22 Oct 2009

NFL Weekend Betting

Patriots and Bucs Set To Clash At Wembley

This weekend, the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to clash in the NFL's annual trip across the pond to play at Wembley Stadium in London. Mike O'Donnell takes a look at the current football odds.

This will be the third time that two NFL teams have traveled over to England to do battle at Wembley Stadium. The two previous battles were both close encounters, with the scores being 13-10 and 37-32 between the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers respectively.

However, don't expect this year's encounter to be anything like that; the Patriots are 4-2 and come to London off the back of a 59-0 trouncing of Tennessee last Sunday. In contrast, the Bucs, who are rebuilding, are 0-6 and went down to Carolina 28-21 last week. This is reflected in the match odds with Tampa Bay trading at [9.2] and New England at [1.11] on Betfair.

The Patriots are studded with big names and none come bigger than Tom Brady. The star quarterback threw six touchdown passes in Foxborough last week and has publicly stated that he is not fazed by the expectations of the Wembley pitch.

"It's an incredible stadium, I've seen it on TV, I've watched a lot of European soccer," said Brady. "I watched that game a few years ago on that turf, it's a soccer field so I guess it's pretty flat. The grass is a little bit longer so hopefully it'll slow down the Tampa pass rush, that's what I'm hoping."

Brady's opposing quarterback this week, Josh Johnson, is starting in just his fourth ever NFL game and has had a tough time so far in his rookie season. He can be backed at [1.6] to pass under 179.5, which considering the conditions and Johnson's tough start this season seems quite generous.