First divisional game set in London

The New York Jets-Miami Dolphins rivalry will head overseas next season, as the AFC East opponents are scheduled to play in London, the league said Thursday. It will be the first divisional game in the history of the London series.

The game will take place Oct. 4, 2015, in Week 4. The Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet in London on Oct. 25 in Week 7, and the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs will play there Nov. 1 in Week 8.

The Week 4 game will be a Dolphins home game. The Jets still will have eight home games at MetLife Stadium. The Jaguars and Chiefs will be the home teams in the other two games.

The game will mark the Dolphins' third trip to London. They faced the Raiders there earlier this season, and they played the Giants in 2007.

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, whose team plays the Lions on Sunday, was asked Thursday in a conference call with Detroit-area reporters how he felt about his team playing in London for a second straight season.

"If we play like we did this year over there, I'm ecstatic about it," he said, referencing the Dolphins' 38-14 victory over the Raiders in Week 4.

The Jets never have played in London. Their last game overseas was a 2003 preseason game in Tokyo against the Buccaneers. The Bills and Chiefs also will be making their London debuts.

"We believe we have a great 2015 schedule that will continue to attract new fans to our sport and strengthen the bonds with our existing fans,'' NFL executive vice president of international Mark Waller said in a statement. "To provide U.K. fans the opportunity to see games on consecutive weekends, to see new teams, and to attend a division game, which feature some of the most passionate rivalries in our sport, are signs of the growth and depth of our U.K. fan base.''

Said Lions president Tom Lewand: "It's another marker on the journey to an eventual long-term plan over there. Another milepost, about whether or not the support is there on a back-to-back basis. It was, we took a leap this year when we went from two games to three. Next year we'll take another leap when you have a division game over there and then you have back-to-back games that will occur in Week 7 and Week 8. It's another point of reference, another point of experience just to continue to build that brand and again, looking for whatever the right long-term solution is."

The NFL has been playing regular-season games at Wembley Stadium every year since 2007. This season was the first time the NFL played three games at Wembley.

The Jaguars have agreed to play a home game in London for four years through 2016.

ESPN.com Lions reporter Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.