Bears narrowly avoid a massive disadvantage when it comes to their London matchup against the Jaguars

The Chicago Bears now know one crucial part to their 2024 NFL schedule and it's not nearly as bad of a disadvantage as it could have been.

As we all already knew, the Bears were one of the teams revealed to be playing an international game this season in London, England. We know now that the Bears will be facing the Jacksonville Jaguars, which comes with good news and bad news.

Here is the full international slate for the 2024 season that was released early Wednesday morning:

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Let's start with the bad news for this game. The Bears will be technically hosting the Jaguars for their London duel on October 13 at 8:30am CT in Week 6 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Yes you heard that right, this game will count as a home game for the Bears, meaning the team will only play eight games at Soldier Field instead of nine.

The main reason this is unfortunate is because the Jaguars have created a large fanbase in London over the last few years and have recently found a lot of success over the pond. The Bears haven't played in London since 2019 when they lost 24-21 to the Raiders.

This is also unfortunate for the Bears' fans living in Chicago that will now be missing out on a home game to watch this upcoming season.

However, there is one silver lining on this announcement for the Bears that could have made this matchup even more of a disadvantage if it went the other way. Based on the international schedule release, the Jaguars will be playing back-to-back games in London, against the Bears in Week 6 and against the New England Patriots in Week 7.

This allows the Jaguars to remain in London during the week of practice between the two games which gives them a major advantage over the Patriots who will surely be jet lagged after flying across the ocean.

Last season the Jaguars had a similar situation playing in London in Week 4 and Week 5. The second week against the Buffalo Bills, the Jaguars had a dominate 25-20 upset against their opponent after also winning the week before against the Atlanta Falcons.

By facing the Jaguars in Week 6, the Bears get to play on somewhat of an even ground as opposed to the Patriots having to play the well-rested Jaguars coming right off the long flight a week later. It still sucks to be missing out on a home game in favor of playing in a road environment but it'll be a great opportunity for the Bears to continue building their presence in a new market overseas.

This will be the ninth matchup between the Bears and the Jaguars with the Bears leading 5-3 head-to-head. The last time these two teams faced off was in 2020 with the Bears coming away with a massive 41-17 win at TIAA Bank Stadium.

The remainder of the Bears' 2024 schedule, including who the team will face in Week 1 and all their potential primetime matchups, will release later this evening.

Related: Five biggest games on the Bears' 2024 NFL schedule