While the full NFL schedule will reportedly be revealed by the league on Thursday night, one of the contests for the New England Patriots in 2023 appears to already be set.
The club will head over to Europe for a game in Frankfurt, Germany this November and they’ll be taking on the Indianapolis Colts on November 12th in that Week 10 match-up.
That game should be interesting, as the Colts will have likely ironed out their issues at quarterback by then. Indianapolis selected Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the 4th pick overall during the 2023 NFL Draft, and they also have Sam Ehlinger and Gardner Minshew on their depth chart.
New England’s most recent match-up against the Colts happened this past season back on November 6, 2022. They blew them out 26-3 in that game, with head coach Frank Reich getting fired the next day following the loss.
That game certainly had some odd storylines. The Colts had benched veteran Matt Ryan, who they had acquired from Atlanta that offseason in exchange for a third-round pick. Instead, it was Sam Ehlinger who started against New England, and he completed 15-of-29 for just 103 yards and an interception.
Ehlinger couldn’t get much going, with the offense punting 9 times that afternoon (including one that was blocked), as well as throwing a pick-six to Jonathan Jones.
After it was over, Reich said all the right things to the media, but the Colts ended up going in a different direction.
“The offensive performance, that’s why I was brought here, that’s my responsibility,” Reich said after the game. “We’ve got players that are plenty good enough. I have to do a better job. It starts with me on offense. I’ve got to do a better job getting guys ready to play, putting guys in good position to win, and having answers when we face problems.”
Jeff Saturday took over for Reich following his departure as interim head coach, with the Colts later signing former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen back on February 14th, 2023.
Meanwhile, this will be New England’s first trip to Europe since 2012, which was a 45-7 domination over the Rams in London. Their most recent international game was last played in Mexico in 2017, which was a 33-8 blowout win over the Raiders.
Other international games announced by the league on Wednesday included four additional match-ups beginning on October 1st in London:
Week 4 (Oct. 1): Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Wembley Stadium)
Week 5 (Oct. 8): Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
Week 6 (Oct. 15): Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
Week 9 (Nov. 5): Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Frankfurt Stadium)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
