Minnesota Vikings Won't Have To Travel Far in 2014

If the Minnesota Vikings perform poorly in 2014, they're not going to be able to use jet lag as an excuse.

CBS Sports has put together the distance that all 32 NFL teams will travel during the upcoming regular season, and the Vikings will travel the 11th-fewest miles of any team in the league. The team will travel 12,460 miles this next season, and they won't have a road trip of more than 2,000 miles. The longest flight the team will have this season is their trip to Miami in Week 16, which will cover a distance of 1,501 miles. (Thanks to Pro Football Reference for providing all the distances.)

That total is the second-lowest in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears will travel just 10,704 miles this season, while the Packers have slightly farther to travel than Minnesota, as they'll log 12,812 miles. The Detroit Lions, who will play the Atlanta Falcons in London this season, will travel the greatest distance at 16,242 miles.

The Oakland Raiders. . .who, as CBS points out, currently have the highest strength of schedule in the NFL. . .also have to travel the greatest distance. They will rack up an incredible 36,106 miles this year (including their own trip to London), which is nearly three times what the Vikings will face this year. In addition to their London trip, the Raiders also have three other road games which will force them to travel at least 2,000 miles. Detroit's trip to London is the only game in the entire NFC North that requires that length of travel.

The Vikings will have some tough road games in 2014, to be certain. But, on the bright side, in most cases the road isn't that long.