Over the last few years, the NFL has gradually been scheduling more games to take place outside of the United States, apparently in an attempt to spread the game of football to foreign countries.

This coming season, five games will take place outside of the country, which includes the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 5 game against the New York Jets in London.

The Vikings experienced a frustrating season last year that was marred by injuries to key players, and they’re hoping to get back on track this year and return to the playoffs.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has since left in free agency to join the Atlanta Falcons, tore his Achilles midway through the schedule, while star wide receiver Justin Jefferson was limited to 10 games because of a hamstring injury.

As a result, the team finished just 7-10 just a year after winning the NFC North with a 13-4 record.

Minnesota took McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in last month’s draft, and he is someone who was arguably the talk of the draft leading up to it.

His stock rose considerably for weeks, and it even led to him becoming somewhat polarizing, as he wasn’t a volume passer while at the University of Michigan.

But if he turns out to be worthy of the hype, a playoff appearance for the Vikings this winter shouldn’t be out of the question.

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