Monday 31 October 2016 17:55, UK
The NFL came to town one last time in 2016 and the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins served up an absolute thriller at Wembley Stadium.
But the highly entertaining game could not produce a winner as the two teams played out a 27-27 tie. And that was one of the headlines that caught my eye in NFL Week 8…
No winner in London
What a thoroughly enjoyable game between the Bengals and Redskins. As I mentioned on Sky Sports on Sunday night, the contest was like eating a good curry that actually turned out to be not so good after all! You know what I mean - you enjoy every bite at the time, but it leaves you feeling a bit uncomfortable afterwards!
American sports are not used to ties and the players from both teams trudged off like losers on Sunday evening. The only people who went home happy were the neutrals among the record 84,448 crowd.
It was an action-packed game in which Kirk Cousins shone for Washington and Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green just about got the better of the busy and under-pressure Josh Norman.
But points were left on the field and that must have hurt as the teams headed home. Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins missed two field goals - including a makeable 34-yarder in overtime - and Mike Nugent missed an extra point for the Bengals that came back to haunt his team.
Casting an eye to 2017
The Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints are the first in line for a 2017 game in London. The venue and date is to be confirmed but it will be a Dolphins home game.
At this point, we don't know the number of games we will have in the UK in 2017 but it certainly won't be fewer than three and it could be as many as four. Time will tell once the NFL have worked out the interested teams, venues and other logistical issues associated with bringing these games overseas.
But an early look ahead suggests there could be points in that Dolphins-Saints clash. British running back Jay Ajayi is giving the Dolphins a nice identity and the Saints are always so ably led by quarterback Drew Brees, which is good as New Orleans don't tend to play a lot of defence.
Ryan spreads the wealth
Another thrilling game on Sky Sports on Sunday did produce a winner as the Atlanta Falcons squeezed out a 33-32 win over the Green Bay Packers. It was another game in which Matt Ryan served up his NFL Most Valuable Player credentials.
Ryan stepped up and delivered big down the stretch, firing an 11-yard winning strike to Mohamed Sanu inside the final minute. That was special, but equally impressive was Ryan continuing to drive his team forward even though star receiver Julio Jones - who twisted an ankle during the game - caught just three passes for 29 yards.
The Falcons rode out a couple of tough weeks but are definitely where they deserve to be at the season's halfway mark - on top of the NFC South.
Brady and Patriots march on
Sunday marked 83 days until Tom Brady lifts the AFC Championship trophy and prepares for a seventh Super Bowl appearance. That may be a bit too soon to proclaim such a thing given how quickly circumstances can change in the NFL.
But would you bet against it?
The Patriots are the undoubted class of the NFL and look nailed on to represent the AFC in Houston in February. The defence is playing well and Tom Brady is spreading the ball all around the field on offence and looks to be in career and legacy-defining form. It's as if Brady wants to be so good this season no one can ever hold the whole Deflate-gate thing against him in the future.
Brady is special and what he is doing in this era of supposed salary cap parity is truly historic and should be appreciated, not envied.
Team Dak gathers momentum
Team Dak or Team Tony has been the talk of Texas in recent weeks. And that chatter has spread across the Atlantic where myself, Brian Baldinger and Dallas Clark went three for three in support of the rookie quarterback in the Sky Sports studios on Sunday night.
Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott made us look right, for now, in a 29-23 overtime win against Philadelphia. It was his sixth consecutive win and might have been his most impressive because it was a real struggle. He was constantly pressured as Philadelphia beat him up, he threw an end-zone interception and he trailed by seven in the fourth quarter.
But the poised rookie tied the scores with a 22-yard strike to Dez Bryant and won the game in overtime with a five-yarder to tight end Jason Witten, who might have further relegated his best friend Tony Romo to the bench with the winning reception.
It's going to be hard for Dallas to make a change now - if at all - and I see them riding the hot hand for as long as they can.
Raiders slow themselves
The only team that looked capable of stopping the Oakland Raiders in their 30-24 overtime win against Tampa Bay was the Silver and Black themselves. The Raiders marched up and down the field to the tune of 626 offensive yards.
That is the positive as young stars such as quarterback Derek Carr (513 yards and four touchdowns) and wide receiver Amari Cooper (12 catches for 173 yards and one touchdown) came to play. The negative is that the Raiders racked up an NFL record 23 penalties for 200 yards - that is a shocking statistic that will come back to haunt this team at some point in the future.
So while the Raiders blew hot and cold, this cannot be disputed - they are very much alive in the AFC West race and have six wins and just two losses to their name. And five of those six wins have come on the road, where the Raiders are perfect in 2016. That is mightily impressive for such a young team.
