NEWSLETTER
As the NFL continues to push American football internationally, the league announced the five teams that will be designated home teams in 2019 games that aren’t taking place on American soil.
There will be 5 @NFL games played internationally in 2019 – 4 in London & 1 in Mexico City. Details to follow next spring, but the home teams are @Jaguars @Chargers @RamsNFL @Raiders @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/bi0kDDy9yX
— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) December 12, 2018
This wouldn’t normally take up space in this post if not for the fact that two of the teams listed here are potential Chicago Bears opponents in 2019. Teams from the NFC North are scheduled to play the AFC West in 2019, which means the Bears will get to square off against the likes of the Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders. And while we don’t know where the Raiders will be playing the rest of their home games in 2019, at least we know one won’t be on American turf.
Should the Bears do the thing and clinch the NFC North, they will play a first-place schedule in 2019. That means a rematch against the Rams will be locked in. Not to put the cart before the horse, but with Chicago scheduled to play Los Angeles on the road, I can envision the NFL wanting to showcase a game between two teams who won their respective divisions the previous year. Again, the Bears have to turn their magic number from 1 to 0 in order for that to even be a possibility, but still.
The Bears haven’t played an international game since 2011 when they defeated the Buccaneers 24-18 in London. Matt Forte rushed for 145 yards and a score to push Chicago to a win despite a two-interception performance from quarterback Jay Cutler.
I did not wake up this morning expecting to write about the 2019 schedule, but there’s nothing wrong with looking toward the future when the time calls for it. But still … the only game I want to talk about from this point forward is Super Bowl LIII, which takes place on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta.
