European travels.
Off the back of a home win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Minnesota Vikings will become the first team in NFL history to play three successive games in different countries.
Sunday’s clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the first regular season game to be held in Ireland.
Following on from that, the week after, the venue will be Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the opponents the Cleveland Browns.
Home advantage?
The Vikings are the designated away team for both European games.
NFL purists in America have sometimes bemoaned the number of games being played outside the US.
However, as Vikings fans ask yourself this. Would you rather face the Browns and Steelers in their home stadiums with a partisan crowd? Or do we have a much more even match-up on a neutral site where the crowd will be made up of NFL fans of all teams?
While I would expect the Steelers to have more representation in Dublin, there will still be a lot of purple in the crowd.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is becoming a home away from home for the Vikings. In their previous two visits, they have defeated the New York Jets and the New Orleans Saints.
If you look at the Vikings overall record in London, it is seriously impressive: four wins from four games. Hopefully, Ireland proves to be just as kind to the Vikings!
Landmark moment
Minnesota will be up against a very familiar face when they take on the Steelers. During his time with the Green Bay Packers and the Jets, Aaron Rodgers has played 31 games against the Vikings.
If the Vikings do come away with the win, they will set some franchise and league history.
It would be the first time the Vikings have ever beaten the same quarterback on three different teams. From a league perspective, they would become the first team ever to beat an opposition quarterback in three different countries.
Rodgers has at times tormented the Vikings. He will be eager to prove he can still play at a very high level and will need no added motivation going into Sunday.
Playoff aspirations
The Vikings and Steelers come in to the game with a 2-1 record. Expectations for both teams were high at the start of the season.
The Vikings are fresh off the back of a 14-win season, with a revamped offensive line and some impressive free agency signings to sure up the secondary and defensive interior.
Jordan Addison will be back from suspension for the Vikings, which could see reduced roles for both Adam Thielen and Jalen Nailor. Christian Darrisaw came through the victory over the Bengals with no problems and should be ready to start the matchup.
There are some injury concerns and the Vikings will again be without J.J. McCarthy. However, given the performance of Carson Wentz in his Vikings debut, you could argue this is the strongest the team has looked so far this season.
The Steelers always seem to be there or thereabouts in the playoff picture. The hope is that Aaron Rodgers and D.K. Metcalf could take them one step further to being a real threat at the top of the AFC.
Pittsburgh have beaten the Jets and the New England Patriots so far. The Vikings should hopefully provide a sterner test.
