Assessing Eagles' Chances of Playing Outside the U.S. in 2022
The Eagles may, once again, be going international this season.
Their odds of playing outside the boundaries of the United States increased on Wednesday when the NFL announced it will play one game in Munich, marking the first time commissioner Roger Goodell has brought his product to German soil.
There will also be three games in England and one in Mexico.
It will have been four years ago since the Eagles played their one and only game outside the U.S. That was on Oct. 28, 2018, when they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in Wembley Stadium, 24-18, behind three touchdown passes from Carson Wentz, one each to Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, and Wendell Smallwood.
That shows you how long ago that was, with only Goedert still on the roster.
Five international games mean 10 teams will be needed.
Two have already been identified – the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jags have played seven games in the UK and are 3-4. They are scheduled to be the game that will be played in Wembley Stadium.
The Saints will be one of the two games set for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Could the Eagles be one of the eight as of yet to be determined other teams?
The NFL doesn’t release its full schedule of dates and times of each game until the spring, though teams that get picked to play outside the U.S. could know whether they will or won’t, though not when, prior to the schedule release.
The Eagles were mentioned as a possibility of playing the Atlanta Falcons in England last year since the Falcons were designated as one of the teams to play overseas in 2021. It did not happen. Instead, the Eagles went to Atlanta in the season opener and the Falcons played the New York Jets at Tottenham.
So, which games could land the Eagles on foreign soil?
A trip to Germany doesn’t seem likely since the NFL announced that four NFL teams – Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – have been granted access to Germany for marketing, fan engagement, and commercialization as part of its International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) initiative.
That would seem to indicate one of those teams will get that game and the Eagles aren’t scheduled to play any of them.
It probably won’t be one of the Eagles’ nine scheduled home games, given their strong following, and it probably won’t be one of their three home games against their NFC East brethren, though the Dallas Cowboys could play in Mexico and perhaps the league matches up the Eagles in a primetime game across the Texas border.
It is something certainly to keep an eye on.
The other five possibilities:
Chicago Bears: The Bears have played in England twice. Most recently, in 2019, but in 2012, they played one of their home games there. Ten years later, Chicago, though, could be hesitant to give up a game played in Soldier Field, where they have a strong following similar to the Eagles’ games at the Linc.
Detroit Lions: The Lions gave up a home game in 2014 and last played in the UK in 2015. A seven-year absence from the international series could put Detroit very much in play for a long road trip.
Houston Texans: They, like Dallas, share a border with Mexico. They played the first-ever game in Mexico back in 2016 at Estadia Azteca, though it was a home game of the Oakland Raiders. Houston did play one of its home games in England in 2019.
Indianapolis Colts: This would be fascinating and a matchup the NFL might want to take overseas if Indy agrees to give up a home game, which is always well attended by Colts fans. There is the possibility that Carson Wentz matches up against his former team, with a sidelight being the fact that Frank Reich and Sirianni are good friends and coached together in Indianapolis.
Arizona Cardinals: In 2020, the Eagles went to Arizona. It was a game that had been discussed as possibly moving to Mexico, but COVID-19 prevented any international games from taking place that season. So, maybe it happens this time around.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
