Indianapolis Colts not given bye week after playing at Wembley
Friday 15 April 2016 07:21, UK
The Indianapolis Colts will be the first team not to receive a bye week after playing in the International Series at Wembley next season, while there will be two NFL games on Christmas Day next season.
The Colts fate was confirmed with the publication of the NFL schedule on Thursday evening, which also revealed that the 2016 season will kick-off with a rematch of Super Bowl 50 as the reigning champions Denver Broncos host the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, September 8.
It is the first time the opening weekend has featured a Super Bowl rematch since 1970 when the Minnesota Vikings played Kansas City.
"I think it's great," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "It's a big challenge for our team. It gets our attention really quick.
"We know that we're going to have to have a really good offseason. We've got some changes going on with our football team, but our standard will be the same. We'll look forward to it."
The other five teams playing in London next season will all get a bye week after the trip, which has been the case for each franchise to play at Wembley since the first game in 2007, but the Colts will host the Chicago Bears the week after facing the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
NFL executive vice president of international Mark Waller said during Super Bowl week that the rest would need to be looked at before a United Kingdom-based franchise could be set up.
"I think the reality is, if we ever put a team into the UK, you're not going to be able to commit that every team that comes to play an away game is going to get their bye week the week after. It's just not possible. At some point we are going to need to find a way to play games in the UK without the need for a bye week afterwards."
This year's International Series will see two games played at Wembley, while the New York Giants face the newly-relocated Los Angeles Rams at Twickenham on October 23 and the Houston Texans face the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City on November 21.
Meanwhile, the Rams will play their first regular-season game in Los Angeles since returning to the city in week two, when they will host the Seattle Seahawks.
The Minnesota Vikings, seeking successive NFC North titles, are also moving into a new home and play their first game at the US Bank Stadium against the Green Bay Packers the same week.
Most Week 16 games will be played on Christmas Eve with the exception of the Pittsburgh Steelers v Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs v Broncos, which will take place on Christmas Day.
