When the NFL’s schedule is released next month, the Bears could end up playing a road game in Germany.
ESPN 1000 host David Kaplan reported this week that the Bears are expected to be the Chiefs’ opponent overseas.
Bears chairman George McCaskey, who is on the NFL’s international committee, wouldn’t say last week if the Bears were scheduled to go to Germany, insisting the league was “talking about announcing the visiting teams in the international games shortly before the schedule comes out.”
One source told the Sun-Times last week that the team facing the Chiefs — who would give up a game at Arrowhead Stadium — was expected to be either the Lions or Bears. In February, Lions president Rod Wood told the Detroit Free Press the odds of the Lions going to Germany were “at least 50/50” because the Lions “were due to go international.” They haven’t played overseas since 2015, while the Bears last played internationally in 2019.
The Bears have played in London three times: at Wembley Stadium in 1986 and 2011 and at Tottenham Stadium in 2019, when they lost to the Raiders.
In January, the NFL announced five home teams for 2023 international games. The Chiefs and Patriots will host games in Germany, though the league did not say where. Previously, the league announced Munich and Frankfurt as hosts.
All five home teams for European games are from the AFC because the conference gets an extra home game this season as part of the NFL’s unbalanced schedule. Road teams who go overseas have the option of taking their bye week immediately after the game or later in the season.
