The Patriots’ full 2023 schedule won’t be released until later this week, but we now know an important detail about one of their marquee games.
New England’s opponent for the franchise’s first game in Germany will be the New Orleans Saints, German outlet Bild reported last week. The game reportedly will be played in Frankfurt, as will a second matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears.
The NFL held its first regular-season game in Germany last season, with Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeating the Seattle Seahawks in front of a crowd of 69,811 at Munich’s Allianz Arena. The Patriots have not participated in an International Series game since 2017 (Mexico City) and have not played in Europe since 2012 (London).
The date and time for this reported Pats-Saints matchup remains unclear. Bild’s report indicated it will be either Nov. 12 or Nov. 19, with Chiefs-Bears occupying the other date in the same venue. ESPN’s Mike Reiss offered a conflicting report Sunday, however, relaying that the two Germany games will be played on Nov. 5 and 12.
NBC Sports’ Peter King also questioned the validity of Bild’s report Monday in his “Football Morning in America” column, though only in relation to Kansas City’s opponent.
“When a team gives up one of its home games to play overseas, it has the option of requesting to the league one home game on its schedule the team does not want moved,” King wrote. “I’m told Kansas City requested that the Chicago game not be played overseas.”
Given that lack of confirmation from major American outlets, consider all of this information tentative until the NFL officially unveils its full regular-season schedule Thursday night.
With the Patriots designated as the “home” team in Frankfurt, they will play eight games at Gillette Stadium this season and eight games in opponents’ venues, plus the one international contest.
