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News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Early Look: Vikings at Browns (in London)

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Vikings are headed across the pond in search of their fourth consecutive win.

Minnesota will square off against the Cleveland Browns Sunday at Twickenham Stadium at 1:30 p.m. in London (8:30 a.m. CT).

The Vikings are 5-2 after earning a 24-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Browns are 0-7 on the season following an overtime loss to Tennessee on Sunday. Cleveland kicked a game-tying field goal with a minute left in regulation but lost 12-9 in the extra session.

Four of Cleveland's seven losses have been by three points. 

Here's an early look at Sunday's game:

Passing: Vikings quarterback Case Keenum made his fifth start of the season Sunday against Baltimore. He completed 20 of 31 passes for 188 yards with an interception. He had a passer rating of 67.7.

Keenum leads the Vikings with 1,333 passing yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. 

Cleveland used a pair of quarterbacks in Sunday's loss to the Titans.

Rookie DeShone Kizer started and completed 12 of 20 passes for 114 yards with two interceptions. Cody Kessler entered in the third quarter and completed 10 of 19 passes for 121 yards and a pick.

Besides Kizer and Kessler, the Browns have played Kevin Hogan at quarterback in 2017. Kizer leads the team with 965 passing yards with three touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Hogan has four touchdown passes and five interceptions.

Rushing: Vikings running back Latavius Murray had 113 yards on 18 carries against the Ravens, including a 29-yard touchdown run. Murray recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of the season on Sunday. 

Jerick McKinnon had 47 yards on 14 carries. 

Minnesota lost rookie running back Dalvin Cook to a torn ACL in Week 4. McKinnon has 237 rushing yards on the season, and Murray has 210. 

The Browns ran for 66 yards on 26 carries against Tennessee. Isaiah Crowell had 35 yards on 17 carries, and Duke Johnson had seven carries for 26 yards. 

Crowell leads Cleveland with 287 rushing yards this season. Johnson and Kizer each have two scores on the ground.

 

Receiving: Jarius Wright led the Vikings with 54 yards on three grabs against Baltimore.

Adam Thielen had five catches for 41 yards. Thielen leads the Vikings with 43 receptions, and his 530 receiving yards are tops in the NFC and fourth in the NFL.

Tight end Kyle Rudolph had five receptions for 43 yards. Laquon Treadwell had three catches for 28 yards. 

Stefon Diggs missed the game with a groin injury. He has 395 receiving yards and a team-high four scores. Rudolph has a pair of touchdown catches in 2017.

Crowell and Johnson combined for 10 catches for 81 yards on Sunday. Rookie tight end David Njoku had two receptions for 58 yards.

Johnson leads the Browns with 32 receptions for 314 yards. Ricardo Louis has 21 catches for 250 yards. Njoku has a team-high three scores.

Defense: Minnesota's defense allowed three field goals against the Ravens before giving up a touchdown on the final play of regulation. The Vikings have a season-low 208 yards on the ground.

Everson Griffen had 2.0 sacks. Anthony Barr, Tom Johnson and Danielle Hunter also sacked Joe Flacco. 

Griffen has a sack in seven straight games, a career-best streak, and is third in the NFL with 9.0 sacks. 

Minnesota ranks fourth in yards allowed per game (283) and fifth in points allowed per game (17.0).

Cleveland allowed 269 yards of offense to the Titans. The Browns recorded a pair of sacks.

Cleveland ranks ninth in yards allowed per game (304.7) and is 25th in points allowed per game (24.1).

Special Teams: Kai Forbath had a career day, making all six of his field goal tries, a career high for the Vikings kicker. He had a pair of 50-plus yarders on the day. Forbath has made 17 of 18 on field goals in 2017.

Ryan Quigley averaged 46.0 net yards on two punts.

Marcus Sherels had his best showing of the season, tallying three punt returns for 83 yards. The Vikings scored 10 points off solid field position set up by Sherels. He also had a 20-yard kickoff return.

Browns rookie kicker Zane Gonzalez made all three of his field goal attempts. He is six of nine on the season. Punter Britton Colquitt averages 49.8 yards per punt.

The Vikings and Browns do not have a special teams touchdown in 2017.

Look back at photos over the course of time featuring games between the Vikings and the Browns.

Over The Years

The Vikings are 11-4 all-time against the Browns, a series that includes one postseason meeting.

Minnesota won six straight against Cleveland from 1969 to 1983, including a 1969 playoff matchup. The Vikings earned a 27-7 win over Cleveland in the NFL Championship game before Minnesota eventually fell in Super Bowl IV to the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs.

The Browns won back-to-back meetings in 1986 and 1989.

Last Meeting: Browns 31, Vikings 27, Sept. 22, 2013, in Minneapolis

The Vikings fell to 0-3 on the season after Cleveland threw a go-ahead touchdown pass with 51 seconds remaining.

Cleveland led 24-17 at the break in a high-scoring first half.

Adrian Peterson ran for a score before the Browns responded with a pair of touchdown passes. The Vikings then tied the game at 14 on a rushing score by Christian Ponder.

The Browns scored the next 10 points before Blair Walsh kicked a 43-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

Ponder ran for another score to tie the game at 24 late in the third quarter before Walsh kicked another field goal early in the final stanza.

But Cleveland won it on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron, who hauled in his third score of the day with less than a minute remaining.

Ponder threw for 228 yards and was sacked six times in addition to his pair of rushing touchdowns. 

Erin Henderson had 2.0 sacks and an interception for the Vikings defense. Brian Robison had a sack, and Chad Greenway and Harrison Smith also had picks.

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