NFL London game open thread: Vikings vs. Browns

The Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns kick off what is going to be an extremely long day of football. The two teams are in London and just minutes away from starting Sunday’s slate of 11 games that will conclude with Lions vs. Steelers on Sunday night.

The Vikings are coming into Week 8 with a full head of steam. Minnesota is currently riding a three-game winning streak, including huge wins over their division rivals: the Packers and Bears. With Aaron Rodgers sidelined for at least seven more weeks, the window is wide open for the Vikings to pull in their second NFC North championship in three years.

In their way this week is the winless Cleveland Browns. The Browns have won just two of their past 34 games, and things don’t look any better this week. They have lost their starting left tackle Joe Thomas for the season. Rookie pass rushing phenom Myles Garrett did not make the trip to London due to a concussion. And for the 200th (or so) straight week, the Browns made a quarterback change, going with rookie DeShone Kizer this week.

This looks like we’re setting London up for another horrible game, but this has been a funky year. Maybe the Browns pull off something crazy. Please?

Here’s how to watch the early game:

Where: Twickenham Stadium, London
Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017—9:30 a.m. ET
TV: NFL Network
Announcers: Greg Gumbel, Trent Green, Jamie Erdahl
Online stream: NFL Mobile app
Odds: Vikings by 10.5