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The Philadelphia Eagles will have little time to do more than grab a quick cup of tea and play a football game when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 11. The team is spending roughly 36 hours in London, but for the hordes of Eagles fans who crossed the Atlantic, the experience is entirely different.
These supporters are soaking up London's sights, visiting landmarks such as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. They're also finding a sense of home away from home, gathering with fellow Eagles fans as if they were tailgating outside Lincoln Financial Field. This time, the party is happening at a makeshift spot called Passyunk Avenue, a graffiti-covered bar and restaurant that serves as a shrine to Philly sports, complete with a cheesesteak stand and merchandise shop. It's reminiscent of Reading Terminal Market, but with an open-air, edgy vibe.
Owner JP Teti, who launched the original Passyunk Avenue in London in 2018, now operates four locations across the city, bringing a slice of Philadelphia to Europe. For this game, he transformed the graffiti-filled tunnels beneath Waterloo Station into what the bar calls a three-day "Wooderloo Terminal Market." The space was packed with green-clad Eagles fans who likely spent more time there this week than the team will spend overseas.
Amid injuries to key players like running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver DeVonta Smith, the sudden retirement of right tackle Lane Johnson on Oct. 6, and the trade of center/guard Cam Jurgens a day later, Eagles fans here appeared surprisingly optimistic about their team's chances against the Jaguars. Or perhaps it was just the beer talking. "We're here to have a good time, and that's what we're doing," said one fan, who identified himself only as Joe T. "We saved up all year for this. We'll worry about the actual game when we get there. It's just great to be here in London with all of these Eagles fans around us." Moments later, an Eagles chant erupted.
That same energy was evident on the seven-hour flights from Philadelphia, on double-decker buses touring the city—the bar is also hosting an Eagles tour on a double-decker bus on Oct. 10—and at famous London landmarks. The Eagles last played in London in 2018, when Wembley Stadium was overrun by their fans. A similar home-field advantage is expected at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, even though this is technically a Jaguars home game.
Back in Philadelphia, the mood is far gloomier. Sports radio callers are debating whether head coach Nick Sirianni should keep his job and whether the Eagles should consider trading quarterback Jalen Hurts or Barkley. SportsRadio 94 WIP even broadcast live from Passyunk Avenue on Oct. 11. Many callers believe the Eagles (2-2) should tank the 2026 season and continue what they see as a fire sale that started with trading Jurgens, a Pro Bowler each of the last two seasons, for a fifth-round pick in 2027 and a second-rounder in 2028.
That pessimism was nowhere to be found at Passyunk Avenue, where one brave soul walked in wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey. He was immediately booed and drowned out by Eagles chants and the fight song, "Fly, Eagles, Fly." It was an easy target, and for fans enduring a rough start to the season—with a disjointed offense and a disappointing defense—they'll take whatever joy they can get.
As for the Eagles themselves, they'll be barely noticeable except for the three hours or so during the game on Oct. 11. The team aimed to keep their week as normal as possible, knowing they don't have a bye week afterward—they'll face the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 18 at Lincoln Financial Field. That meant keeping their body clocks as close to normal as possible. They practiced all week at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, flew to London the night after their final practice on Oct. 9, and arrived the morning of Oct. 10. They held a walkthrough practice upon arrival, then relaxed at the team hotel before playing on the 11th.
"A lot of research obviously went into it," Sirianni said. "We're trying to get a full week's worth of practice in before we go up there. We felt like this, through the studies that we did and through all the things that we looked at, we decided on this ... I don't want to get into too many specifics there. But like I said, we feel like this is giving our team the best chance to win, taking everything into account, jet lag included." The Eagles will fly home a few hours after the game ends, returning to Philadelphia before midnight on Oct. 11, then begin preparing for their next opponent.
Of course, it's easier to maintain an Eastern Time body clock when you're flying on lie-flat seats, bypassing airport security checkpoints and delays, and can get a decent night's sleep on the plane. "It's a seven-hour flight, an hour-plus longer than if we were going to California," Hurts said. "So my approach is just to prepare to play—no matter, really, where we are." That approach doesn't apply to the Eagles fans taking over London.
Originally reported by yahoo.