The Vikings are facing a familiar opponent in their London game this year, albeit in a different uniform and in a new location.
The Minnesota Vikings will be the home team and host Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets to kick off this year’s slate of games in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 6. The NFL announced the four international games in London and Germany on Wednesday morning before the full slate is released later in the day.
Rodgers went 17-11-1 against the Vikings when he was with the Green Bay Packers. The four-time NFL MVP was traded to the Jets last year, but tore his left Achilles tendon on the first series of last year’s opener against the Buffalo Bills. He's faced the Vikings more than any other NFL team.
Rodgers is on track to return to practice without limitations once the Jets begin voluntary spring sessions next week. The league announced on Tuesday that the Jets would open the season on “Monday Night Football” at NFC champion San Francisco on Sept. 9.
The NFL has become such a marketing juggernaut that even Wednesday night's unveiling of the 2024 schedule has become a major event.
Even though we already know who the Vikings opponents are this fall, the NFL's schedule release party answers some key questions including that London game against Rodgers and the Jets.
"It gives you an opportunity to sort of look ahead to the next season and start to envision, you know, 'hey, what's the schedule going to look like? What's the opener? What are the prime time games? What are the big stretches of it? They are going to be tough for my team,' and people have shown that they can't get enough of it ," says the Star Tribune's Ben Goessling.
Those fans treat the announcement like a holiday.
"We sort of like this, even though we already kind of know what's on the list," Goessling explains.
The rest of the schedule comes out Wednesday night. One more opponent Viking fans are eyeing? The Atlanta Falcons and former QB Kirk Cousins will return to Minneapolis. Date? TBD.
OTHER INTERNATIONAL GAMES
The Jacksonville Jaguars will spend back-to-back weeks in London for the second straight year and face two of this year’s top three quarterbacks that were taken in the NFL draft. The Jaguars will visit top draft pick Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 13 and then host the New England Patriots, who took Drake Maye third, at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 20.
This is the 10th time the Jaguars are hosting a game at Wembley.
The Carolina Panthers will host the New York Giants in Germany on Nov. 10 at Allianz Arena in Munich.
With the four international games, the NFL has announced 10 of its 272 regular-season games for the upcoming season. It will begin on Sept. 5 when the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5 in a rematch of last season’s AFC title game.
Other Week 1 games include the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 6, and the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8.
Week 2’s announced games so far have the Miami Dolphins hosting the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 12 and the Cincinnati Bengals at the Chiefs on Sept. 15.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.