Raiders to play Patriots in Mexico City in 2017?

According to a story on ESPN.com today, word is that the Raiders may well be heading back down south of the border for a game against the Patriots next season. It's just a rumor at the moment, but if the Raiders and Patriots were to finish 1 and 2 in the AFC, this might be just the sort of game the NFL would want to showcase to its international fans.

While the Raiders have one of the largest followings in Mexico and are known as "Los Malosos" which is about as cool a name as there is (Translation: the Bad Guys), the Patriots also have their fair share of fans as well. Perhaps only a game between the Steelers and Raiders or Cowboys and Raiders would gain more fan interest than this proposed matchup. According to the ESPN story, Pats owner Robert Kraft has expressed heavy interest in playing in Mexico and the Raiders seem like the logical team to play against, as Mark Davis too has expressed that he'd like to go back to Azteca.

The Raiders would likely have an advantage here, because they just won in Mexico City a few weeks ago and know how the altitude will affect them. The Patriots don't typically play in high-altitude conditions and would have considerably farther to travel for that game.

And before you freak out over the Raiders losing another home game, different websites have different answers as to whether or not the 2017 Patriots game is home or away for the Raiders, so I honestly have no idea. Still, the Patriots vs. Raiders game next year is likely to be prime-time regardless of where the game is played. It may as well be played in front of over 87,000 supporters of Los Malosos.