Last weekend, I was in London for the third International Series NFL game at Wembley stadium. The first game, two years ago, was between the hopeless Miami Dolphins and the eventual Superbowl-winning New York Giants. Last year, the New Orlean Saints beat the San Diego Chargers in a closely fought offensive battle.

This year, it was the turn of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and my favourite team, the New England Patriots. It didn’t turn out to be the close affair of the previous two years, but no-one really expected it to anyway. The two teams have won four of the last eight Superbowls between them – Tampa Bay in 2001; New England won in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The Patriots should have won in 2007, going 18-0 on the way to the Superbowl only to lose to the Giants in the dying seconds. Then, last year, they lost quarterback Tom Brady in the first game, fought back to an impressive 11-5 record but just missed out on the play-offs.

Going into the game on Sunday, Tampa Bay were 0-6 and New England were 4-2, having lost to the Denver Broncos (themselves 6-0) and the New York Jets. The Patiots were favourites by fourteen points and few expected Tampa to challenge for very long.

This was proved correct very quickly, as Brandon Meriweather returned an interception for a touchdown with only the fourth play of the game to give the Patriots an early lead. He then picked off a second ball later in the first quarter and returned it to almost halfway.

Once the Patriots had the lead, they didn’t look like giving it up. By half time, they were up by 21-7, and in the second half were just as dominant. In the fourth quarter, Tom Brady was replaced by Brian Hoyer, who didn’t throw a single pass, but did scramble a couple of times for some good yardage. After a dominant win against the Tennessee Titans in week 6 (59-0), the Patriots are starting to look like a team that could go to the AFC Championship game this year. However, in order to get to that, they will almost certainly have to beat one of the Broncos, the Steelers or the Colts along the way in the play-offs – all of whom seem to be marginally better at the moment. Either way, the AFC is looking a very tough conference en route to the Superbowl. The NFC, on the other hand, looks like being between the Saints and… well, themselves, really.

Anyway, some final thoughts on the Wembley game. I’ve been to all three games, and this, I would say, has been the best overall. All three games have been very well attended, and have been good games in their own right. At the first game, there was a certain element of fascination. Many of the people who were there were people who wanted to see what the NFL was all about. Last year, there was less of that, and the game was very good anyway. This year was potentially divisive – on the one hand, the New England Patriots have a good fanbase in Britain. On the other hand, they are also one of the more unpopular teams too – you either love them or hate them for their success. If you hate them, you’re not likely to buy tickets to watch them play. Despite this, the match was easily a sellout, and the people who were there stayed interested to the end.

I am excited by the possibility of having two games next year. I would go to both games without hesitation (as long as it’s not between two teams I despise, and preferably not a Jets game). Indeed, I am all for having more than two games. A franchise would be nice, but problematic, and I can’t see myself giving up on the Patriots to support a London team. However, that’s not to say I wouldn’t happily adopt them as a second team if it means I get to see more NFL action closer to home…