The New York Jets will partake in the NFL’s international endeavors for the first time since 2015. Atlanta will serve as the home team.
For the first time since 2015, the New York Jets will play on a different kind of football field.
The team has confirmed that they will battle the Atlanta Falcons on October 10 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Atlanta will serve as the home team.
It’s official. We’re headed to London on October 10. pic.twitter.com/ICfpdbmikD
— Woody Johnson (@woodyjohnson4) May 12, 2021
This will mark the third time the Jets play outside of the United States, previously topping the Buffalo Bills in Toronto in 2009 and the Miami Dolphins in a prior visit to London six years later. The Jets have also played two preseason games internationally, the most recent one being a 2003 visit to Tokyo to battle the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Two games on the Jets schedule have now been confirmed by the team, both of them coming against NFC South competition. The team also confirmed that they will face the Carolina Panthers on opening weekend on September 12.
Atlanta is coming off a four-win season but is set to welcome a potent offensive weapon Kyle Pitts. The Florida tight end was chosen with the fourth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, two choices after the Jets went with BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. This will mark Atlanta’s second visit to Europe, having previously fallen to the Detroit Lions in October 2014 at Wembley Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium currently hosts the eponymous English Premier League club and is known by supporters at “New White Hart Lane”, referencing its prior stadium of over a century. The new facility opened in 2017 and hosted its first American football games two years later. The Oakland Raiders topped Chicago in the first matchup before Carolina beat Tampa Bay the following weekend.
New White Hart Lane was set to host two more NFL games last season, but the contests were kept in America due to the ongoing health crisis. Another AFC East squad will come to the facility a week later, as the Miami Dolphins will battle the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
