NFL 2017 INTERNATIONAL SERIES GAME 2 -- NEW ORLEANS SAINTS vs MIAMI DOLPHINS

Sunday 1st October

New Orleans Saints vs Miami Dolphins 
@ Wembley Stadium 2:30pm 

The 2nd of this seasons international games will again take place at Wembley and continues the four game series in London which will be shared between Wembley and Twickenham stadiums. Another sell out crowd is expected for these popular matches and kick off will be at 2.30pm. 

Current season record 

 New Orleans Saints
    - P3 W1 L2 F73 A78
 Miami Dolphins
    - P2 W1 L1 F25 A37

Another excellent match up for our second UK game with Miami playing a bit of catch up having only played two games due to the recent hurricanes that devastated large parts of the East Coast a few weeks back. Both sides need to bounce back after poor starts too, the Dolphins were knocked over 20-6 by the New York Jets last weekend while the Saints at least managed to win their first match by cruising to a 34-13 against Carolina having gone into that game 0-2. Drew Brees is their main man and keeps setting records, so if the Dolphins defence cannot keep him quiet this could be over quickly. While for Miami it's a case of "welcome home" to Jay Ajayi the running back who himself is beginning to break records in the NFL and the London born star will be looking to score heavily therefore I expect a high scoring game so will be backing the 'Overs' Half time and Total Points markets.

For those of you not coming to Wembley this Sunday afternoon it's a joy that this match will be screened live on the the BBC as it has been in recent years. They appear to only have two live games this year which is disappointing but it's better than nothing and there's always the excellent NFL Show with Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora together with host Mark Chapman which is on all season twice a week. 
Have a fun day.

1st Quarter;
After the anthems and the "protests" are over, with both sides lined up and some taking a knee again, the Saints kick us off and we are underway in London. The Dolphins opening drive sees Jay Ajayi run for a couple of first downs and they are up to the halfway line where they struggle to progress after a series of penalties, but a few plays later and this opening drive takes us to the 5yd line and we have first and goal but it's Intercepted by the Saints Ken Crawley in the end zone and that big drive ends in nothing. Saints take over for their opening drive and quickly get themselves across half way into Dolphins territory with wide receivers Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara making significant gains into the Red Zone before the end of the first quarter with no score as yet. 

2nd Quarter;
New Orleans starting off this period on the 30yd line looking to score on their second drive of the match, but they had to settle for a 41yd field goal attempt and that was missed by Will Lutz. So Dolphins take over again and we still to see a score, far too many penalties and missed opportunities during this opening half and so much for a high scoring game I guess. A single field goal from Will Lutz was all we have to show for the opening half. 

H/T Score;    New Orleans Saints 3 -- 0 Miami Dolphins.

3rd Quarter;
Finally a touchdown for New Orleans as Michael Thomas scores from 3yds to extend their lead to ten points, and while we had hoped that the floodgates might open it's a continuous series of three and out followed by a punt from each side and we're soon heading into the final quarter of the match that has basically never got going.

4th Quarter;
The final period and no real change, the Saints doing enough to keep on top and extend the lead with another Lutz field goal to go 13-0 and the final nail in the coffin for the Dolphins came when Drew Brees passed 12yds to Alvin Kamara for their second touchdown. The next two games are at Twickenham and I really hope we see more of a spectacle at the home of rugby. 

F/T Score;    New Orleans Saints 20 -- 0 Miami Dolphins.