Bills Receive Good News After Falcons Announcement

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Bills Receive Good News After Falcons Announcement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Evan Tiwari | Last updated Mar 4, 2026 7:53 AM ET

The Buffalo Bills will be breathing a sigh of relief after it was confirmed that the Atlanta Falcons will be playing a regular-season NFL game at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.

The Bills will enjoy a clean schedule run; the final list for international games looks like this:

London: Jaguars vs. TBD
London: Jaguars vs. TBD
London: Commanders vs. TBD
Madrid: Falcons vs. TBD
Melbourne: 49ers vs. Rams
Mexico City: 49ers vs. TBD
Munich: Lions vs. TBD
Paris: Saints vs. TBD
Rio: Cowboys vs. TBD

The Bills are not scheduled to play any road games against any of the aforementioned teams except for the Los Angeles Rams. While the Bills avoided an international trip this time around, there is a high probability of them of playing an international game in coming seasons, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's objective remains 16 international games per season, with each team playing at least one each.

With Atlanta being named the 9th and final host team of the International games it confirms that the #Bills will not be participating in an international game in the 2026 season.
They are not scheduled to play any of the teams “hosting” an international game as a road opponent… https://t.co/IwGY21lN0g
— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrownBills) March 3, 2026

The Bills' two international trips so far in the franchise history have both come against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. The four-time Super Bowl participants lost both times - 34-31 in 2015 at Wembley Stadium in 2015 and 25-20 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2023.

This will be Madrid's and Bernabeau's second-ever NFL game, after the Dolphins and Commanders played each other there in the 2025 season. In what can be called a co-incidence, the Falcons' home field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host two Spain matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

As for Atlanta, they are coming off a mediocre season in which they finished 8-9. The Falcons are a team in transition, which was made clear recently when they announced that they are parting ways with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins.

There was a major change at the head coach position as well, as the Georgia-based team replaced Raheem Morris with Kevin Stefanski. As the Falcons hunt for a new quarterback and look for different solutions in the draft or free agency, Stefanski is likely to build around key players like tight end Kyle Pitts Jr. and running back Bijan Robinson.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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