Vikings try to pull off rare winning streak on two continents

The Vikings departed London Stansted airport on Sunday evening after their 28-25 win over the Saints; their arrival in the Twin Cities early Monday morning, helped by a six-hour time change, was no different than if they'd played a night game in the U.S.

They had a light workout on Monday to help players shake off any jet lag. They didn't mandate players get massages from the extra therapists they brought in this week, coach Kevin O'Connell said, but "you don't normally have to do to that with massages, at least in my experience. [Players] normally jump at those."

Weightlifting sessions included extra recovery time, and the Vikings were ready for a full week of practice by Wednesday.

"I think our staff did a great job of planning to be able to feel good on Sunday in London, but then also be able to transition and come back and not have to take three, four days to get back on our time," wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "I think it was a really good mix."

The approach needed to be carefully thought out, as the Vikings try to pull off a feat few have attempted and none have managed successfully.

On Sunday, the Vikings and Saints will become just the sixth and seventh teams to play the weekend after traveling to London; the Packers and Giants will do the same next week. The first five teams to play the weekend after traveling to London are 2-3 in those games, and both of the teams that won a week after a London game (the 2016 Colts and 2017 Dolphins) had lost in London.

It means a Vikings victory over the Bears this weekend would be the first by an NFL team that had also won in London the week before.

Teams have ordinarily taken their bye week after playing in London — the Vikings did in 2013 and 2017 — but after the NFL introduced a 17-game schedule in 2021, teams that play early-season games in the United Kingdom are instead asking for home games the following week, preferring to take their byes later. The Vikings and Saints are home this Sunday; the Giants and Packers will both be home next weekend.

While the Saints spent most of the week in London last week, the Packers and Giants followed the Vikings' approach, flying overseas late in the week after practicing at home for two days.

The quick-turn strategy is inching toward standard practice in a league where team operations and sports performance staffs share information about the best ways to handle overseas games in the middle of the regular season. If the Vikings win this weekend — and make a bit of history by doing so — their template could be copied as the NFL's international ambitions show no signs of slowing down.

When the NFL expanded its international schedule this year, adding its first game in Germany to three London games and one in Mexico City, it announced there would be at least four international games each season. Each NFL team, the league said, would give up a home game at least once every eight seasons; teams will give up home games in the years where they have a ninth regular-season home game.

NFL Vice President of club business and events Peter O'Reilly said last week the league is exploring additional countries that could have the facilities and interest to host future regular-season games, and the NFL gave international marketing rights to 18 teams in eight countries. The Vikings, with rights in both the U.K. and Canada, are one of six teams with rights in at least two countries.

It's why, as Vikings executive player health and performance director Tyler Williams worked on the team's plan for the London game and the Bears matchup to follow, he knew he might be developing a process the team needs to use again soon.

"I think the NFL's constantly looking to expand their global brand, so it's not out of the question [with] China, Japan, Australia," he said. "It's going to be tough, but I think that's coming down the road. So creating a process and [helping] guys understand how to do this and make good decisions for themselves, I think that's going to help benefit them for those things to come."

The Vikings' agreement with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which covers the team's use of U.S. Bank Stadium, allows them to move three home games to international venues in their first 15 years at the stadium, and three more in the second 15 years. The Metrodome home game the Vikings gave up in 2013, to play the Steelers at Wembley Stadium in London, counts as one of the three; the Vikings, in other words, can give up two home games between now and 2030.

They will have nine home games in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030; it wouldn't be surprising if they are the home team for a game internationally in 2024 or 2026.

For now, the Vikings' focus is on transitioning out of their trip to the U.K. as effectively as possible. A win on Sunday would put them at 4-1 with one more game before their bye and give them a 3-0 record in the division.

Pulling off their London two-step could make the Vikings trend-setters. More importantly, it'd keep them as division leaders.

"We knew it was going to be an unusual week," cornerback Patrick Peterson said. "But for the most part, I think guys have turned over very well. That trip's behind us. That can't be an excuse rolling into this week because now we're at Thursday and if we're still lingering on about how we felt last week, we're going to have another thing coming. Guys are in the right place right now and looking forward to putting forward their best effort on Sunday."