NFL announces 2019 International Series games, Packers are left out once again

In December, the NFL announced the five home teams for the league’s 2019 International Series games, and in doing so they left open the door for the Green Bay Packers to make a road trip across the pond to the UK. At that time, however, reports indicated that the Packers were unlikely to be one of the visiting teams in those games.

On Monday, the NFL confirmed that report, announcing the matchups for next year’s games, which consist of one contest in Mexico and four in the UK. Interestingly, the Chargers will host the Mexico game, rather than going across the Atlantic to the UK. That may help explain why the Packers are not the matchup for their international contest.

After 2019, the Packers will officially be the only NFL team that has not appeared in a game in the UK. Three teams have not played there yet, but the other two — the Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers — get to play divisional games there in the fall. In addition, one of Green Bay’s NFC North rivals does get a chance to play in the UK, however. The Chicago Bears will play the Oakland Raiders in one of those games.

Here are the matchups for this year’s games.

• Mexico: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers
• UK: Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• UK: Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders
• UK: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams
• UK: Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars