American football makes its triumphant return to Wembley this Sunday as the St Louis Rams do battle with the New England Patriots.
The Rams are the designated home team and are making their Wembley debut, while the Patriots will be looking to win their second consecutive game on English soil after taking down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the corresponding fixture three years ago.
Sky Sports will have exclusive live coverage of the sixth NFL International Series match to be staged at London’s iconic Wembley stadium, with highlights on BBC One.
Both the Rams and the Patriots have had a mixed start to the 2012/13 season, but the Rams are still in serious rebuilding mode under Jeff Fisher after a disastrous season last time around, when they lost 14 of their 16 matches.
For the Patriots, led by star quarterback Tom Brady, this is their second appearance in an NFL London game – back in 2009 they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with relative ease, 35-7.
The two teams last locked horns in a competitive game in 2008, six years after clashing at the Louisiana Superdome in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Patriots stood tall on both of those occasions, but have made a surprisingly shaky start to the current campaign.
After victory in their first game, the three-time Super Bowl winners suffered back-to-back defeats and it took a towering performance from Brady to see off the Buffalo Bills and avoid their first three-game losing streak in ten years.
The Patriots’ stuttering form will no doubt give the Rams confidence, but so will the emergence of rookie Greg Zuerlein.
The kicker made 21 consecutive field goals at Missouri Western before making the step up to the NFL and the transition doesn’t seem to have fazed him one bit.
In week four, Zuerlein tuned in a colossal performance against the Seattle Seahawks and became the first kicker in league history to hit a 60-yard and 50-plus-yard field goal in the same game.
Sky Sports will have exclusive live UK coverage of the 2012 NFL London Game, all in high-definition on Sky Sports HD and on the move via mobile and tablet devices on Sky Go.
Kevin Cadle presents all the action from inside Wembley Stadium, with analysis from Neil Reynolds. Coverage begins with an extensive hour-long build-up to kick-off at 5.00pm.
The London Game is part of a double-header of live NFL games on Sky Sports, with Dallas Cowboys’ clash with the New York Jets following the Wembley encounter.
They are just two of over 60 NFL games to be shown live throughout the 2012/13 season on Sky Sports.
The broadcaster has showcased all five of the previous NFL London clashes and that tradition is set to continue.
Jacksonville Jaguars will be Wembley’s resident side from 2013 to 2016, and Sky Sports’ subscribers will be able to watch at least the first two games from that four-year stint.
BBC One will broadcast highlights of the 2012 NFL International Series game at Wembley, presented by Mark Chapman and analysis from Mike Carlson.
The hour-long programme will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website, and available on BBC iPlayer shortly after transmission for up to seven days.
BBC 5 live Sports Extra has full live radio commentary from Wembley at 4.45pm.
Sky Sports and the BBC will be taking the feed provided by host broadcaster CBS Sports.
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