Gridiron
● Only two teams remain undefeated in NFL as London gets ready for a feast
There are still two teams unbeaten in the NFL after week five, and, while this is more of the same for the Kansas City Chiefs, the LA Rams are in uncharted territory. Sean Mcvay has done wonders to a team that, in ten years prior to his arrival, had won just 46 games and lost 113. In only his second season, the 32-year-old has won 16 of his 21 games in charge.
The Cleveland Browns are quickly becoming the best-value ticket in the NFL with their third game of the season being decided in overtime, and at least this time they ended up on the winning side. That means the Browns have two wins this season which is double the amount of the previous two years.
Tom Brady became the third quarterback in history to throw 500 touchdown passes as the Patriots topped the Indianapolis Colts to continue their slow climb towards the play-offs, again.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr hauled in his first touchdown pass of the season but not before throwing a touchdown pass on a brilliantly crafted trick play. Both touchdowns were still not enough to stop Carolina Panthers kicker Graham Gano kicking a field goal from inside his own half as the clock expired lifting the Panthers to a 33-31 win.
New York Giants fans needn’t feel too bad, though, as Green Bay Packers fans hollered in despair when veteran kicker Mason Crosby had a career day, in a bad way. Detroit Lions beat the Packers 31-23 with Crosby leaving 13points on the field by missing four field goals and an extra point.
This coming weekend the Oakland Raiders kick off the international series when they host the Seattle Seahawks at Wembley in the 22nd game being hosted in London. This is the first time the Washington state team have played in the UK.
Of course, Oakland will have their
0 Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean Mcvay has led his side to five victories so far this season. own travelling Black Hole, named after the end zone that the hardcore of Raiders fans inhabit.
That is what makes this an intriguing match-up as Seattle are very much a team supported by newer fans to the NFL, whereas most UK Raiders fans have been following the team since the 80s, when the NFL had a massive UK following.
With an air of inevitability, the conversations will be had this week on whether or not there will eventually be a UK franchise in the NFL.
The NFL has punted this idea around for a while and with the expansion of the International Series to a season-high five games last year – four in London and one in Mexico City – they still seem intent on spreading outside the US. The problems arise when fans are asked. Most British or in fact European fans asked if they would switch to support a team based in London and the response is no. These are fans that have lived and breathed their team, often into the early hours of the morning, and they are no more willing to give up their blood, sweat and tears than Hibees or Jambos.
The NFL has done a great job of building a fan base here in Europe and London has been the centre of that. When you consider that Shahid Khan owns the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC, and is the man trying to buy Wembley Stadium, it makes sense that the Jags have played in London five times already, with a sixth coming later this month.
The Jaguars are a team that European fans have developed an affinity for. They have followed them from the doldrums to one of the best defences in the league, and there has been a marked increase in younger fans joining the ranks of “sacksonville”.
Back when the Jags first played at Wembley against the San Francisco 49ers, the black, teal and gold jerseys were few and far between. This month they will be in the majority. This shows that the Jags could be successful in the UK but would they sell 90,000 tickets eight times a season? Definitely not.
The NFL may be set on London, but they must be willing to accept a substantial loss on the venture first and I can’t see any of the billionaire owners ever agreeing with that.