The Minnesota Vikings will have to travel considerably more miles than their NFC North opponents next season, but that may actually be a big blessing in disguise.
The NFL announced its international schedule for the 2025 campaign, and the Vikings will be the first team in league history to play back-to-back games overseas. However, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained how that will actually benefit Minnesota rather than be a deterrent to its regular-season success.
The Dublin/London swing could give the @Vikings an edge …
1) They save trips to Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which could’ve been bad-weather games.
2) They’ll be acclimated for the second game, far moreso than the Browns.
3) Instead of 9 “true” road games, they’ll only have 7.
“The Dublin/London swing could give the [Vikings] an edge,” Breer posted to X on Tuesday, May 13. “1) They save trips to Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which could’ve been bad-weather games. 2) They’ll be acclimated for the second game, far more so than the Browns. 3) Instead of 9 ‘true’ road games, they’ll only have 7.”
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
The Vikings’ showdown in Dublin will be the league’s first ever regular season game played in Ireland and is scheduled for Sunday, September 28, otherwise known as Week 4.
Minnesota will then head to England to prepare for a Week 5 matchup with the Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, October 5. Teams that travel abroad for games typically have their bye weeks upon their return, which means the Vikings will likely have the week of October 12 off to re-acclimate to playing in U.S. time zones.
The Steelers were a playoff team in the AFC last season, losing in the first round as a wildcard squad — the same as the Vikings in 2024. However, Pittsburgh lost its top two quarterbacks in free agency and could feasibly take a meaningful step back at the game’s most important position in 2025.
The Browns went 3-14 last season and finished as the second-worst outfit in the NFL.
“Our experiences in London have always been memorable, so to return in 2025 as the first team to play in back-to-back international games in different countries was something we could not pass up,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a statement, per ESPN. “UK fans have a history of showing up and embracing the Minnesota Vikings, creating what often feels like a home-field environment, and we are hopeful that is what we see again in 2025.”
GettyQuarterback J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota has quarterback questions of its own, as J.J. McCarthy is the presumed starter entering his second professional season.
But McCarthy didn’t play at all as a rookie after suffering a knee injury during the preseason in August 2024. His knee required two surgeries to repair, and McCarthy is essentially starting over this offseason.
The difference is that he is now in poll position to win the starting job after Sam Darnold left for the Seattle Seahawks and Daniel Jones bolted for the Indianapolis Colts earlier in the offseason.
Assuming McCarthy wins the starting job and avoids injury, he will have just three career games under his belt before traveling to two different foreign countries for back-to-back outings against AFC North Division opponents.
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