MINNESOTA VIKINGS (5-2)	WK 8	CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-7)
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Here are the ground rules for the Game Threads:

-Thou shalt not link illegal feeds of today's game, or I shall kick thy arse to the curb until the game is over. Do not promote then, do not mention them, do not even hint at them. Thou hast been warned.

-Thou shalt make an attempt to keep the swearing to a minimum. Understandable that it will slip occasionally, but do try to limit it. If you really feel the need to curse, use the spoiler tags to keep it covered up. We'll get the sentiment.

-Thou shalt not feed the trolls. Rather, thou shall simply point them out, and they shall be banished to the fires of Mordor. Or Wisconsin. Whichever we feel is more harsh at the time.

-Thou shalt not engage in racist, sexist, or other such insulting rhetoric. Somebody disagreeing with you does not make them racist or sexist. It means they disagree with you. Talk it out like adults.

-Thou shalt not bait the fans of other teams into trolling.

-Basically, thou shalt not be a jackwagon in the game thread.

Good early Sunday morning to you, ladies and gentlemen! It is about half past seven in the morning in the Central time zone, which means. . .just this once. . .it's almost time for football. We are live from London, England this morning, where we will see the final game of this year's NFL International Series between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns. The games thus far haven't exactly been great. . .in the first three games, the losing teams have scored a combined total of seven points. . .but I think that Vikings fans would be happy with a relatively dull victory on this Sunday morning.

So, what do the Vikings need to do in order to go into their bye week with a 6-2 record?

1) Take advantage of turnover opportunities - Thus far in 2017, the Browns have turned the ball over more times than any team in football, including 17 interceptions thrown by the trio of quarterbacks that they've employed. The Minnesota defense has been suffocating these past few games, and they should get plenty of opportunities to put the offense on short fields in this one.

2) Be careful with the football - Conversely, the worst possible thing that the Vikings could do would be to turn the ball over multiple times themselves. At the risk of sounding arrogant, a lot of things would have to go wrong in order for the Vikings to lose this ball game, but consistently giving the Browns a short field would be a recipe for disaster. When teams need to mount sustained drives against the Minnesota defense, they fail more often than not, and that's what the Vikings need to make the Browns do.

3) Don't get cocky, kid - Yes, the Vikings are riding high, having won three consecutive games coming into this one. Yes, the Browns are 0-7 and are a mess on offense. However, this is the National Football League, where no team can really be overlooked. I have a feeling that Mike Zimmer and the rest of this coaching staff have no intention of letting this team coast in this one, and hopefully they'll come out firing like a team that needs a victory rather than one that's already put this one into the W column.

We are less than an hour away from start time at Twickenham, ladies and gentlemen. As always, we will have a brand new thread starting at the beginning of each quarter so that things don't get bogged. down. Hopefully you all can join us for all of today's action.

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!