Regular Season Week Eight Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns Twickenham Stadium • 10/29/17 Week 8 - Minnesota Vikings Vs
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REGULAR SEASON WEEK EIGHT MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT CLEVELAND BROWNS TWICKENHAM STADIUM • 10/29/17 WEEK 8 - MINNESOTA VIKINGS VS. CLEVELAND BROWNS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017 - TWICKENHAM STADIUM - 8:30 A.M. CT - NFL NETWORK 2017 VIKINGS SCHEDULE GAME SUMMARY PRESEASON (2-2) The Minnesota Vikings (5-2) play the Cleveland Browns (0-7) in London, England at Date Opponent Time (CT) TV/Results Twickenham Stadium in Week 8. The Vikings captured a 24-16 home victory vs. the Baltimore 8/10 (Thurs.) at Buffalo 6:00 p.m. W, 17-10 Ravens in Week 7 and the Browns, who are designated the home team for the international 8/18 (Fri.) at Seattle 9:00 p.m. L, 13-20 game, are coming off a 12-9 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans in Cleveland. The Vikings are 8/27 (Sun.) SAN FRANCISCO 7:00 p.m. W, 32-31 1-0 in their only regular season game played in London, a 34-27 victory against the Pittsburgh 8/31 (Thurs.) MIAMI 7:00 p.m. L, 9-30 Steelers in 2013 at Wembly Stadium. REGULAR SEASON (5-2) The Vikings offense, ranking 12th in the NFL with 356.1 yards per game, has been led by Date Opponent Time (CT) TV/Results WR Adam Thielen, who is 4th in the NFL with 529 receiving yards. QBs Sam Bradford and Case 9/11 (Mon.) NEW ORLEANS 6:10 p.m. W, 29-19 Keenum have both posted games of 340+ passing yards and 3+ TDs with 0 INTs, making only the 9/17 (Sun.) at Pittsburgh Noon L, 9-26 Vikings, Chiefs (Alex Smith twice) and Patriots (Tom Brady twice) as teams to have 2 such games 9/24 (Sun.) TAMPA BAY Noon W, 34-17 this season. The Vikings 1st thrown INT of 2017 vs. Green Bay snapped the 2nd-longest streak 10/1 (Sun.) DETROIT Noon L, 7-14 in team history with 184 consecutive passes without throwing an INT (193 in 1995). RBs Jerick 10/9 (Mon.) at Chicago 7:30 p.m. W, 20-17 McKinnon and Latavius Murray have filled the void left by rookie RB Dalvin Cook helping the 10/15 (Sun.) GREEN BAY Noon W, 23-10 Vikings rush for 440 yards (146.7 per game) in the last 3 contests, 2nd in the NFL since Week 5. 10/22 (Sun.) BALTIMORE Noon W, 24-16 Murray registered his 1st 100-yard game as a Viking rushing for 113 yards and 1st Viking TD on 18 10/29 (Sun.) at Cleveland (London) 8:30 a.m. NFLN attempts (6.3 avg). McKinnon has totaled 302 yards from scrimmage (211 rushing, 91 receiving) 11/5 (Sun.) BYE WEEK in the last 3 games, the 10th-best mark in the NFL in that span. 11/12 (Sun.) at Washington Noon* FOX The Vikings run defense has held opponents to 76.6 yards per game (3rd in the NFL), 3.2 11/19 (Sun.) LOS ANGELES RAMS Noon* FOX yards per rush (3rd in the NFL) and have allowed only 1 rushing TD (2nd in the NFL). DE Everson 11/23 (Thurs.) at Detroit 11:30 a.m. FOX Griffen secured a sack in his 7th straight game vs. Baltimore, setting a new career high and is 1 of 2 12/3 (Sun.) at Atlanta Noon* FOX defenders in the NFL to have 1 sack in every game in 2017 (D. Lawrence, DAL). Griffen is 3rd in the 12/10 (Sun.) at Carolina Noon* CBS NFL with 9.0 sacks this season. Against the Ravens in Week 7, LB Anthony Barr totaled 11 tackles, 12/17 (Sun.) CINCINNATI Noon* CBS 1.0 sack, 2 TFL and 1 PD and fellow LB Eric Kendricks tied his career high in both tackles (13) and 12/23 (Sat.) at Green Bay 7:30 p.m. NBC TFL (4). Kendricks' 4 TFL last week are tied for the most by a player in a single game this season. 12/31 (Sun.) CHICAGO Noon* FOX Home games capitalized BROADCAST COVERAGE *Game-time subject to change due to flexible scheduling NATIONAL TELEVISION: NFL NETWORK (Ch. 4 WCCO locally) Play-by-Play: Greg Gumbel Analyst: Trent Green WEEKLY MEDIA SCHEDULE Sideline: Jamie Erdahl Tuesday, October 24 No Media Access NATIONAL RADIO: WESTWOOD ONE SPORTS Wednesday, October 25 Play-by-Play: Tom McCarthy Analyst: Derek Rackley 10:30 a.m. – Practice (Filming available at beginning) 12:00 p.m. (Approx.) – Zimmer press conferences & open locker room LOCAL RADIO: KFAN-FM 100.3/KTLK-AM 1130 Team will travel to London Wednesday night and arrive Thursday morning Play-by-Play: Paul Allen Analyst: Pete Bercich All times listed below are London times Sideline Reporter: Greg Coleman Thursday, October 26 Pre-Game Show: Mike Mussman – 6:30 a.m. CT 3:15 p.m. – Practice (Filming available at beginning) KFAN and KTLK serve as the flagship stations for the 72-station, 5-state Vikings Radio Network. 4:45 p.m. (Approx.) – Post-practice media availability Friday, October 27 11:00 a.m. – Practice (Filming available at beginning) 12:15 p.m. (Approx.) – Post-practice media availability NORSEMAN NOTABLES Saturday, October 28 • The Vikings defense has been one of the stingiest in the NFL on 3rd down, holding No Media Access opponents to 27.3% (24/88) 3rd-down conversion rate, the 2nd-best mark in the NFL. Sunday, October 29 1:30 p.m. – Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns on NFL Network • The Vikings passing attack has accounted for 1,704 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs and a 95.1 passer Bye Week Schedule TBD rating, the 9th-best rating in the NFL. *Practice open to media at the beginning • Vikings DE Everson Griffen has a sack in 7 consecutive games, setting a new career-high Reminder - No tweeting during open portion of practice and no live streaming during any Vikings media availbilities unless previously approved and tied for 3rd-longest streak in Vikings history. DE Jim Marshall (1969) and DE Jared Allen (2011) hold the record with a sack in 8 straight games. • WR Adam Thielen is the only receiver in the NFL with 5+ receptions in all 7 games in 2017. STAT OF THE WEEK • The Vikings defense had 11 TFL vs. Baltimore, tied 3rd most in the NFL in a single game in 2017. The Vikings defense has held opponents to an average of 4.0 yards • The Vikings offense is tied for 1st in the NFL with the Rams and Patriots with 33 plays of 20+ after catch in 2017, the lowest in the NFL. Opponent Average Yards After Catch - 2017 yards - 24 passing (tied for 6th) and 9 rushing (2nd in NFL). Rk) Team ......................................Opp. Avg. YAC • The Vikings have 7 scoring drives of 80+ yards in 2017, 3 more than they totaled in all of 2016. 1) Minnesota Vikings ..................4.0 • Vikings S Harrison Smith, who had his 5th career INT in the last contest vs. Cleveland (9/22/13), 2) Pittsburgh Steelers ........................ 4.1 caught his 15th career INT vs. Green Bay (10/15) and ranks tied for 3rd in the NFL with 3 in 2017. 3) Houston Texans .............................. 4.2 **Please note all stats and rankings are prior to MNF on 10/23 WEEK 8 - VIKINGS VS. BROWNS HEAD COACH MIKE ZIMMER NFL Head Coach: 4th year Overall NFL Experience: 24th Year The 2015 Vikings earned their success with a strong running game and stingy defense. Coaching Experience: 39th Year Adrian Peterson led the NFL in rushing for the 3rd time in his career en route to 1st-Team Overall NFL Record: 31-25 (.554) Regular Season: 31-24 (.564) All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Bridgewater continued to grow in his role as a playmaker and Postseason: 0-1 (.000) engineering the offense, improving throughout his 2nd pro season. The Vikings defense Record with MIN: 31-25 (.554) ranked 5th in the NFL by allowing only 18.9 points per game. The Vikings rookies made strong contributions as the club was led in tackles by rookie LB Eric Kendricks and in receiving by WR Stefon Diggs. Rookie DE Danielle Hunter ranked Mike Zimmer enters his 4th season as Vikings Head 2nd on the team in sacks, and the team tied a franchise record by having 6 rookies start in Coach in 2017 with a seasoned defense that climbed to a game, at Arizona. #3 in the NFL in 2016 and an offense of emerging play The 2014 Vikings turned to Bridgewater to start 12 games of his rookie season, and he makers and a QB with NFL-record setting accuracy. responded with a 6-6 record, going 3-2 in his final 5 starts, and set virtually every franchise Zimmer was hired as the 9th head coach in Vikings his- record for a rookie QB. Defensively, the 2014 Vikings improved from #31 in total defense to tory on Jan. 15, 2014. A veteran defensive coordinator, Zimmer enters his 24th season on #14 in the NFL with a new lineup. The Vikings #7 ranking in the NFL in passing defense was an NFL sideline in 2017. the highest finish since the 1993 season when the club was #6. The Vikings had a 113-point The 2016 Viking battled injuries and adversity throughout the season to finish 8-8 while improvement in offensive points allowed from 2013 to 2014, the biggest improvement in plugging new talents into the offense, an opportunistic defense with a knack for take- the NFL in that span. aways (27) and a special teams group posted 3 TDs (2 PR, 1 KOR).