For the 13th successive season, fans across the pond will get a chance to sample a regular-season game in the English capital.
The Bears and Raiders will meet for the first time since October 2015, when Chicago won 22-20.
While Chicago and Oakland don’t face off often in the United States, this game in London will be a tiebreaker, since their all-time series is split at 7-7.
With help from our friends at Opta, we break down what to expect when the Raiders and Bears visit London, from the teams’ biggest stars to the interesting and random facts that make football fun.
Chicago Bears
Coach
Matt Nagy - Second season, 15–5 regular-season record
Quarterbacks
While Mitchell Trubisky is the starter for Chicago, the dislocated shoulder he sustained in Week 4 will likely sideline him for the Raiders clash. Backup Chase Daniel will therefore almost certainly take to the field on Sunday in his fifth career start and first since Week 12 of last season.
Trubisky, 25, is in his third season with the team and Daniel 32, has been a backup for several franchises since he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2009. However, Daniel has posted better numbers than Trubisky when comparing their first four NFL starts (though it took Daniel nine years in the league to log four starts).
Offense
Daniel’s experience means he can anchor the Bears’ offense in London as that unit looks to catch up to their stellar defense.
Rookie running back David Montgomery leads the team in touches (66) and rushing yards (200) and has the team’s only rushing touchdown of the season, which was his first NFL score. His 66 touches through four games are the fourth-most for a Bears rookie and the most since Matt Forte’s 110 touches in 2008.
In terms of the passing game, wideout Allen Robinson has been the go-to man for Trubisky, but how will he fare with Daniel? According to Nagy, nothing will be altered much, and Daniel indicated Robinson still will be a top target on Sunday.
“He’s just so aggressive with the football,” Daniel said of Robinson earlier this week. “You can trust him. It’s his football or nobody’s. So, I have a lot of trust in him, and I have a lot of time on task with him, too.”
Robinson has been targeted 10 more times than any other Bear (34), has 10 more receptions than any other teammate (24) and his 280 receiving yards are more than double the next closest Bears pass catcher (Taylor Gabriel, 110).
Defense
The team’s defense is one of the best in the league with 17 total sacks, four interceptions (two of which were returned for touchdowns) and 253 total team tackles.
That unit’s star linebacker Khalil Mack, has 17.5 sacks, 22 QB hits and 10 forced fumbles since he was traded to the Bears from the Raiders in 2018. The 10 forced fumbles are two more than any other player in the NFL. In comparison, the entire Raiders’ defense has combined for 18 sacks and eight forced fumbles in the same time span.
Defensive tackle Nick Williams has had a breakout campaign for the Bears this season after spending his first five seasons in the league on practice squads with other teams. He signed with the Bears in 2018, but this year he’s exploded, recording a sack in each of the last three games for Chicago. He’s also one of eight players with four or more sacks this year.
Fun London fact: This is the Bears’ second game in London. They defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18 at Wembley in 2011. The Bears had four interceptions in that game — one of four contests with four-plus picks since the start of the 2009 season — and Forte ran for 145 yards and a touchdown.
Only one player has had more rushing yards in a London game — New York Jets tailback Chris Ivory ran for 166 yards in 2015 against the Miami Dolphins.
Oakland Raiders
Coach
Jon Gruden: Second season in second coaching stint, 5-15 regular-season record
Quarterback
Derek Carr is in his sixth season with the Raiders, who drafted him in 2014. This will be his third game in London, where he holds an 0-2 record. He enters this weekend with 888 passing yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 72.1 percent of his passes.
In London, Carr has 288 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one interception in his first two games there.
Offense
Running back Josh Jacobs has 307 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 62 carries this year. He leads all rookies in yards from scrimmage (364) and is one of two rookies with multiple rushing touchdowns. The other? New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who also has two rushing scores.
Jacobs has been huge for an inconsistent Raiders offense. He was instrumental in the team’s first win of the year in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts and is now being called the team’s “closer.”
“This guy Josh Jacobs is going to be a great back,” Gruden told NBC after the win. “As long as I don’t screw it up, he’s going to be one hell of a player. He can really run — he’s got great vision. I think he’s got breakaway speed and power…
“It’s a credit to everybody when you run the ball the way we ran it. It wasn’t a bunch of RPOs and single-back lateral runs. It was old-fashioned, hard-nosed football.”
Many wondered who would take over for Antonio Brown after he was released by the Raiders before the season began, and that man seems to be Tyrell Williams. The receiver has caught four of the team’s six touchdown passes this year and has a score in four straight games. He will be looking to make that five in a row and, if he does score a touchdown on Sunday, he will be the first Raider to do so since Tim Brown in 2001.
Defense
After trading away Mack last season, the Raiders’ defense has been as exciting as a dry piece of toast. The team ranks 22nd out of 32 when it comes to total yards allowed (385.5 yards per game).
It’s unclear if defensive end Benson Mayowa, who leads the team with 3.5 sacks, will play this Sunday, but he posted a cryptic message which said “u cannot believe everything u read” after being inactive for Oakland’s win against the Colts.
Down the field, safety Erik Harris has proven to be a headache for receivers this season. He secured his third career interception and first touchdown in Week 4. His three interceptions since the start of last year are tied for the most on the team.
Harris is just the second Oakland player with an interception return touchdown over the last three seasons
Fun London fact: This is Oakland’s third game in London — only the Jacksonville Jaguars (six) and the Dolphins (four) have played in England more often. The Raiders are 0-2 in London, getting outscored 65-17 in the process.
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