2022 NFL schedule: Patriots will not host an international game this season, but there is still a chance they travel abroad

The NFL announced the five home teams for its international games this season, and the New England Patriots are not among them. This means that the Patriots will play all eight of their scheduled home contests during the 2022 regular season at Gillette Stadium.

But while they will not lose a home game to a trip to either the United Kingdom, Mexico or Germany, there is still a chance that they might play abroad this year. The five teams to host those games, after all, include two on New England’s road schedule:

• London (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): Green Bay Packers
• Mexico City (Estadio Azteca): Arizona Cardinals

The other three international contests during this year’s regular season will be hosted by the following teams:

• London (Wembley Stadium): Jacksonville Jaguars
• London (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium): New Orleans Saints
• Munich (Allianz Arena): Tampa Bay Buccaneers

While the Patriots will not play at Wembley Stadium or participate in the first ever game in Germany, they might just have to travel to Mexico City or to London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The question is how realistic such a trip would be given the teams involved and the NFL’s international plans beyond 2022.

Considering all of that, the Patriots’ game versus the Cardinals seems much more likely to be moved to international territory than their matchup with the Packers.

New England, after all, is already expected to play in Germany at one point between 2023 and 2025. The league sending the club across the Atlantic multiple times in a two-to-four-year span could happen, but it seems unrealistic. Add the fact that the Packers would probably prefer hosting the Patriots at Lambeau Field rather than London, and you can see why that game being played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is far from a safe bet.

The game versus the Cardinals taking place in Mexico is no safe bet either, but more likely compared to the Green Bay contest. The Patriots did travel to the country in 2017 already, but they are popular south of the border and would probably not oppose that journey again this year — they would have to fly west anyway to play in Arizona.

At the end of the day, however, neither game is particularly likely to be played outside the United States. A 2023 contest in Germany, on the other hand, very much appears to be in the cards.