American football

Really horrible to see Jones there.

Will say great to see the cowboys defender run to catch/help him

Just watched the highlights and the bills did to the chiefs, what the chiefs usually do to everyone else, got in front and just kept piling on the points. Super impressive from Allen and his receiving crew, but also the vital big chunk plays he made with his legs, and the bills defense finding ways to get the chiefs offense off the field multiple times..
AFC playoffs are going to be interesting..

Also browns found a way to lose the game against the chargers, after being gifted a winning opportunity. They still look good, but the new defense let a ton of points onto the scoreboard. And it didn’t seem like obj had a catch all game (I was watching red zone so May have missed some). Browns offense seems to miss Landry a lot, just his ability to move the chains on 3rd/4th downs and the comfort baker has with him.

So, went to the Jets 'at' Atlanta yesterday, and am now an expert on the NFL. What I learned:

• Jets are very bad at American footballing
  
• Matt Ryan seems to be a master at doing just about enough to win
  
• That stadium is awesome
  
• For a 'non-political' game there was no shortage of 'blowjobs for murderers' camo jerseys, a special section to applaud 'veterans', soldiers on the pitch, an F-15 flypast and a weird bit where they glorified a local evangelical church
  
• At least there were more Kaepernick jerseys than Tillmans
  
• There's a huge amount of nothing happening for no material reason - probably for adverts
  
• Fans seem pretty indiscriminate in their support - saw jerseys for every single NFL team (final spot was a Titans fan in the pub on the way home), so not a huge 'this team vs that team' atmosphere
  
• NFL haven't realised that just telling British fans to 'Make Noise' doesn't work - give us something to cheer and we will
  
  

All in all, good fun day out, would go again, wouldn't buy a season ticket or put it on the telly. Would drink next time - probably helps if you have a bit of a piss up.

Also browns found a way to lose the game against the chargers, after being gifted a winning opportunity. They still look good, but the new defense let a ton of points onto the scoreboard.

Interesting stat found by CBS

"Entering Sunday afternoon, NFL teams were 401-0 in the Super Bowl era when scoring 40 points in a game without committing a turnover.

Following the Browns loss, that number is now 401-1"

That is an anomalous loss.

uk/european support of the NFL is a bit polygamous, we've had access to it for so long, that the NFL games over here are a chance for people to see the game live and in the flesh for the first or multiple times, and it's not really about waiting for "your" team to come and play, as you have no idea when that may be.
But I think that's part of the joy of it, not caring whose playing, just wanting to see the game. Less tribalism and acrimony than if it was a more equitable split between actual supporting fans of those teams playing.
Just hoping that the NFL starts to bring over teams with winning records, so there's more at stake (relatively) to the games and some of the bigger stars are able to show what they can do.

yeah, it was a pretty tight game, and up until the last quarter you felt the browns would win it, as the defense seemed to be handling the chargers.
Much better game than the cowboys/giants.

Good to see Baker bounce back from his previous outing, and looked sharp and accurate with his passing throughout..

Much better game than the cowboys/giants.

Tooney looks like and excellent find. Things looking up for the Giants this season if they can get people back healthy.

Yeah he looked super exciting, made some great catches in that game. So many good receivers about now, making so many difficult catches look easy..

Yeah, I agree that makes the atmosphere 'nicer', though it loses the element of palpable emotional investment from the crowd and it feels a bit like an exhibition match. Wonder how/if it affects the players.

If they ever do get round to making a London franchise, that would really shift the crowd dynamic. In my head, there'll be more of a home team feel next week, as loads of British people picked Marino's Dolphins as their team in the 80s C4 era and nobody gives a shit about Jacksonville.

Just hoping that the NFL starts to bring over teams with winning records, so there's more at stake (relatively) to the games and some of the bigger stars are able to show what they can do.

I think I read that theyre planning that over the next 10 years every team will have played in London. Or something along those lines.

Yeah I think I’ve read that as well, but with the cyclical nature of the game and the amount of injuries teams rack up in a season, you’re never sure from one year to next which team will still be good. Just takes one inopportune tackle or misjudged slide to remove a Wilson, or a Mahomes or an Allen from a game/season to send a teams fortunes into the toilet..

Green Bay are the only team to not have played in London so far aren't they? Or do they mean over the next ten years all the teams will play again in London?

At the moment the Jaguars are the "home" team in London and they play one game here every year. This is in part because they cannot sell out their stadium in Jacksonville so it is a revenue boost for the franchise.

The second game is a bit of a rolling window with really any potential match up available (as long as it is not another AFC South team) . It is has to be agreed in advance because it will mess up a "home" game for one of the two teams playing.

Yup. Typical.

Still check the games every time they’re announced.

Ah I see. Didn't know there was such a thing in place. I don't pay enough attention to it to know who plays each year so didn't realise Jacksonville have been here so often.

Watching the Saints last night there seemed to be more black & gold in the stadium than home team fans, and everyone was standing side by side with no problems. Although that might be because Washington struggle to sell tickets at the moment.

People just hate Dan Snyder. He's spent a long, long time pissing off the locals. they've had issues selling seats for years.

I have to say I hate the mono-colour uniforms. The Saints should have gold trousers with black socks and white away shirts. WFT should be in yellow socks, white trousers and red jerseys.

I am officially an NFL retro-grouch.

The Saints should have gold trousers with black socks and white away shirts

They do! They seem to mix and match their colours on a weekly basis

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Burgundy on burgundy 4eva in our hearts

Holy crap. This Gruden thing. Lots more to uncover as part of that WFT investigation by the league. Not that they'll do anything to one of their owners.

Gruden was born in Sandusky - that’s some pretty solid foreshadowing for a disgraced coach.

Gruden can get in the fucking bin. It's not even like he's been earning his money as a coach either, fucking useless.
I'd like to see Jack Del Rio back as HC. He was great a few years ago with the limited talent he had - I reckon he'd do a pretty good job with the actual decent team we've got now.

My sympathies. Like the Raiders, the Texans are run by the son of the original owner who is not nearly as smart as his dad was, is constantly trying to prove otherwise, and making endless terrible personnel/GM/Coach decisions. We even have the Carrs in common.

Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich in the running for NFL Europe games, considering the Rhein Fire did quite well commercially speaking I’d say that they’ll have a decent chance odds to get the games.

There were quite a few German speaking fans at the Jags / Texans game I went to last year - most were wearing Philly Carson Wentz jerseys. I really hope that the games in Germany are a success and the league returns on a regular basis.