Redskins to Play Bengals in London

The Redskins will head to London next year to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on October 30th.  The contest is the latest in the NFL's International series, designed to generate interest in American football for a UK audience, possibly paving the way for a team (*cough* Jaguars *cough*) to relocate there in the near future.

The Redskins' game against the Bengals will take place at Wembley Stadium.  It will count as a home game for Cincinnati, which means that Washington will still have its full eight games at FedEx in 2016.

Providing some additional intrigue to the selection of the Redskins is that the St. Louis Rams will be playing in England the week before, on October 23rd.  The Rams aren't assigned a particular opponent.  That game will be slotted for the NFC East team that St. Louis would normally play under the NFL's scheduling rules.

Put simply, if the Redskins happen to finish in the same place in the NFC East that the Rams do in the NFC West, Washington would also play that game in the UK.  That scenario would mean back-to-back games in England for the Redskins.  The Rams game will take place in Twickenham Stadium, which is a rugby venue that hasn't previously hosted an NFL game.

That hypothetical Washington - St. Louis game would also count as a home game for the Rams.  From a certain perspective, that might be a bonus for Washington: They would get eight home games, six road games, and two neutral-site games under that set of circumstances.

Either way, Redskins fans will have to adjust to at least one early start time during the 2016 season.