London gets HYPED for Pats-Jags... and why not? The NFL's international appeal is real

We check in with Peter Varnum again to capture the scene. Where many fans see an absolute dud of a match-up, the fans overseas cannot get enough. Here is why the NFL is bound to grow. And grow.

Note: This season, we’ll occasionally hand the pen over to longtime Go Long subscriber — Peter Varnum — across the Atlantic Ocean to fill us in on these international games. Peter will capture the atmosphere and the future of football abroad.

Over the offseason, he authored this story on the big-picture mission of the league.

Here’s his dispatch from London last weekend.

By Peter Varnum

LONDON — Trevor Lawrence was fired up. The Jacksonville Jaguars had come out flat, spotting the Drake Maye-led New England Patriots 10 points after the first quarter at historic Wembley Stadium in London. This was an inexcusable start given the Jaguars’ familiarity with playing across the pond, and the fact that their bodies had by then adjusted to the time difference. And the Jaguars faithful in the UK were nervous.