There will be some things, in the final installment of the trilogy against the Seahawks that Vikings fans have come to loathe, that will be the same as the first two installments: The Vikings, for the third time in three years, will play a prime-time game at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, testing their ability to handle a nighttime matchup after a long flight west and two-hour time zone change. They will face one of the NFL's best teams of the past decade, undefeated so far this year and emboldened perhaps more than ever to turn their quarterback loose.
Instead of using silent counts in a stadium filled with the Seahawks' raucous fans, though, the Vikings will be able to operate their offense in an environment placid enough that quarterback Kirk Cousins will focus more on not talking too loudly than worrying about being heard. They will deliver final meetings and motivational speeches virtually, rather than gathering in a hotel ballroom the night before the game. And once again, they will have spent part of their week detailing protocols to keep COVID-19 from breaching their practice facility.
Sunday night will be the Vikings' first road game in an empty stadium, after playing in front of 2,500 fans in Indianapolis and 12,271 in Houston. Their third straight road game in Seattle — following a shambolic performance in 2018 and a close loss last year — will have a decidedly different feel without the "12s" in the stands. Instead of the Vikings' third road game in four weeks being played in a menacing environment, it will happen after the NFL spent the week redoubling its efforts to keep its season on track.
Commissioner Roger Goodell outlined a series of stricter COVID-19 prevention measures this week in memos to teams. The Titans' outbreak, which became public after their Sept. 27 game against the Vikings, has reached 22 positive cases.
The Patriots now have two star players, quarterback Cam Newton and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, on their COVID reserve list and have shut down their facility for two days.
Teams can now be forced to forfeit games or surrender draft picks for protocol violations that force the league to reschedule games, after the Titans-Steelers game last Sunday was postponed and two more positive cases Wednesday put this week's Titans-Bills game in jeopardy.
The league also required five days' worth of negative PCR tests, plus a negative point-of-care test on Day 6, before permitting free agents or players who have to leave a team to enter club facilities.
Clubs must provide 30 days' worth of video surveillance footage to help the NFL monitor adherence to mask-wearing and social distancing protocols. Players cannot gather in groups of three or more outside the practice facility or during team travel.