- WHERE: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London)
- WHEN: 9:30 a.m. ET | NFL Network, NFL+
London is set to host the NFL for a 17th season, kicking off the first of three games slated for the city this year with a potential doozy between the Jets and Vikings.
Minnesota enters the game on fire, 3-0 all-time in international games and 4-0 on the season after a torrid start both offensively and defensively. Currently the standalone leader in the NFC North, the Vikings can leave London knowing they remain alone atop the division heading into their bye week if they can pull off a fifth straight victory.
Meanwhile, New York has traveled a tougher road to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Robert Saleh's squad will look to shake off a somewhat shocking defeat to the Broncos in Week 4. Currently 2-2 with a matchup against the AFC East-leading Bills on deck back in the United States, Gang Green can hardly afford to start a losing streak to begin October.
As an International Game second course to the Eagles' 34-29 win over the Packers that treated Brazil to big plays galore, this matchup figures to feature a little more defensive flavor, but it still has all the makings of a worthy follow-up.
Here are three things to watch for when the Jets and Vikings square off in London on Sunday on NFL Network and NFL+:
1) Jets offense must find itself overseas. Aaron Rodgers’ triumphant return from the torn Achilles that robbed him and the Jets of their first year together has been a tad short on triumph thus far. Things haven’t clicked outside of throttling the Patriots in Week 3, and the offense sits bottom 12 in the NFL in both points and yards. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall have also yet to take the leap expected from playing alongside a future Hall of Famer. Rodgers has a 59.4 completion percentage targeting Wilson, eighth-worst among duos with at least 25 targets, per NFL Research, while Hall is coming off a game in which he averaged 0.4 yards on 10 carries. The Jets seem out of sorts just in time to face the NFL’s fourth-ranked scoring defense. There’s hope -- Minnesota sits last in passing yards allowed per game (274.3), but it’s also well capable of getting after a 40-year-old signal-caller who admitted he was sore and dealing with a swollen knee after taking a beating in Week 4. The Vikings are currently the NFL’s best in that regard with 17 sacks and 77 QB pressures. New York must first hold them off in order to exploit the secondary.
2) Sam Darnold says hello to his old team. A month into the season, some early results that might have initially been waved off as outliers settle into reality. Right now? The reality is that Darnold is a stud quarterback for a championship contender no one saw coming. The Jets hoped he might become that for them after selecting him with the third overall pick of the 2018 draft. He instead struggled to a 13-25 record, and after three years was traded to the Panthers. Since then, he journeyed from Carolina to San Francisco to Minnesota, where he’s finally found a home and his best second (or fourth) chance. The 27-year-old has been a revelation under head coach Kevin O’Connell. The Vikings offense is humming, and Darnold leads the league with 11 touchdowns and a 118.9 passer rating. When he squares off against the Jets on Sunday, Darnold will become just the second quarterback in the last 50 seasons to face the team that drafted him while 4-0 or better. (Peyton Manning did so twice.) If he becomes the first QB to win such a matchup, he’ll officially have as many victories since leaving the Jets as he did for them.
3) Defenses possess opposing strengths. New York ranks fifth in points allowed and is even stingier giving up yardage -- its 256.5 allowed per game ranks second in the NFL. Minnesota is one notch better holding teams off the scoreboard despite surrendering the 23rd-most yards, a weakness fortified by producing 10 turnovers through four games, good for second-most. Where the two game-changing units differ most comes between the run and pass game. While the Jets rank second in passing defense and have allowed 61 or fewer passing yards in two straight, the Vikings rank second in rushing defense and give up an average of 75 rushing yards per game. As previously mentioned, though, you can take to the air against Minnesota, just as opponents have proven able to gash the 20th-ranked Jets on the ground. It will be particularly interesting if Sam Darnold and Co. jump out to a lead like they have every game this season. Such a game script would see Vikings running back Aaron Jones milking clock against a vulnerable run defense and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers chasing points against an even more susceptible pass D. Outside of that dichotomy, the faceoff between New York's Sauce Gardner and Minnesota's Justin Jefferson also promises to be fascinating.
