Left field

from Photographers Blog:

NFL touchdown in London

By Suzanne Plunkett

British sports fans are a serious bunch. When it comes to football (they never call it soccer), many would rather lose their home than miss their team score a winning goal. Club allegiance is often demonstrated with tribal passion - influencing tattoos, clothing and even choice of marital partners.

When American football makes a rare appearance in London, it's somewhat of a surprise to see the seriousness of the sport replaced with a more frivolous obsession: cheerleaders.

That's not to say British fans have no interest in the sport. When the Chicago Bears took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a showcase game at Wembley Stadium in October, I spoke to plenty of Brits among the American expats paying homage to their national sport. Many professed as much fanaticism as the American supporters who had traveled from the States specifically to see their team.

But as a photographer who had covered both kinds of football matches on either side of the Atlantic and grown to love both sports, it's hard to ignore a few major differences in the fan experience.

The Lineman: Week Seven NFL Picks

By Steve Keating

That was more like it, a very solid 5-1 effort in Week 6 after a very tough month of average results.

Could we be perfect in lucky Week 7? Feels good.

Record: 19-17. Last week 5-1

Pick of the Week: 5-1

PICK OF THE WEEK

Green Bay Packers (6-0) at Minnesota Vikings (1-5)

The Lineman’s NFL picks — Still backing the Pack

That was another great football weekend made all the more exciting for the Lineman by going a very respectable 3-1. Only two games this week and both look like crackers. Enjoy.

Playoffs: 5-3. Pick of the Week 1-1.

Last week: 3-1

Regular Season Record: 53-49

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Green Bay Packers (12-6) at Chicago Bears (12-5) (Line Packers minus-3.5): I backed the Pack to get to the Super Bowl when the season started and there is no reason to slip off the Green Bay bandwagon now.

The Bears and Packers have clashed 181 times since 1921 but number 182 promises something special as the NFL’s two most storied franchises renew a rivalry that is as old as the league itself.

The Lineman’s NFL picks — classics on the cards

The Lineman is only sure of one thing this weekend and that is that football fans are in for a real treat with all four games shaping up as potential classics.

It was a rough ride for home teams last weekend with only the Seattle Seahawks surviving and who says you need an elite quarterback to win in the playoffs.

Saints Drew Brees and Colts Peyton Manning will watch this weekend’s action from the couch while Jets’Mark Sanchez and Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck moved on.

Yes indeed, shaping up as another wild and wonderful weekend in the NFL.

Playoffs: 2-2. Pick of the Week 0-1.

Regular Season Record: 53-49

PICK OF THE WEEK:

The Lineman’s NFL picks: week 3

That was a hard earned 3-3 in Week Two that could have very easily been 5-1. Really, it could have. The Eagles failing to cover by .5 and the Raiders happy to give up a score at the death against St. Louis were gut-wrenchers. But then the Texans did come back from the brink to beat the Redskins so, I guess it all evens out in the end. Sort of.

Record: 7-5. Last week 3-3

Pick of the Week: 1-1

PICK OF THE WEEK Green Bay Packers (2-0) at Chicago Bears (2-0) (Line Packers minus-2.5)

The battle for bragging rights in the NFC North was suppose to be between the Packers and the Vikings not Green Bay and the Bears. But Vikes Brett Favre is looking old and after last season’s flop Bears Jay Cutler has been reborn in the Windy City with the help of offensive mastermind Mike Martz, the man who produced the Greatest Show on Turf when the Rams were Super Bowl champions.

Cutler threw up an NFL high 26 interceptions last season but two weeks into the new campaign he is the league’s top rated passer. I’m not buying it, at least not yet.

Bears eked out a season-opening win against the Detroit Lions and then went into Dallas and were impressive dumping the hugely over-rated Cowboys. The Packers, meanwhile, come as advertised – legit Super Bowl contenders.

NFL Week 17 Blog picks

Well, here we are at the end of the regular season staring at a .500 record. Let’s go out with a bang.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Chicago Bears (6-9) at Detroit Lions (2-13) (Line Bears minus 2 1/2)

End of season games between two teams with nothing to play for are always tricky but I can’t imagine the Bears losing this one to their NFC North rivals.

Jay Cutler has had a ghastly first season with Da Bears, tossing an NFL high 26 interceptions but gets to end the campaign against the league’s worst defence. Running back Matt Forte can expect a big day lugging the ball.

If you are a Lions fan this year has already been wildly successful compared to last year’s winless season, picking up two wins. But the Lions still have more troubles than the auto industry on both sides of the ball.

The Bears wheel into the Motor City riding the momentum of a big win last week over the Vikings and I don’t expect to see them go into hibernation with a loss to the toothless Lions.

Week 14 NFL picks

Could see the blitz coming last week but just could not stop it. The Lineman’s Spider sense told him something just felt wrong but ignored the danger and well…the end result was a crushing 1-5 Week 13.

But we have followed up disappointing weeks with big ones all season and we are still hanging just above .500 so bounce back week is in order.

Record: 40-38. Last week 1-5

Pick of the Week: 7-6

The Lineman says avoid the trap, take the Bears

Ouch, the Lineman took a couple of hard hits last week but is still narrowly about 50-50 so still standing. A win by the Colts over the Phish on Monday saved the day but better to come this week – gulp.

Record: 7-5; Last week 3-3; Pick of the Week: 1-1

PICK OF THE WEEK: Chicago Bears (1-1) at Seattle Seahawks (1-1) (Line Bears minus-2) Fragile Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is out with a broken rib and Chicago QB Jay Cutler started to look comfortable leading da Bears to nice win over the Steelers last week. Bears are learning to live without linebacker and defensive leader Brian Urlacher while the Seahawks are are already looking beat up.

No Bear traps here. Take the Bears and give up the two points.

Tennessee Titans (0-2) at New York Jets (2-0) (Jets minus-2.5) What sounds weirder? Titans 0-3 or the Jets 3-0? The Titans finished last season with the NFL’s best record but have stumbled out the gate while the Jets have been flying high with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez at the controls. Remember the Titans are still a pretty good team (and not a bad movie) while Sanchez is about to hit some turbulence. Fasten your seatbelts.

Take the Titans and the 2.5 points.

Green Bay (1-1) at St Louis Rams (0-2) (Line Rams plus-6.5) Are the Detroit Lions the NFL’s worst team or is it really the Rams? The Rams have scored just seven points in two games this season and have lost 12 straight going back to last season. The Packers, one of the pre-season faves, have dropped five straight on the road and have not looked sharp. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 10 times but will not see the same pressure from the Rams defence he got from the Bengals last week giving him time to locate dynamic pass catching duo of Greg Jennings and Donald Driver.