London Gets Packers, Needs Rodgers

The NFL routinely has exported some awful football teams to London. Maybe Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers can change that.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Perhaps no group of football fans is rooting harder for the return of Aaron Rodgers than the fans in London.

The NFL has been trying to grow the game internationally while force-feeding the fans the equivalent of haggis and black pudding. Having Rodgers in the lineup for the Green Bay Packers for their maiden trip overseas would be the equivalent fish and chips and a perfectly poured glass of Guinness.

A total of 30 games have been played in London. Exactly zero of them featured two teams that wound up making the playoffs that season. Last year’s games featured the Jaguars vs. the Dolphins and the Falcons vs. the Jets. Those teams went a combined 23-45 and were outscored by 576 points.

It was more of the same old tripe. Of the 60 teams to participate in those London games, 16 reached the playoffs (26.7 percent) while 10 were winless at the time the game was played (16.7 percent). Only five of the teams reached a conference championship game. The 2007 Giants were the only team to win a Super Bowl.

Of the six games played there the previous three seasons, only one team reached the postseason. That’s one team out of the 12 participants.

Bad football teams play bad football games. The average margin of victory has been 14.2 points. Half of the games have been decided by at least 10 points.

As Peter Carline of the UK Daily Mail wrote before last year’s epic Miami-Jacksonville game – they were a combined 1-9 at the time – “Too often teams start slowly and are unable to recover. Some are unable to finish. They look lethargic, jetlagged. It’s not surprising with most teams now arriving on the Friday morning before the game. As long as fans buy tickets and merchandise, the NFL will continue its global plans of expansion. It’s just a question of whether fans will grow weary of watching.”

The NFL, of course, doesn’t care. It’s just looking to make more money. Never mind the welfare of the players, who are jetlagged for the game and then get to spend part of their bye week recovering from the flight home.

In 2017, the Baltimore Ravens started the season with back-to-back wins before it got crushed 44-7 by Jacksonville in London. Afterward, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was blunt about the overseas game.

“There were certain things that came up that you looked at and you go, ‘That wasn't ideal,’” he said upon arriving back in Baltimore. “But, we really had no way of knowing that. Even all the people that we talked to, you do not get everything. Then, some things we have no control over. We have no control over where we stay, how far the bus ride is and how long it takes us to get to the stadium and those kinds of things. What impact they have are things we look at. To be honest with you, maybe I will get in trouble for saying this, I do not plan on going over there any time soon to play again. Somebody else can have that job.”

It's the Packers’ job now. They’re the last team to play a regular-season game outside the United States. Team President Mark Murphy is excited about it. So, too, will be the fans in London who might get to see what an actual, honest-to-goodness championship-caliber NFL team looks like.

So long as No. 12 returns to Green Bay, anyway.

Green Bay Packers’ 2022 Opponents

Here is a look at next season’s opponents. The dates and times for the games will be announced in the spring; the 2021 schedule was announced on May 12. Teams with an asterisk qualified for the playoffs.

Home: NFC North

Chicago Bears (6-11), Detroit Lions (3-13-1), Minnesota Vikings (8-9).

Home: NFC East

Dallas Cowboys* (12-5), New York Giants (4-13).

Home: AFC East

New England Patriots* (10-7), New York Jets (4-13).

Home: NFC North Winner

Los Angeles Rams* (12-5).

Home: Game 17 (Winner AFC South)

Tennessee Titans* (12-5).

Away: NFC North

Chicago Bears (6-11), Detroit Lions (3-13-1), Minnesota Vikings (8-9).

Away: NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles* (9-8), Washington Football Team (7-10).

Away: AFC East

Buffalo Bills* (11-6), Miami Dolphins (9-8).

Away: NFC South Winner

Tampa Bay Buccaneers* (13-4).