The Vikings have announced their 2012 preseason schedule with games against the Bills and Chargers to be played at Mall of America Field. Those contests will be sandwiched between preseason road trips to San Francisco and Houston.

Dates and times for those games are not yet available. The official start of NFL preseason games will come on Sunday, Aug. 5 when New Orleans and Arizona play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

The Vikings expect to make a second trip to Houston during the regular season. The NFL's regular season schedule will be released some time in mid-April. In addition to home and away games against their NFC North foes, the Vikings will play regular season games against teams from the NFC West (49ers, Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals) and AFC South (Texans, Colts, Jaguars and Titans). They'll also face fellow division bottom-feeders in the NFC (the Redskins and Buccaneers).