The league announced last month that the Philadelphia Eagles will host the first-ever NFL game in Brazil in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.
Exactly who the Eagles will play at Neo Quimica Arena in São Paulo remains a mystery, but NFL insider Peter King has a good feeling that it could be the Cleveland Browns.
“Feeling good about Cleveland-Philadelphia in Brazil on the evening of Friday, Sept. 6,” King wrote in his most recent NBC Sports column.
Peter King reports that he is “feeling good” that #Eagles vs. #Browns will be the Week 1 Friday Night matchup in Sao Paulo, Brazil. pic.twitter.com/1llUAX2BVo
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) February 19, 2024
In his column from the previous week, King explained exactly why it has to be the Browns.
“Won 11 games with five different quarterbacks. Have a scarred but likely good quarterback back healthy, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year,” King wrote.
He pointed to the fact that the NFL has chosen to stay away from scheduling one of each team’s three divisional home games as an international game. Other than the Browns, that left the Falcons, Panthers, Jaguars, Steelers, Falcons, and Packers.
Here’s a summary of why it couldn’t be either of those teams, per King:
Carolina already has a game in Germany this fall.
Pittsburgh plays in Philly once every eight years. Highly unlikely the NFL would take that away.
Jacksonville plays in England already.
Green Bay. The league wouldn’t want to lose a Packers-Eagles game in Philly.
Atlanta has too many question marks for a big-time game.
The Eagles last played the Browns in 2020, losing 22-17 on the road.
The Eagles-Browns rivalry has been played 50 times with Cleveland winning 32 games and Philly winning 17 games. They have also tied one time.