NFL continues to be a hit in the UK as the Chicago Bears dominate at Wembley

It's an odd experience being a UK-based NFL fan. For 51 weeks of the year we take on a nocturnal quality, only seen in brief flashes of daylight between copious amounts of caffeine. Then, for one week, seven glorious days, the game is over here, with all of the razzmatazz and hype that our Stateside friends excel in. Over the five years that America have been sending teams over the here the events in the run-up to the Wembley game has got bigger, better and a fuller reflection of the NFL experience. This year saw of the most impressive teams from last season, the Chicago Bears, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head to London, coming straight from impressive wins last weekend.

Aside from the game itself, this year we had the Tampa Bay cheerleaders appearing all over London before the weekend kicked off with a huge Friday night outdoor screening of Jerry Maguire in Trafalgar Square (complete with Cuba Gooding Jr appearance). Next up, the same square was full to overflowing with NFL fans, showcasing jerseys from all 32 NFL teams, for a Fan Rally on Saturday with appearances from NFL greats Marshall Faulk and Jerome 'The Bus' Bettis. On Sunday the show hit Wembley, pre-match, a massive tailgate party took over much of the area surrounding Wembley as cheerleaders, dancers and musicians performed. More NFL players were on show while fans soaked up the atmosphere and a few beverages, occasionally glancing down at their phones before reacting with incredulity to events at Old Trafford. After a week long-build up, it was finally game time. Rio Ferdinand was due to make it down to the game to flip the coin, but similarly to his performance in Manchester earlier that day, he didn't show up. The same couldn't be said of the Glazers however who flew down in time to see another of their sides take a beating. After the fan-fare of the national anthems, some fireworks and a [ performance] from the Goo Goo Dolls (who apparently have a song other than 'Iris,' who knew?) the game got underway. The Bears started brightly as their running back Matt Forte dominated proceedings, by the end of the day he'd have over 150 total yards, and it was his 32 yard jinking touchdown run with opened the scoring. After a couple of interceptions and a safety got the Buccs on the scoreboard, Chicago extended their lead as Jay Cutler found Roy Williams who brushed off defenders to march into the endzone and put his side 14-2 up. A field goal late in the half brought Tampa back to 14-5 but it was the Bears who started the second half better and Marion Barber powered his way through to give Chicago a comfortable 21-5 lead heading in to the 4th quarter. Finally Tampa's young side, led by quarterback Josh Freeman woke up, as did the Wembley crowd. Quickfire touchdown passes to Wilmslow an Briscoe put the Buccs only 3 points behind, and while the Bears were able to hit a field goal to extend their lead to 24-18, Freeman had a shot to win it with 2 minutes left. As it was, the Bears put in a huge defensive effort, forcing an interception to secure victory after the Buccs had menacingly driven into Chicago territory. The Bears went home the victors, the fans went home happy after a close, compelling game, and we are left with the question about the future of the NFL in this country. Myself and another writer for our site were fortunate enough to spend some of the week at the Buccs' hotel and clearly the players and club enjoy the UK experience, being the only club to have been over here twice. In conversations with those involved in the game in this country, as well as other writers stateside, the desire to grow the game on this side of the Atlantic is apparent. While talk of a UK-based franchise continues to bubble under the surface, in reality, the logistics of such a move put the likelihood of it happening at least a decade away. In the near future, the NFL's commissioner Roger Goodell all but confirmed that there was a strong possibility of two games over here from next season. Personally speaking, I worry about the demand for two games a season over here, but the popularity of the game continues to surprise me. Yesterday showed that despite a limited sales window (only six weeks due to previous issues of players' contracts putting the season at risk), expensive seats and a returning teams, there were still 77,000 people willing to travel from across the country to watch a game. And it's not just a game, people making a whole weekend out of it. Once again, the NFL over here was a success, and continues to grow. Perhaps there are more of us 3am, coffee-filled weirdos than we imagined. Follow Jamie on Twitter @jamiecutteridge Follow Any Given Sunday Night on Twitter @uknfl Here is more info about Canada Goose Parkas check out the web site.