Vikings fans were easily the dominant side during Sunday’s victory in London, giving Minnesota a home field advantage far away from home.
Minnesota Vikings fans, including Devon Burns, second from left, of Savage, celebrate as the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Jets 23-17 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Minnesota Vikings fans, including Devon Burns, second from left, of Savage, celebrate as the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Jets 23-17 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
LONDON — Sunday was technically a home game for the Vikings, but usually that means most fans have to travel a handful of miles to U.S. Bank Stadium make themselves heard on gameday.
Thousands of the purple faithful who packed the seats in a 23-17 victory over the Jets went at least 4,000 extra miles, the distance between Minneapolis and London, to raucously celebrate their team at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Vikings improved to 5-0 with the victory, and I dare say their fans remained undefeated on the season as well. They should be just as proud of their performance as the Vikings defense was in intercepting aging QB Aaron Rodgers three times, as we talked about on the postgame Access Vikings podcast from London.
- It started days before the game, with Vikings fans taking over London in swarms. The Vikings’ official hangout while in London, the Greenwood Sports Pub and Kitchen, was so packed with Vikings supporters on Saturday night that front door staff had to turn people away.
- On the walk from the train station to the game Sunday, it was again clear that Vikings fans were the dominant group. There were plenty of Justin Jefferson jerseys among the sea of purple, but the more obscure ones revealed the depth of the Vikings crowd. Among them: A Jim Kleinsasser, one Sidney Rice, a fresh-off-the-rack Andrew Van Ginkel and a nod to the mid-2000s with Onterrio Smith, the latter of which was worn with full knowledge of the past by its owner. Turning a corner down an alley, I found hundreds of Vikings fans in full pregame splendor doing the “Skol” chant.
- Once inside the stadium, a rough estimate of the division of fans went like this: 60% Vikings fans, 30% NFL/curious fans and 10% Jets fans. In the section we were sitting in, Vikings fans far outnumbered the few Jets fans. Our group counted jerseys from every NFL team, and there were plenty of locals sporting Vikings gear in addition to those who had traveled.
- Fans booed the Jets when they came on the field, got extra loud when Vikings legend Jared Allen fired them up by blowing the Gjallarhorn and gave the Vikings a real edge on key plays. The Jets went just 5-for-17 on third down conversions and all three Rodgers interceptions came on third downs as Vikings fans got loud.
- Vikings fans clearly came hungry for a win (and quite a few of them came thirsty enough to drain England’s taps as well). This thought surely went through many minds as the final scenes of Sunday’s game unfolded: “Please don’t tell me I traveled thousands of miles to watch the Vikings lose on a last-second touchdown by Aaron Rodgers.” That it had a much happier purple ending — allowing fans to gleefully linger and cheer again minutes after the game as a handful of Vikings returned to the field — was only fitting for both the Vikings crowd and their defense.