| Venues & dates: October 1: Atlanta Falcons v Jacksonville Jaguars, Wembley Stadium. October 8: Jacksonville Jaguars v Buffalo Payments, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. October 15: Baltimore Ravens v Tennessee Titans (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) Kick-offs: All 14:30 BST |
| BBC protection: Reside textual content commentary on the BBC Sport web site and app |
The NFL has returned to London this week with a star-studded line-up set for this 12 months’s worldwide sequence.
The league’s development in Europe continues with 5 regular-season video games being held this facet of the Atlantic for the primary time.
Two of them are in Germany in November – together with Tremendous Bowl winners the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in opposition to the in-form Miami Dolphins – however first there are three video games in London, on back-to-back Sundays, all kicking off at 14:30 BST.
The sequence begins at Wembley this Sunday with the Jacksonville Jaguars returning to the crew’s second dwelling. They’ve performed in each London sequence since 2013 and can proceed to take action till at the very least 2024.
As Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence has put it, they don’t seem to be simply taking part in their tenth sport in London this 12 months, they’re “double-dipping”, turning into the primary NFL crew to play two regular-season video games outdoors the US in the identical season.
That’s as a result of they’re staying on the town to face Josh Allen’s Buffalo Payments subsequent Sunday at Tottenham, so for the primary time since 2016, two groups that had been within the earlier season’s play-offs will meet in London.
Then extra of the NFL’s trendy greats will probably be on present as two groups who’ve been play-off regulars lately battle it out at Tottenham.
Worldwide sequence set for ‘explosive’ opener
Trevor Lawrence earned his first NFL win at Tottenham in 2021, one of many few highlights from a turbulent rookie season beneath City Meyer. Below Tremendous Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson final season, Lawrence confirmed why he was hailed as a ‘generational expertise’ when picked first within the 2021 draft.
The 23-year-old led the Jags to victory in seven of their previous 9 video games to succeed in the play-offs for the primary time in 9 years. And he was not performed there.
After a woeful begin in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers, Lawrence regrouped to steer a outstanding fightback from 27-0 all the way down to win 31-30. The next week the Jags ran Kansas Metropolis shut in a slender defeat by the eventual champions.
Though they presently have a 1-2 file, their offence nonetheless options working again Travis Etienne, tight finish Evan Engram and receiver Christian Kirk. And with veteran receiver Calvin Ridley having returned from suspension this season, his former crew the Atlanta Falcons may face an aerial onslaught on Sunday.
“We simply must go play,” stated Lawrence. “We have nice gamers and I will discover them.”
The Falcons are making a swift return to the UK having received the opposite London sport in 2021. Since then, long-serving quarterback Matt Ryan has left and his substitute Marcus Mariota misplaced the beginning job to rookie Desmond Ridder final December.
It was very a lot a transitional 12 months for Atlanta however Ridder, 24, now leads a promising younger offence that includes tight finish Kyle Pitts, broad receiver Drake London and working backs Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson – all drafted since 2021.
That offence is constructed on working the ball, and regardless of Atlanta being 2-1, coach Arthur Smith admits their passing sport is but to catch fireplace, saying: “It isn’t for an absence of making an attempt, however we have to hit some extra explosives.”
AFC contenders go head-to-head
Like Jacksonville, the Buffalo Payments reached week two of final season’s play-offs, however whereas the Jags exceeded expectations, Buffalo had been pre-season favourites to win the Tremendous Bowl.
It appeared they had been finally overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster that they had been driving since Damar Hamlin’s damage within the penultimate sport of the common season.
Payments security Hamlin was resuscitated on the sector after struggling a cardiac arrest in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals on 2 January, which sparked an outpouring of help from throughout the US.
Not solely has he recovered, however he was cleared to return to soccer in April and performed in Buffalo’s three pre-season video games, though the 25-year-old was not chosen for his or her first three regular-season video games.
The Payments nonetheless have a Tremendous Bowl-calibre roster and quarterback Josh Allen stays a Most Invaluable Participant contender, however time is working out for this group to make it to the large sport having fallen quick in every of the previous three years.
The AFC Convention is now massively aggressive and stacked with star quarterbacks, and this sport will probably be an opportunity for Jacksonville and Lawrence to show they’ve joined the main contenders. It’ll even be an opportunity for Jags linebacker Josh Allen to outshine his extra illustrious namesake, as he did when the 2 groups final met in 2021.
Stars to spark Tremendous Bowl run?
One other of the AFC’s star quarterbacks is Lamar Jackson, briefly the NFL’s highest-paid participant after signing a brand new five-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens price $260m (£214m) in April.
The 26-year-old was the NFL’s Most Invaluable Participant in 2019 and received his first play-off sport the next season, however his previous two have been reduce quick by damage. One of many NFL’s most enjoyable quarterbacks, he likes to run the ball, and the Ravens have introduced in some new receivers for him too.
They added veteran Nelson Agholor and rookie Zay Flowers, plus sprinkled a little bit stardust on their roster, signing Odell Beckham Jr after he spent final season recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) he suffered when serving to the Los Angeles Rams win Tremendous Bowl 56.
There have been fears he suffered one other severe damage in week two, however the 30-year-old needs to be again from his ankle downside in London, whereas 23-year-old linebacker David Ojabo, a Nigeria-born Scot, is relishing returning to the UK.
“Being again dwelling, being round my household and mates, it is one thing that will probably be memorable,” he advised BBC World Service.
“I am excited to be on the sector with Lamar Jackson and see how far he can lead us, and you may’t ignore Odell Beckham. He is a modern-day legend of the sport.”
The Tennessee Titans picked up one other trendy nice within the low season, veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Which means the Titans’ offence could be much less reliant on Derrick Henry, their battering ram of a working again, who has twice led the NFL for dashing yards and touchdowns.
Like Buffalo, each Baltimore and Tennessee have had spectacular regular-season data lately then not backed it up within the play-offs. Can they use a victory in London to spark a run that lastly takes them to the Tremendous Bowl?
What’s taking place round London video games?
Viewers of Disney+ will be capable to see the NFL like by no means earlier than as this Sunday’s sport will probably be given the Toy Story remedy. The on-the-field play will probably be replicated in ‘Andy’s room’, with every participant showing as an animated illustration.
On Saturday, 7 October, the NFL will stage a ‘takeover’ of Battersea Energy Station to host an immersive, free-to-attend occasion. Followers of all ages can check their soccer abilities and meet NFL legends and pundits, amongst different issues.
UK followers will then descend upon Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has prolonged its deal to play a minimal of two regular-season video games every year to 2029.
And this 12 months there will probably be a ‘fourth London sport’ as, for the primary time, the NFL Academy will play a match at Tottenham on 10 October – in opposition to Erasmus Corridor, a US highschool from Brooklyn.
Now primarily based in Loughborough, the academy goals to set younger African and European gamers on the trail to the NFL and has beforehand held try-outs and coaching at Tottenham.
Beckham Jr met academy hopefuls on the first try-outs in 2019. In a number of years maybe he and Ojabo will probably be taking part in alongside them.
