Everything you need to know ahead of the 2021 NFL London Games

For almost 15 years now, the NFL have been hosting games in London, with the firsttaking place in-front of an 81,000-strong crowd at Wembley Stadium in 2007, as the New York Giants scraped past the Miami Dolphins with a 13-10 victory. Since then, the game has grown massively in the United Kingdom, with multiple matches being held in venues across London each and every year.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which was purpose built to be the new home of
American Football when it comes to London, hosted its first double header in 2019,and with the coronavirus pandemic ending any hope of games taking place on British soil last year, fans of the NFL would have been rubbing their hands with glee when it was revealed that the sport would be returning to London next month, with two games taking place at Spurs’ state-of-the-art venue in north London.

So, whether you’re scouring the internet for the best NFL betting odds or just catching up with the latest news ahead of the new season, we’ve put together this early guide for everything you need to know ahead of the 2021 NFL London Games. Read on to find out more!

Who is taking part this year?

As always, there’s a lot of excitement in the UK ahead of the upcoming series of games, and there’s certainly plenty to look forward to! The Atlanta Falcons will face the New York Jets on the NFL’s return to London, before the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Miami Dolphins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

When are the matches taking place?

Luckily, after almost two years of being starved of American Football action, NFL
fans don’t have much longer to wait, as the Jets are set to take on the Falcons on
October 10 th , whilst the Dolphins will go head-to-head with the Jaguars just one week later, on October 17th . The matches will both kick-off at 2.30pm UK time, which is 9.30am ET.

Have the franchises played in London before?

Those who regularly attend the NFL games when they come to the capital will be no stranger to the Jackson Jaguars. They were heavily beaten by the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium back in 2019, and have taken part in the London NFL Games every year since 2013, winning just twice — which certainly won’t help their cause in the NFL betting tips. Their opponents, the Dolphins, will be making their fifth appearance, and they will be hoping for a much better outing than the last time they came to London, which ended in 20-0 win for the New Orleans Saints. Surprisingly, this will be just the New York Jets second appearance, with their London debut coming in a 21-14 win over the Dolphins back in 2015, whilst the Falcons are also making just their second appearance, as they last featured in a narrow 22-21 defeat to the Detroit Lions back in 2014.

Players to keep an eye out for
Of course, there will be plenty of top-class players on show. However, as always, the onus will be the quarterbacks, and there will be a lot of pressure on their shoulders. Trevor Lawrence of the Jaguars and the Jets’ Zach Wilson, who were the first two picks of the 2021 Draft, won’t have much time to settle in to the NFL before being centre stage in London, whilst 2016 MVP Matt Ryan will be trying to make things tick for the Falcons. The promising Tua Tagovailoa is another young QB to keep an eye out for. The 23-year-old will be in his second season with the Dolphins.