Vikings attempting to make NFL history this weekend

Usually when we talk about the Minnesota Vikings being on the verge of making NFL history, it’s for something ridiculous, something negative, or a combination of those two things. However, this Sunday the Vikings have an opportunity to do something that no NFL team has done since the league started playing its International Series games.

Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that on Sunday, the Vikings could be the first team in NFL history to win in Europe one week and then win back in the United States the next week.

Now, the sample size is not large. . .only five teams have played a game the week after they played in London. The five teams that played the next week without taking their bye are 2-3 in those games, and the two teams that won. . .the 2016 Colts and the 2017 Dolphins. . .both lost their London games.

The Vikings’ win last Sunday over New Orleans pushed their regular season record in the United Kingdom to a perfect 3-0, and they now also have a chance to get off to a 3-0 start in the division if they can take down the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

It would be a pretty impressive feat if the Vikings could get that victory after electing to take their bye week later rather than after their trip to London. The bye isn’t going to be that much later. . .they’ll take a week off after their trip to Miami in Week 6. . .but we’ll see how much their quick turnaround affects them against a team that, on paper, they should beat handily.