Bay Area Sports Blogging

Another weekend of NFL action passes by, and we're another day closer to the biggest mis-match in NFL history. I'm talking about the Week 16 matchup between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots.

After 14 weeks of football, the New England Patriots are undefeated with a record of 13 wins, 0 losses. The Patriots march towards a perfect season. Standing in their way? The winless Miami Dolphins, challenging the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the only other winless season for a NFL team. This is as "David vs Goliath" as you can get.

The National Football League takes its game to Wembley Stadium in London for Week 8. The match up pits the 5-2 New York Giants versus the 0-7 Miami Dolphins on Sunday, October 28. Unlike previous trips, this voyage will mark the first time a regular season game has been played in Europe. The NFL is pushing for a rise in global viewer ship, although cutting down the NFL Europe isn't going to help.

This isn't the first time the NFL has taken a regular season game off US soil. A regular season match up between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals took place in Mexico City in 2005. The record crowd of 103,467 in attendance at the Estadio Azteca stadium saw the Cardinals defeating the 49ers.

The NFL has chosen the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins to represent the league in Europe. I can only assume these teams were selected for the European showcase because both teams are on the East Coast, making for shorter flights. Both teams have Bye weeks during week 9, so they can spend some extra time in London. The league also expected the Dolphins to suck this year, thereby having lowered attendance for their home games in Miami. Miami has done its part, being winless after seven weeks.