The Minnesota Vikings celebrated their first preseason win in nearly five years last weekend when they defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 24-23.
Preseason play continues this weekend as the Vikings travel to Cleveland to face the Browns on the road. The game comes after a week of joint practices with the Browns. Here’s everything Vikings fans need to know ahead of this preseason game.
How to watch the Minnesota Vikings this week
This weekend’s game against the Cleveland Browns is Saturday, August 17th, with kickoff scheduled for 3:25 p.m. CDT. The game will be broadcast locally in Minnesota on FOX and can also be streamed on NFL+ on the NFL app.
History of the Browns vs. Vikings
Of course, this preseason clash will have no impact on the overall head-to-head record, but the Browns and Vikings have faced each other a total of 17 times throughout the history of the two franchises, including a meeting in the NFL Championship Game in the 1969 season, which the Vikings won 27-7.
Overall, the Vikings have a 12-5 record against their AFC opponent, but Cleveland won the last meeting in 2021 14-7.
Vikings Spotlight Player: OLB Gabriel Murphy
Gabriel Murphy missed Minnesota’s season opener due to injury, opening the door for Bo Richter, another undrafted free agent, to take on a more prominent role at outside linebacker. Richter made the most of his opportunity, recording two tackles for loss and a sack.
Murphy has a chance to respond this weekend. We’ll see what the UCLA product has in store against Cleveland’s offensive line on Saturday.
Browns Spotlight Player: LB Mohamoud Diabate
The Browns just signed one of their linebackers, Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, to a new contract extension this week. However, another linebacker, Mohamoud Diabate, is trying to simply secure a role in the lineup this fall after playing just 27 defensive snaps in his rookie season.
Diabate is a high-flying LB who excelled at the line of scrimmage during his college career. The Vikings’ task will be to stop the Florida/Utah product, which should be a good test for their offensive line and running backs in pass defense.
Editor’s Note: Stats for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
