The team with the longest playoff drought of anyone in London this month has done best out of the trip so far. Indianapolis beat Washington 30-13 at Tottenham on 4 October, with Jonathan Taylor running for two touchdowns, and moved to 2-2 in a season that follows five straight years without a postseason game.
Two of this year’s three London games are done. The last is Jacksonville v Houston at Wembley on Sunday 18 October, and it carries the most weight of the three. Here is where all five London teams stand, and when each last reached the playoffs.
| Date (BST) | Game | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 4 Oct, 2.30 pm | Indianapolis Colts v Washington Commanders | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | Colts 30-13 |
| Sun 11 Oct, 2.30pm | Philadelphia Eagles v Jacksonville Jaguars | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | Jaguars 19-17 |
| Sun 18 Oct, 2.30pm | Jacksonville Jaguars v Houston Texans | Wembley Stadium | To come |
| Team | Last playoffs | How it ended | 2025 record | 2026 so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 2020 season | Lost Wild Card, 27-24 to Buffalo | 8-9 | 2-3 |
| Commanders | 2024 season | Lost NFC Championship to Philadelphia | 5-12 | 1-3-1 |
| Eagles | 2025 season | Lost Wild Card, 23-19 to San Francisco | 11-6 | 2-3 |
| Jaguars | 2025 season | Lost Wild Card, 27-24 to Buffalo | 13-4 | 4-1 |
| Texans | 2025 season | Lost Divisional, 28-16 at New England | 12-5 | 1-4 |
Records through Week 5 of the 2026 season.
Played: Colts 30, Commanders 13 (4 October)
The Colts last reached the playoffs after the 2020 season, losing their Wild Card game 27-24 in Buffalo, and 2025 was the most painful of the five misses since: Indianapolis became the first team in NFL history to start 8-2 and finish with a losing record, at 8-9. They arrived in London at 1-2 and left at 2-2. Taylor ran 20 times for 95 yards and scored both of his touchdowns, and Daniel Jones added a four-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Washington was one game from the Super Bowl after the 2024 season and went 5-12 in 2025. They lost quarterback Marcus Mariota to a knee injury in the second quarter, and rookie seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis threw a 47-yard touchdown to Treylon Burks in relief. The defeat left the Commanders 1-3. In Week 5, the Colts lost 34-22 in Pittsburgh, and Washington tied the Giants 27-27 in overtime with Jayden Daniels back at quarterback, while Mariota sat out with a sprained MCL in his right knee.
Played: Jaguars 19, Eagles 17 (11 October)
Jacksonville won 19-17. Philadelphia led 17-16 after Jake Elliott’s 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left, but Ameer Abdullah returned the kickoff 53 yards, and Cam Little kicked a 57-yard field goal as time expired. Trevor Lawrence threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns, both to Parker Washington.
The Eagles won Super Bowl LIX after the 2024 season and the NFC East again in 2025 at 11-6, before losing their Wild Card game 23-19 to San Francisco. They came to London at 2-2 after losing 24-20 to the Rams.
Still to come: Jaguars v Texans (18 October)
Jacksonville stays in London for a second week. The Jaguars won the AFC South at 13-4 last season, then lost a 27-24 Wild Card game to Buffalo, decided on the Bills’ final drive. Before that, their last playoff trip was a Divisional Round exit after the 2022 season. They were 3-1 before London after a 22-17 win in Cincinnati.
Houston went furthest of the five last season. After a 12-5 year, the Texans won 30-6 in Pittsburgh in the Wild Card round, the first road playoff win in the franchise’s history, before losing 28-16 at New England when C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions. This season has gone the other way: four defeats in four, to Buffalo, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Dallas.
They got off the mark on 11 October with a 26-3 win at Tennessee. The 2018 Texans started 0-3 and still won the division, and last year’s Texans started 0-3 and reached the Divisional Round. Only the 1992 Chargers have made the playoffs from 0-4. For the other 27 teams, BetMGM keeps a list of the last time each NFL team made the playoffs.
Why Wembley matters most
It is the only division game of the three, and a rematch of last season’s top two in the AFC South. The teams split their two meetings in 2025, Jacksonville winning 17-10 in September and Houston coming back from 29-10 down to win 36-29 in November. A Jaguars win would leave Houston four games behind in the division before the end of October, and the head-to-head across both meetings is the first tiebreaker if the two finish level.
The Colts, last there in January 2021, have already made the most of their London trip. The Texans, last there in January 2026, need theirs more than anyone.
More from London
Jaguars v Texans kicks off at 2.30 pm BST at Wembley.
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