Lol nice Eric. Want to try one before the game this time?

Heh, I think I made those on Saturday or Friday, I can skip editing it from now on.

Im going with the Lions although everyone seems to think the Bears have it in the bag already. Im just curious with the Lions struggles on special teams the first couple games of the season if Hestner will take one to the house for the Bears? Always fun to watch him break one.

I have a very simplistic understanding of both teams that basically equates to: Bears D is good / Lions D is mediocre / Lions O is better, but it's less than you'd think

Wow, well that doesnt leave much room for analyisis, guess you've just about covered it all.

Not bad Eric.

Whats your guess on tonights game Fred?

31-21 DA BEARS. I like the homefield advantage and that Bears defense has been pretty good. Up to Cutler to stay away from picks and keep the offense rolling, but I see it happening.

I am English therefore I know absolutely fuck all about American football although I do enjoy it. I've previously only caught the Superbowl and maybe a couple of games a season but I've been watching a lot of this year. Basically I enjoy it but I wouldn't come in here because I wouldn't really know what I was talking about.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask for was perspective. The profile of the NFL in the UK has been building for years and is rather healthy right now. Sky Sports still carry a lot of it and the coverage on free to air TV here this season is better than it has ever been, with Channel 4 getting the rights back to a weekly show and live game and even the BBC picking it up for a live game a week. Also, for the first time, a second game played at Wembley stadium has been added in 2013 meaning we have two in that year instead of one.

I've noticed in the media coverage, interviews with NFL reporters and so on that they are talking this up and even going as far as to say that the fans ( I think he was talking about Jacksonville at the time) are all really excited and happy to see their team come here and impress and boost their support etc. Basically I cant and don't believe that. It is great for us and the profile of the sport in this country but I find it very hard to believe that Americans, and especially fans of the teams who are sacrificing a home advantage to come and play here, would speak so positively of the decision to play regular games in London?

It's basically a minor annoyance for us fans at large, but I don't remember a significant game ever occurring over there (which is unfortunate for you chaps). I would probably be against a team moving there full time (down the road); the team based in the UK would have to travel so much.

The real beef probably comes from the actual teams and coaches.

Jacksonville has very little support at their home field. They might be looking at it as a chance to add to the fanbase in a sense. Most of the time they speak about it in terms of throwing their game off for awhile due to the travel restraints. I know when The Anaheim Ducks went there to play and also Finland it really threw their game off. I can't see any real positives besides adding to the fanbase, but at what cost if it throws your game off for weeks. The Ducks started out horrible both times they went as a few of the football teams have. Growing the sport is what they call it, but thats more typically done by adding the tv revenue as you said. I always thought it was something they should do in preseason only but the NHL usually does what they want and couldn't give two ****s about the fans.

Jacksonville desperately needs the business, they are on the brink of being sold to someone in LA (the Chargers is the other team that's talked about for that I think, I'm pretty sure they are building a stadium downtown).

NY to London is about the same as NY to LA, so I don't think it's a massive deal. The tricky part is when they have to go play out West.

Jacksonville, The Chargers, and Minnesota Vikings have been linked to the Los Angeles stadium. That is gonna be one messed up scenario, having the convention center, staples center and a football stadium all within walking distance of each other. The Chargers still have not inked the deal for the supposed new stadium, they very possibly could be in LA. A darkhorse could be the Raiders, the black hole is quite possibly the worst football stadium currently running.

I had factored in the travel inbetween states as opposed to travelling to London and the potential lack of real difference there and so that makes sense. I hadn't really factored the current state of Jacksonville and that it could potentially give them a much needed boost, especially given that they have signed to play here in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, I believe. That could give UK fans as close to a "home" team as they are gonna get and could sway some fans allegiance, especially if they don't really have one due to not feeling any ties to a particular city, state or team.

A full time move to the UK could actually do wonders for a team like the Jags. With all that new money flowing in, they would be willing to spend more on their players, and perhaps be a more attractive FA destination (personnel / front office / coaching) for people wanting to see more of the world.

EDIT: As an "outsider", who are your favorite players / teams to watch?

Well I wouldn't consider that I have a team. I'll adopt one if it ever feels right but I don't just go for success, I don't just pick an underdog, I would need to feel a tie or a connection to a team, for whatever reason. I'm not really sure if that would ever happen or if it does, what that reason would be.

Having something that even resembled a "home" team would certainly be something to consider.

I just mean like, who has made you say "wow" from the limited time you have seen them, not based on allegiance or anything.

A few for me:

QB: Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, RG3
RB: Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Arian Foster
WR: Percy Harvin, Calvin Johnson, AJ Green, Victor Cruz
TE: Gronkowski

Defense: JJ Watt, Von Miller, Haloti Ngata, Darrelle Revis, Demarcus Ware, Patrick Willis

God, the Bears are dominating this game so far. Stafford has no pocket presence what so ever. How can you not go to your hot route when 3 dif people on the d side of the ball are showing blitz? One drops back and two still bring it and he's frozen like a deer in headlights.

I thought the hype on Stafford was always a bit overplayed. Now that defenses are geared up to defend Calvin it has really hurt him.

As I say, theres only so much I've picked up on in the time I've been watching it but a few stand-outs have been the likes of Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Jared Allen, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger.

And at some point in recent weeks I've been impressed by Vontaze Burfict, Clay Matthews, Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson.

There are still plenty of names I dont know or players I've only seen play once (or only remember once) and as for teams, I wouldn't have a clue really if any teams are standing out but I've enjoyed watching The Packers and The Texans.

The lions fumbled 3 times in one drive. If they didn't do stuff like that they'd be a pretty sweet football team

Edit: Add 2 kick return fumbles

Yeah, the Lions showed signs of life in the second half but turnovers just killed them. Along with Staffords inabilitys as a Qb thats just exausting to watch. Bad play calling in the red zone to boot makes for a bad combination when your a struggling team. I would say the only promising thing if your a Lions fan is how well their deffense played. Even though the Bears were able to march it down the field pretty much at will. Somehow the Lions kept coming up with an answer in the red zone and put a stop together. When you hold a team to 13 points and cant come up with a win, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed on offense.

I don't blame stafford so much. His receivers had a lot of drops, and his running back fumbled it 3 times. He didn't even get an opportunity on two possessions because of the punt returner fumbles.

The bears might be the best team if they keep this up until december, they don't have any glaring weaknesses

Demarco Murrys going to be out for our game against the giants and Sean Lees out for the season along with our starting center Costa (4 to 6 weeks)Were so screwed Sunday.

Relevant to your interests?

http://www.musicbanter.com/sport-rec...ml#post1243916

this weeks predictions

Chicago> Carolina
San Diego>Cleveland
Seattle>Detroit
Jacksonville<Green Bay
Miami<New York Jets
Atlanta< Philadelphia (upset pick)
Washington>Pittsburgh
New England>St.Louis
Indianapolis < Tennessee
Oakland<Kansas City
Cowboys>New York Giants
New Orleans<Denver
SF>Arizona

Bears > Panthers
Chargers > Browns
Seahawks > Lions
Packers > Jags
Titans > Colts
Pats > Rams
Jets > Dolphins
Eagles > Falcons
Redskins > Steelers
Raiders > Chiefs
Giants > Cowboys
Broncos > Saints
49ers > Cardinals

Agree with some of that except I think the dolphins will beat the Jets. Falcons beat the Eagles, Steelers over the Redskins.

These were my low confidence picks:

Chargers > Browns
Seahawks > Lions
Titans > Colts
Eagles > Falcons
Redskins > Steelers
Giants > Cowboys

Yeah as a cowboy fan im always going to say the cowboys are going to win but emotion sometimes compromises my better judment.

Bears just won **** yeah that was a hell of a game.

The Browns beating the Chargers was definatley a suprise along with the Lions victory. Looks like the Colts edged one out against the Titans as well. Three wins I didnt see coming

Really wanted to see bears lose to carolina. I can't believe the panthers punter kicked it 6 yards, i could kick a football inside my tiny apartment and it would still go farther than 6 yards.

I cant believe my Cowboys man. Personally I think we got screwed on that last call where they said Dez was out of bounds but whatever. Hard to win when you turn the ball over 6 times against the Giants.

Yeah that was a bummer. His fingers did look out of bounds, unfortunate because his entire body was inside.

Its really frustrating to see the same thing kill you every game. Its been a decade and a half since weve won a super bowl. I really think until Jerry Jones is no longer in the picture things arent going to change. We need a real GM and a owner who lets a coach be a coach and knows what qualities to look for in a coach. Jason Garrett is not the answer to the Cowboys coaching problems and Romo has'nt done anything but put up monster stats in meaningless games. On 3rd and one with the ball somewhere around the Giants 20 they throw it to the end zone? WTH? Garrett makes bad calls every game and has more than once showed poor clock managment. Romo is just a waste of time and has been for a while now but they keep sticking with him for some reason. Its at the point to where I almost dont want to watch them until ownership changes cause its a lost cause.

6-6

My Broncos looked damn good, especially on D. Brees only threw for 213yds, and we let up hard in the 4th quarter.

Hell yeah!

Do y'all think the eagles are done?

The optimist in me thinks they can turn it around, but this is the worst eagles football i've seen in quite some time

Eagles are done imo.

I have a question though...I wonder which stadium is the toughest place to play on the road in the NFL?