planetf1.com

I have been involved with Fantasy football for about 12 years now. Every year, my brothers and a couple of friends do the CDM points challenge... the cost has gone up, but so too have the rewards. A couple of years ago, my youngest brother took away $1500 and my other brother won 800 in a draft league. Me??? ... just won a couple of free next year registrations. Needless to say, they let me hear about my "failures".


This year we will again to do the points league and set up a draft league as well.

Good luck fellow fantasy players unless by chance you are in one of my leagues, in which case...

Blake wrote:I have been involved with Fantasy football for about 12 years now. Every year, my brothers and a couple of friends do the CDM points challenge... the cost has gone up, but so too have the rewards. A couple of years ago, my youngest brother took away $1500 and my other brother won 800 in a draft league. Me??? ... just won a couple of free next year registrations. Needless to say, they let me hear about my "failures".


This year we will again to do the points league and set up a draft league as well.

Good luck fellow fantasy players unless by chance you are in one of my leagues, in which case...

We are just doing a league on the NFL website. It's free. I like the idea but having never done this before I wasn't willing to stump up too much cash. And I'd never play for cash against people I didn't know. Well, okay, 2 of the guys in the league are friends of friends. So we ended up with £5 as our stake. £25 is alright profit for the winner, and small enough that no one is too weary that they'll lose.



Btw, did everyone see that Geno Smith had his jaw broken after being punched by a linebacker from the same team? Cam Newton had a "scuffle" with a team mate this week too. Somewhat amusing (as I'm not a Jets fan and Smith wasn't too seriously hurt) but seriously, it's throwing a football about. No one needs to be starting fights.

mac_d wrote:Btw, did everyone see that Geno Smith had his jaw broken after being punched by a linebacker from the same team? Cam Newton had a "scuffle" with a team mate this week too. Somewhat amusing (as I'm not a Jets fan and Smith wasn't too seriously hurt) but seriously, it's throwing a football about. No one needs to be starting fights.

Didn't hear about Newton yet, but it was said that Smith was punched over an age old issue of money - money he owed a teammate. LOL

That was pretty strange with Geno Smith. However, when it was later disclosed that Geno may well have "deserved" it, then I began to feel for the guy who hit him. Reports were that Smith owed him over$600 for some travel tickets and had refused to pay. On the day he got punched, apparently Geno had poked him in the chest and asked "what are you going to do about it". I guess Geno now knows the answer to his question!

Jordy Nelson tore his ACL against the Steelers the other night. I'm still expecting big things from the Packers as their recievers are still pretty strong, and Aaron Rogers, to quote Stephen A Smith, is a bad, bad man! Still, losing a player of Nelson's caliber is a bit of a *inaudible* for them.

I had Nelson in my Points/Cap league... fortunately, I can make changes until the season starts without having to "buy" a player. Not sure who to get at this point, as I need production, but I need to make the salary cap too. Damn, I was counting on Jordy.

So I guess this is another videogame/NFL cross over but the Madden 16 Movie trailer is brilliant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eVF9uBbuqc

Note, it has little to do with Madden really, and is just a bunch of silliness. I found it utterly hilarious.

Who is on the cover of the video game... I want to make sure that I don't have them on my team... and don't draft them in the upcoming draft league. That has been a "kiss of death" to the player it seems!

Blake wrote:Who is on the cover of the video game... I want to make sure that I don't have them on my team... and don't draft them in the upcoming draft league. That has been a "kiss of death" to the player it seems!

Beckham Jr got the cover. He's going to find it very tough this year I think anyway, simply as he really has a reputation now.


Channel 4 has ditched their NFL coverage entirely as far as I know. So no full game and no highlight packages. Sky, as far as I know, has total dominance other than the Superbowl which will probably also be on BBC as well. Not a big issue for me. I have access to Sky Sports and NFL Gamepass so I'm bordering on being covered, but a bit of a *inaudible* for fans without those services.

Gronk "Half top"

damn.... I was counting on Beckham Jr. for my points league team! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... now what to do?

Blake wrote:damn.... I was counting on Beckham Jr. for my points league team! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... now what to do?

He might hold up, it's not a 100% thing, but it is high enough to be a little worried. AP survived his cover year, though the next season after that he did miss 15 games with a suspension.

I picked up Madden 16 on my way home from work. Really excited about it. I play a LOT of Madden so seemed worth it. Going round to my buddies in about 14 mins to play it.

I'm really excited about having my sports-Sunday's back. F1 at lunchtime until mid-afternoon. Have some dinner then NFL until bed time. Worst bit of the year for me is after the Superbowl but before F1 pre-season testing.

Man, first game of the year I've watched. Forgot how awful it is to watch Gamepass. It cuts out to a static image when the American TV feeds go to commercials. In all honesty, I'd rather see the commercials than nothing.

Wish me luck guys, tomorrow night is the Draft for the second league that I am in... and dispite a lot of research, I still don't feel prepared. It is a ten team Flex league and non PPR meaning that only the yards and TDS count, not receptions. We get one QB, 2 RB, 2 WR 1 TE, 1 Flex (WR or RB), 1 Kicker and 1 defense. Hopefully will will find out today what the draft order is going to be, that will help with the strategy planning. I really like this part of the season, but it sure can be tension filled.

Blake wrote:Wish me luck guys, tomorrow night is the Draft for the second league that I am in... and dispite a lot of research, I still don't feel prepared. It is a ten team Flex league and non PPR meaning that only the yards and TDS count, not receptions. We get one QB, 2 RB, 2 WR 1 TE, 1 Flex (WR or RB), 1 Kicker and 1 defense. Hopefully will will find out today what the draft order is going to be, that will help with the strategy planning. I really like this part of the season, but it sure can be tension filled.

Our draft isn't happening until the 10th, cutting it fine for the start of the league. This is our first year for 5 of the 6 of us so wanted to get everyone together. And of the 6, 4 of us went to school then two other guy each brought a pal so no one has met everyone and I wanted to get us all together for a pint and help facilitate some smack talking.

I'm not taking this too seriously though. I'd like to, but I don't have the time. I have done some free online fantasy practice drafts which was an experience.

The advantage to a late draft is that you will know more about the depth charts and late preseason injuries. We wanted to go late, but one of our members (six of us signed up together and one leaves on vacation (holiday for most of you) on Saturday.

Good luck on your draft.

Blake wrote:The advantage to a late draft is that you will know more about the depth charts and late preseason injuries. We wanted to go late, but one of our members (six of us signed up together and one leaves on vacation (holiday for most of you) on Saturday.

Good luck on your draft.

Unfortunately, luck has everything to do with it. I don't know enough to really do much. Bit of fun, and perhaps I can luck into a small profit.



Anyone been watching Hard Knocks? I'm really enjoying it. I'll need to go back and watch previous seasons. I really like Bill O'Brien - seems like a good guy. JJ Watt and Vince Wilfork talking about how breakfast is so much better than dinner cracked me up.

I'm looking forward to the season for the Vikes. Teddy Bridgewater looks to have made a step. AP is back. I think a division win is unlikely with the Packers being so good. And the Lions are solid enough I can't discount them, but I really think the Vikes might make the playoffs. They'll probably not get beyond Wildcard but hey, playoffs is playoffs. Of course, I tend to make predictions about what I want to happen rather than what seems like ti will happen so I may eat my words in a few months.

Brady's suspension nullified by the Supreme Court.

mac_d wrote:Brady's suspension nullified by the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Court, big difference.

NFL is back!

Good win for Cardinals, albeit helped by a bizarre punt from Saints with less than 2 mins to go. Mariota had an awesome day, massive contrast to Winston. Giants throw away a win against Cowboys with some horrid playcalling at the end. Lions with a strange cave-in after dominating first half too.

Seahawks/Rams was amusing as well. Don't actually think the onside attempt is a bad idea, but happy to see it fail nonetheless.

Good seeing Brady, Edelman and Gronk back in action. That's how you start the new season after winning the championship. Take note Chelsea.

I stayed up on Thursday night for the Steelers Patriots game. Watched Rams vs Seahawks and redzone at the same time, then we watched Saints vs Cardinals and Redzone. Then I came home and watched the Cowboys Giants game. Decided I want to watch the Vikes game tonight.

Tom Brady was ridiculous in the game against the Steelers. Just seemed like he wasn't throwing any incompletions for a while in the middle.
Rams vs Seahawks was a bit of an odd one. A lot of turnovers. I also happen to have both of these D/ST in my Fantasy league and played the Rams. The Seahawks D/St outscored them by 5 points. Also had Matt Forte and Eddie Lacy in that NFC North game. Thought GB would run away with it.
Saints was on as my buddy is a Saints fan, so I mostly watched Redzone between 9pm and midnight. The Ravens Broncos game seemed like a bit of a stinker.
Note: Gamepass does indeed black out the 6pm and 9pm Sky games from the live feed and from the archives for 24 hours. Not terrible as I have a Sky Sports Pass but it's linked to my desktop PC. Red zone covers it all and I absolutely love Red Zone. For a big game, or a team I really like I'd rather see the whole game, but in general I love Redzone. All action, all of the time.

The Cowboys looked, on average, better than the Giants and by a margin I'd say. Result might not reflect that. However, I am a Romosexual. I've been singing this guys praises and got him in my fantasy league. One of the picks was rather unlucky really. Can't recall the first one. The 1:37 on the clock or whatever it was and Romo's drive down was an absolute blast to watch. Pity Dez Bryant is likely to miss 4-6 weeks.

Colts loss was surprising too.

My fantasy matchup comes down to how Philli's TE does against their own Kicker. And Ertz is questionable. I'm a little under 6 pts ahead currently with only those 2 left in our matchup. My wide receivers all under-performed rather badly. Bryant and Cooks just didn't light it up. This one is against my best mate and so I really would like to get this win specifically.



My fantasy league seems right into it, and it's a slightly different spin to the usual

My thoughts on Week 1 on the games I followed:

Steelers @ Patriots
- Patriots coming out blazing did not surprise me. Brady as dedicated as ever did not surprise me.
- Steelers offense looking great again and I expected their defense to be weak.

Colts @ Bills
- While I expected the Bills defense to be very strong again, the Colts and Luck having no answers for it surprised me.
- You really should concentrate on your career, Shady. Get over Philly trading you...

Giants @ Cowboys
- Romo continues to be such an underrated QB. The guy is magic and I'd take him any day of the week, but his team almost always leaves him in the positions to fail which is why he's ridiculed.

Seahawks / Rams
- Rams defense continues as a strength as expected.
- This game proves as several of us believed that the call to pass at the Super Bowl wasn't 100% foolish (Y U NO 1st Down on 4th & 1, Lynch?! #nothing'sguaranteed).
- These teams are both still strong, but Seahawks need to figure out Chancellor's contract ASAP.

Eagles @ Falcons
- These teams should both factor into the playoffs, with the Falcons making a major improvement over the previous years.
- Both teams showing much promise and plenty of room for improvement even as good as they looked.
- Praise the Lord that the Eagles have a QB that can actually hit a target! Please stay healthy, Bradford. LOL
- Is Chip Kelly encouraging his offense to take penalties as a way to keep his defense off the field to rest more? :p

Awesome coverage

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/ ... 7362026497

medgar wrote:Awesome coverage

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/ ... 7362026497

I love it. Hilarious. Sent it to my NFL WhatsApp group, though my best mate - a Saint's fan - will probably not see it until tomorrow. The Saints secondary has been bad, their whole D not doing that well. And this season Brees hasn't been putting up number to counter that.

But worse, it seems, is the Colts. 4th Quarter just now, but Colts are 10 points down and haven't had a single score. Luck has fumbled and I think 3 INTs now. Admittedly, I'd be worried about facing the Jets D this season. But still, surprising. Think I'll skip the last few mins, it's about 3.5 hours until I need to get up for work.
Can't believe the Cowboys season so far. I thought they were a decent shout for an NFC championship appearance. I'd still take Green Bay as my Superbowl pick, unless Brady keeps up the performance level of the first two weeks. Brady has been an absolute beast.

Cowboys losing Dez was bad, and I was of the opinion that Romo guiding them to the playoffs was going to help prove a point regarding how good Romo is. Now with Romo out too, I have no idea. I had both Dez and Romo in my fantasy league too. And Lacy went off with a bum ankle on Sunday and I was playing him. So I got utterly humped in my fantasy match up.

Vikes won, and gave AP the ball. They should have done this more against the 49ers. The Bears are going to struggle this year, a little moreso now Cutler is missing a week or two. Lions are more of a threat, so that divisonal win was big. Green Bay take the division but I'm holding out hope for a Vikings Wildcard appearance.

Winston, Mariota, Bridgewater, Manziel, Bortles all doing solid jobs I think. Varying degrees, but all these young guys are doing okay. At the other end of the scale, Peyton Manning seemed much better from about Q2 in W2. And I know I mentioned Brady already but damn.


Hoped the Texans do well. For no other reason than Bill O'Brien really grew on me in Hard Knocks. This hope is definitely from my heart, not my head.

I've been a fan of the Eagles since 1992ish. Really followed the team and the NFL in general in 1999. That last Eagles game was THE worst I've ever witnessed them play. That was embarassing...

Really stoked about the newer QBs of Bridgewater, Mariotta, Winston, and Bortles. Even Manziel showing a little something his last round out. Just goes to show how much actual game practice can help!

Followed the Jet's since the mid eighties when me and a mate played out seeming entire games at the local football pitch. He was Quarter Back and I was wide receiver. We won every game!!!!!

Jet's a 2-0. Great start for a very underachieving team historically. Even better with the Giants 0-2

It is a great start for the Jets... nice defense they have there in NY. Just not as good as the Bronco defense!

Blake wrote:It is a great start for the Jets... nice defense they have there in NY. Just not as good as the Bronco defense!

I wasn't expecting the Bronco's D to be a force like they are shaping up to be. If Manning and the O get into the swing, Broncos as a real contender emerges again.



Cardinals destroyed the 49ers, which was pretty much over after Kaepernick's 2 pick sixes early. Larry Fitzgerald and Chris Johnson sorted the rest out.

Bears just looked screwed. The Seahawks looked pretty poor I thought on O, but still managed a solid first win of the season.

Vikes beat the Chargers. I expected a similar score but in the Chargers favour. 2-1 isn't a bad record. Loved the Chad Greenway INT and Peterson looked like the beast I was hoping he'd be. Good for him. After W1, I thought my wildcard prediction was maybe a bit much but maybe not. Bloody Packers I still give the Division, NFC and Superbowl too I think.

Of course, Tom Brady and the Patriots were again just ridiculous. They look like a team playing Madden on a difficulty too easy for them. If they keep this up... I don't even know, but it's looking like something special in New England right now.

Big Ben getting injured is rather interesting though. Steelers looked like one of the bigger O forces in the AFC

Saints slip to 0-3. I quite like the Panthers - I like Cam Newton's running ability and, although his passing maybe still isn't up to the standard it could be, he really is a solid QB. My best mate, is a Saints fan and we watched the games together. I also had Greg Olsen in my fantasy lineup so we had some conflicting emotion about the game. Saint's are in real trouble. A crap D is a hindrance even when Drew Brees and company are dropping huge numbers. Brees hasn't been that great this year and the D just as bad. McCown did a solid job stepping in for Brees though.



And I've crushed my fantasy game this week. I have a 50 point lead with a player to play tonight (either Lacy or Starks depending on pre-game reports) and my buddy has no one. Greg Olsen and Larry Fitzgerald had huge games. Mark Ingram did well for me at my Flex. I picked up Moncrief as a WR this week and he caught a TD pass. Had Seahawks QB, Kicker and D/ST which brought huge points. Assuming my RB doesn't score -50, I'll be moving to 2-1. After getting humped last week, sweet.

(So I wrote the above yesterday and forgot to send)

The Green Bay game again Kansas. Wow. If Tom Brady was like someone playing a computer game at the wrong skill level, Rodgers is just plain cheating. He looked spectacular in the Kansas game. MVP at this early point, Rodgers.

And I won my Fantasy game. 2-1, yay! With 6 man league, I expect we'll see anyone with a 7-7 record make it into playoffs though. Already got another local guy for joining next season too. But ideally need at least another 1 or else someone won't be playing each week. And that kinda sucks.

Been a while since I had a wee rant. In my fantasy league, I won 2 of my first 3 and now look to be going 2-5 unless Larry Fitzgerald scores something like 200 yards + 3TDs tonight. I did think Lamar Miller would have a good game this week and picked him up and played him. Huge points.


Anyway, real NFL now.

I'm a little gutted for the Cowboys. I think their season is dead now. Losing Dez in W1 was a big hit, losing Romo in W2 was the killer. I really thought that that team would dominate the NFCE and it would be a fight between the Packers and them for the NFC championship. Matt Cassel, who I have a bit of love for, did make some good throws last night and I think was more impressive then Weedon was. But he also killed 3 drives in a row with 3 INTs. He's a solid back up QB but nothing more. He did make a few good throws at least. However, 2-4 makes this season a real challenge for when Romo returns. It's basically over.

The Vikings playing Detroit this week. AP seemed to not get too far on the ground but I loved seeing Teddy play like he looked in pre-season. High accuracy and some nice stuff going on. Vikes have little chance at the NFCN due to Green Bay (though I felt GB looked to be running out of steam in the last couple of weeks, probably due to everyone on their team getting banged up - bye week may have really helped them) but my prediction since pre-season has been a Wildcard entry to the playoffs. Still possible. I can understand The Broncos D leading them to victory, but how the 49ers beat the Vikings is still shocking to me. Stefon Diggs starting to become a guy to look out for. Mike Wallace doesn't feel like he's living up to the hype that came with him.

Raiders doing surprisingly well this season. I think they ended the Chargers chances for playoffs last night. Phil Rivers is still a top notch QB, but this is another year gone.

The Saints Colts game was rather odd too. Luck seemed to finally throw some big ones but I think he still looks off. If I saw 2014 Luck and 2015 Luck I think I'd guess 2014 was the later year. For a guy that some suggested was going to make that final step and become league MVP over names like Rodgers, it's not really working out too well. I know part of it is the O-line is constantly changing but the whole thing just seems a bit off. Maybe his shoulder is still giving him issues. Colts drawing dead probably now. I assume he'll bounce back, he seemed like he was too good not to.

I am not a Cowboys fan... However, in my draft league, 2 of my first three pics were Dez Bryant (rd 1) and Tony Romo (Rd 3)... Romo was best left after a run on QBs after my 2nd round pick. Worse yet, I can't afford to drop them, as they would both be picked up on waivers and come back to kick me in a few weeks. That was a double "whammy" I too am relying on Fitzgerald tonight. I am down by 14 points with Fitz & Baltimore's kicker, Tucker needing to outscore Baltimore's Steve Smith enough to make up the difference. I have a chance, but it's a slim one.

From a personal note... "my" Broncos have one helluva defense... as I expected... my oh my how poorly the offense has been.... still 6-0 though! Go Broncs!!!

I'm interested to get an American POV on the Jarryd Hayne - 49ers situation.

Naturally most Australians who are interested (read overnight, armchair experts) see it as a big deal and think Jim Tomsula is nuts for cutting Hayne, but seeing as how none of the other franchises grabbed him after he was waived and he is now on the 49ers training roster, even after the niners RB disaster against the Rams, maybe the hype in Australia is a tad deluded.

Iv'e got to say, watching Tomsula give post game interviews on you tube, i'm bloody embarrassed by the conduct of the Australian media and the way they seem to be offended that Hayne is not playing. The way they grill Tomsula over Hayne makes me cringe and if I were Tomsula, well, lets just say I wouldn't be so diplomatic.

So getting away from the Australian media frenzy and bias, whats the American fans word on Hayne, whats happened up until now and what you think his future holds?

NFL is pretty cut-throat, particularly with lesser positions which are more easily replaced - he was essentially used as a punt/kickoff returner who fumbled more than once in a short time. Most new players would be in the same situation as him and nothing would be said in general. In addition free agency (period where teams can pick up/trade for other players) is about to end so it's standard for teams to free up cap space by ridding themselves of what they see as unnecessary contracts. He may get re-signed to the full roster at some point, especially with their main RB Hyde going down injured.

Lost £6 on my bets this weekend. I had the Chargers to win in two accumulators. Got 4/5 and 6/7 games called right in each of them. Nearly a healthy profit for me.

Despite a pretty poor week, won my Fantasy game. Greg Olsen of the Panthers sealing the deal for me. Move to 3-5 at least. Now onto streaming a K and D/ST as Seahawks are on bye. This is the last of my big bad bye weeks. 7 was bad for me too.



So the weekend's games.

Tom Brady is ridiculous. He is setting himself apart as the league MVP candidate. Other QBs have faltered a little but he's going rather strong. At current rate of production, he's on for a brilliant year.

Lions are a mess. Kansas deserved the win. Missed half of this game though.

Vikings @ Bears - Phew! Close game. Vikes go to 5-2 which is a pretty nice performance. Perhaps I'm over-reacting but I think that AP is starting to lose his edge. He's still good and is moving the ball fairly solidly, but I think a little bit of what made him so special might be going. Diggs continuing to look like a player of the future. Hopefully we'll be talking about Bridgewater and Diggs as one of these legendary combinations soon!

Bengals @ Steelers - Defensive matchup. Both teams stopped the WB doing their job. Dalton barely scored this week. Big Ben looked very rough coming off injury at a few points, though he did start well. Bengals stay undefeated,good for them.

Seahawks Cowboys. Cowboys season officially over now probably. Maybe. Maybe not given 2-5 Cowboys and 4-4 Giants leading the division. Dez back but against Sherman, coming off a foot injury and getting throws from Cassel. I do believe that with a healthy Romo they'd be rocking this division with ease. Surprisngly, the Cowboys still have a shot at making playoffs but I think they've missed one of their best chances here.

Raiders @ Jets was an interesting game. Firstly, Derek Carr should get more press. 15 TDs, 3 INTs and 1700 yards on the season. The Raiders won't make the playoffs but after being a bit of a joke for a few years, I'm happy to see them doing well. Murray and Cooper also young threats. To drop 4 TDs against one of the better Ds in the league was pretty spectacular. People went nuts when Tom Brady picked apart that D. Carr did it just as well (I'm not claiming Carr is Brady level in general though). I have a soft spot for the Raiders just cause I think the fans and attitude of the team are pretty cool.


Special mention to the 101 points from the Giants @ Saints game. Both QBs did a great job and I kinda feel sorry for Eli Manning. 6 TDs 0 INTs, 350+ yards and a loss. I kinda hoped we'd see Brees break the single game TD record, but I'll settle for 101 points and the full on back and forth shoot out that game was.


I didn't see the late Sunday or Monday games yet. I'll watch them this evening I guess. Panthers seem to be going strong. I rather like the Panthers so I'm happy for them to win NFCS if they do. Green Bay falling to Broncos, and holding Rodgers to the yardage they did is very interesting. A few weeks ago I said along the lines that Rodgers was the best QB with Brady second. With a little more time it seems like it is definitely Brady who is back in his sweet spot.


Almost halfway. At this point, I'd like to see a Broncos vs Patriots AFC Championship game. And that game might be heartbreak for one of the QBs. Brady, if he keeps this level up will be unlucky to lose. Manning, I kinda want him to get that second ring and he can go out on a high.

NFC... That has opened up. Panthers, Packers, Cardinals seem the most likely. The Vikings might still make a solid playoff shot. Green Bay will take the NFCN unless their issues get really big. But I'm losing confidence in that team. Not sure I can see Cam Newton with a SB ring for some reason. I really rate the guy and also think he's a pleasure to watch, but I can't see him with a ring. Palmer could well get it done. Last years Cardinals were looking good, this year they look good again. I guess we'll see, really think the NFC is looking a helluva lot tighter after the Packers loss last night (might change once I see the game and injury list).


Also, gotta feel for Steve Smith. I know people get hurt every day but for a guy like that to go out without the great applause and fanfare of having a recognised "Last Game Ever" is a bit of a shame. I guess at least breaking top 10 career receiving yards is a little comfort to him. Of course, this assumes he does not return.

mac_d wrote: Almost halfway. At this point, I'd like to see a Broncos vs Patriots AFC Championship game. And that game might be heartbreak for one of the QBs. Brady, if he keeps this level up will be unlucky to lose. Manning, I kinda want him to get that second ring and he can go out on a high.

Me too!!!

It is a long season, and one has to see how injuries play out regardless of the team. A Manning, Ware, Miller, or one of those great defensive backs could deal a serious blow to the Broncos. Same is true for every other team though. Take Brady, Gronk, etc off of the Pats, Brees from N.O. Rogers from GB... with half a season to go it is just too tough to guess.

The Pats meet the Broncos at the end of this month... could be a very interesting game. Pats fans were all over the post Packer game articles announcing what they were going to do to the Broncos and how they would show the league how to shove the ball down the throat of the defense. However, I suspect that the coaches and players know it could be tough game out in Mile Hi. Denver's offense needs to build on its game vs GB, as I don't think just the defense can beat NE. However, it was an encouraging offensive game for the Broncos... and the new addition of Vernon Davis could pay benefits to the offense as well.

But first Denver has to go play the Colts at Indy... and even though they lost last night, it looked like the Luck at QB and that could spell trouble at Indy.

Fun times ahead... no doubt.

I would like some advice from all you NFL fans on here.

You might all be aware that a new deal was announced for a minimum of three NFL matches to be hosted at Twickenham from 2016, in addition to the two games that are currently held at Wembley. I will confess to never having even watched an NFL game before (mostly because I don't have pay sports TV), so the rules etc I have no idea on. But I'm quite curious anyway, and am tempted to go have a look at it for one of the matches.

Would someone with little knowledge of the sport get a lot out of it, or would it be better if I had at least some knowledge base? Is it even worth going or would I get a better experiance out of watching it on TV? Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

I would suggest watching at least part of a game on TV first. Here in the USA, drinking establishments will usually carry games for patrons to watch, so I would suggest asking around to see if there is a place you could visit to watch a game some Sunday evening. The problem would be that, for a novice, being able to hear the commentary would be important, as they often explain the rules and how/why different plays did or did not work. Most places here that show games are so loud that you can't hear the TV at all.

Saz...

Dave's suggestions are good... but due to time differences, I don't know if the pubs carry any NFL games, but perhaps you could find some on the internet.

I did come across this video that may help you... it is done by non-American for the benefit of those new to or curious about the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddwp1HyEFRE

Of course there are several online sites that discuss it such as this one by the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_s ... 192002.stm

It may seem complicated at first, but it does't take long to get the hang of it.

Saz/

Good advice from DaveStebbins and Blake.
I'd like too add that you can watch old Super Bowl games on Youtube. Might help and also you will know if it's something you might like or not at all.
When I saw my first game live I had no idea about the rules either (being from Europe) but I really enjoyed the experience and it was what got me hooked in the first place.

I'd say you'd really need to know the rules to enjoy a game. Even just get to grips with the scoring systems, the downs and how each role is played. Understanding interceptions, fumbles and the quirks in rules surrounding those etc. For me, I watched the Superbowl once a year and that gradually turned to playoffs, then a passing season interest. Then now it's a close second to F1 as my favourite sport, and one that takes a lot of my time. So I never really tired to get into it, it just evolved that way.

The other thing about NFL. It is very slow. Outside the 2 minutes before the half and before the end, it is a very start and stop sport. 60 minutes of action probably takes 3 hours. I very much enjoy it, and I really love watching high quality analysis of plays - I feel like I see it all an understand it, but usually there are about 5 subtle but very important things happening that I have missed.

If you want an intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp1WM00U0aE
The Packers vs Seahawks NFC Championship game from last season. I've only watched NFL a short time, but this game was amazing to watch. I've watched highlights of this video about 15 times at least.

This year's superbowl (49) was also great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz8ENFKYXe0
48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-byJvHAXQA
47: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNj4XHGDv0
46: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5wDbaVJ3A
45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trjbUkBqM6o

The NFL also operate a pretty damned good youtube channel. Lots of highlights and features go up on it. Those games were obviously big games, but they should help give an idea of some of the big name players of the last 5 years.


I saw the Scottish Claymores play when I was young and hated the experience. After going to an NFL game in 2013 in London, I'd definitely go again. I intent to go in 2016, and I'm definitely going if the Vikes, Saints, Patriots, Packers or another team I quite like is playing. I'd have gone this year and/or last but money has been tight and the games haven't been mind-blowing. The atmosphere at the stadium before the game, and basically the weekend of my game was brilliant. I spoke to some Vikes fans who were Americans living in Germany, spoke to some Steelers fans outside Buckingham palace, and had random chats with the lads on the trains up and down from Glasgow that weekend. It's not like Team A vs Team B. It's just an excuse for fans of the sport to hangout and watch a game. I loved that atmosphere. But I'd say you'd be better off learning some of the game before going still.