson in the third round.

Round 2

The 2015 NFL schedule will be unveiled tonight.

The schedule will be revealed at 1am BST, that’s 8pm ET. We already know the home and away games for each team, but tonight we will be able to mark our calendars.

The season always kicks off with the defending champions on the first Thursday Night Football of the campaign. We will see who the New England Patriots take on in that kick-off game on September 10.

The other prime-time games will be listed, so we’ll know who gets the Thursday and Monday night games, as well as the late Sunday night Channel 4 games.

We’ll have the opening week’s schedule for you right here.