How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
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It's strange to consider that the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing the game of the week in the NFL's Week 7. New England is coming off a 59-0 dismantling of the Tennessee Titans in which it set numerous team or NFL records. In contrast, Tampa Bay has scored 48 points in its last four games combined. The Pats are first in the AFC East and are picking up steam as Tom Brady rediscovers his 2007 moxie. The Bucs are winless and last in the NFC South, riding a 10-game losing streak and already on their second quarterback.
Yet this is the game of the week for one reason: It's being played in London.
For the third straight year, the NFL brings its product overseas to a world crazy about that other kind of football. For the past two years, the action at Wembley Stadium has been competitive, if not always aesthetically pleasing: The Giants topped the Dolphins by a score of 13-10 on a muddy day in October 2007, and last year the Saints beat the Chargers 37-32 in a thrilling offensive shoot-out.
Close games are better for the brand of competition that the NFL is selling to European markets, and, fortunately, both of those games featured teams that were more or less evenly matched — the Saints were favored by two and a half and the Giants by one before their dates in England. With the Pats as big favorites coming in, the London crowd should expect a laugher along the lines of 35-6.
As loyal readers of "Bain There, Done That" might imagine, I'm not particularly thrilled about the selection of Pats-Bucs as the international showcase game. Two weeks ago, I lamented the low quality of Week 5's games, which was reflected in the games' results. I argued that one of the main defects was an unhappy abundance of interconference games — poor-quality ones at that.
I understand that interconference action is a healthy part of the NFL schedule. Every team plays four interconference games a year, which guarantees that every NFL team will play at home and away with teams from the other conferences over an eight-year cycle. And don't get me wrong — I love the idea of teams welcoming interconference foes on a quadrennial basis. But for sheer quality and excitement, I prefer that the schedule-makers opt for the tried-and-true intradivision matchups, or at least intraconference matchups with recent history.
In the three years that the NFL has exported football to London, Wembley has hosted three interconference matchups. I think the league chooses these games because no NFL team wants to sacrifice a key division home game to play in front of a neutral crowd. I understand that. But what I don't understand is the NFL sending second-tier games to show to the international sporting community.
Tampa-New England may still turn out to be a thriller — the last two interconference games were no laughing matter. But I have the feeling that while I'm sitting on the chesterfield in my flat, watching the telly and eating crisps with my best mate, I'll realize that an interconference New England blowout doesn't take the biscuit.
