2015 NFL Games In London Announced, Including New York Jets And Miami Dolphins Matchup

The much-maligned New York Jets and the — so far — surging Miami Dolphins will head to London next year for the first of the NFL's slate of London-hosted games.

The NFL announced today, Nov. 6, that the AFC East divisional rivals will face off at Wembley Stadium in Week 4 (Oct. 4, 2015) joining the Buffalo Bills taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7 (Oct. 25, 2015) and the Detroit Lions vs. the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8 (Nov. 1, 2015).

The NFL delivered the news with quite an excellent vine to go with their announcement:

The Jets/Dolphins game marks the first time a inter-division matchup is taking place in the United Kingdom Miami will be hosting the game — the Jets will still have eight home games at MetLife Stadium — with the Florida team's relinquishing of a divisional home game being one of the hurdles the NFL has had to deal with when sending teams to London. But the Miami Herald argued that it's in order to bolster the South Florida team's chances of hosting a future Super Bowl.

It will be the first time the Jets have travelled to London for an in-season game, but marks the third time Miami will head to the U.K., where the NFL has hosted games since 2007. Jacksonville, meanwhile, continues its run of U.K. games, having committed to a game there each year from 2013-16, and Detroit will be heading to Ol' Blighty in back-to-back years, having played Atlanta there Oct. 26. Buffalo and Kanas City will also be making their regular-season U.K. debuts.

In the accompanying official NFL statement regarding the announcement, NFL Executive Vice President of International Mark Waller said, "We believe we have a great 2015 schedule that will continue to attract new fans to our sport and strengthen the bonds with our existing fans.

"To provide U.K. fans the opportunity to see games on consecutive weekends, to see new teams and to attend a division game, which feature some of the most passionate rivalries in our sport, are signs of the growth and depth of our U.K. fan base.''

The actual U.S. times for the games have yet to be decided, with the response to the Oct. 26 Atlanta-Detroit game — with its 9:30 a.m. kickoff — generally being regarded as positive. This season marks the first time the NFL has played three games in London, and this announcement definitely seems to reaffirm the league's commitment to the U.K.