The NFL recently released the 2023 opponents of every team for the 2023 season. The exact schedule with dates and times will not be released until much closer to the start of the 2023 NFL season. However, we do already know which games will be home games or away games. Today, the NFL released the five teams that will be designated as the home teams for the international games. The Chicago Bears were not one of them, but could they still be an opponent of one of these five teams — leaving the potential of playing overseas?
The NFL has five international games slated for the 2023 NFL season. Three of them will be played in London and two will be played in Germany. Of the 32 NFL teams, we only know of five of the 10 teams playing in one of these five games as of now. The Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennesee Titans and Buffalo Bills will be the designated home teams playing in London. The Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots will be the designated home teams playing in Germany.
Will the Chicago Bears play in an international game in 2023?
If we run through the 2023 opponents that the Chicago Bears will face, then focus on the away games, the Bears only face one of these five opponents — the Kansas City Chiefs. This is purely speculation, but I could easily see the Chicago Bears wanting to use the combination of Patrick Mahomes and Justin Fields as a promotional tool for one of these overseas contests. Even if the Chiefs are heavily favored, there are plenty of storylines to be had here.
NFL lead writer Eric Edholm is hoping to see a Chiefs vs Lions matchup instead. Not as great of a storyline in my opinion.
First, the Mahomes vs Fields component is huge. Whether you believe in Fields as a passer or not (that narrative is getting old), he is exciting to watch. Then, of course, there is Mahomes who is in the running for league MVP every season. Now add in the Matt Nagy and Ryan Poles connection between both teams and you have an easy group of both on-the-field and off-the-field stories to promote.
The NFL rule states that all 32 teams will play internationally at least once every eight years. The last international game for the Chicago Bears took place vs the Raiders in 2019. This game was a letdown and ended in a 24-21 loss to the Raiders. At the time, the Bears fell to 3-2 on the season. Mitch Trubisky was out for the second week in a row and Chase Daniels showcased the game instead.
Grading Chicago Bears trade for N’Keal Harry
Grading Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles trade for N'Keal Harry. The Chicago Bears traded for N'Keal Harry, marking one of many trades that General Manager
We are headed into year four since this game took place, meaning the Bears could very well be in line to be the Chiefs’ overseas opponent in 2023. For now, we continue to wait to know for sure.