London Calling: Bears to face Raiders In London this season

The Chicago Bears are going back to London again this season, this time to face the Raiders at either Wembley Stadium or Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium. We won’t know the date or the location until the league’s schedule is set in April.

The NFL announced all of the international games for 2019 this morning, Monday, January 21, 2019. Four of the games will be held in the UK, while a fifth is slated for Mexico.

According to the information released by the NFL, “The quality of the 2019 international offering is apparent in three division games and five playoff participants, including the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams. Two of the four London Games will feature teams playing in the UK for the first time, while Mexico City will host a meeting of long-time AFC West division rivals.”

The 2019 international games: In the UK, the other games are Tampa Bay hosting Carolina, Jacksonville hosting Houston and the LA Rams hosting the Bengals. In Mexico, The LA Chargers will host Kansas City.

Assuming the turfmonster doesn’t eat the 2019 game like it did in 2018, Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium will host a matchup between the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams, who finished the 2018 regular season with identical 12-4 records, will be playing in Mexico City for the first time.

Of course Kansas City fans, many of whom bought non-refundable flights to Mexico City for 2018’s later-relocated game against the LA Rams, are not happy about the news they get to go to Mexico this year.

According to the NFL, the AFC South champion Houston Texans – who face the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars – and the Carolina Panthers – who face their NFC South foes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – will both make their London debuts. It will bring the total number of NFL teams to have played in the UK to 31 in 28 regular-season games by the end of the 2019 season. The Jaguars will be playing a home game in London for the seventh consecutive season.

The Rams, who will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, will host a London game for the fourth time when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Oakland Raiders will return to London for the second straight year, facing the NFC North division champion Chicago Bears.

The information states that the NFL will play two games at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, with two at Wembley Stadium.

Dates, kickoff times and venues for all international games will be announced in conjunction with the release of the full NFL schedule this spring.