On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings will make their sixth trip to the state of North Carolina to face the Carolina Panthers.
Kickoff is at noon. Fox will televise the game with Kenny Albert on play-by-play, Jonathan Vilma as analyst and Sara Walsh on the sideline.
Minnesota's game vs. Carolina was on Oct. 30, 2005 with the Panthers winning 38-13. The first five games between the teams were all at the Metrodome, with the Vikings winning the first three and Carolina the next two.
Minnesota's first visit to the Tar Heel state actually was for an exhibition game vs. Joe Namath and the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets on Aug. 30, 1969 at Wake Forest University’s Groves Stadium.
Gene Hooks, Wake Forest’s athletics director at the time, helped bring the pro teams to Winston-Salem after the Deacons had played at the University of Minnesota in October of 1968.
That December, Jim Finks, the general manager of the Vikings, called Hooks when the Vikings were looking for a warmer climate in which to practice for its Western Division championship game in Baltimore vs. the Colts.
The practice at Wake Forest went so well that Finks agreed to bring the Vikings back to Winston-Salem to play an exhibition game.
For sixth-year Vikings defensive end Carl Eller it marked a return to his hometown. He was born in Winston-Salem on Jan. 25, 1942. He played his college football for the Gophers, helping Minnesota to a Rose Bowl win in 1961.
The AFL Jets had shocked the football world the previous January with a 16-7 win over Baltimore in Super Bowl III in Miami, a win that Namath had guaranteed the week before the game.
The Jets beat the Vikings 24-21 on that August night in 1969 before a sellout crowd of 31,500.
Minnesota would go on to go 12-2 in the regular season, win the NFL title with wins over Los Angeles and Cleveland before losing to Kansas City 23-7 in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans.
The Jets reached the AFC playoffs but lost an inter-divisional game in their Shea Stadium home 13-6 to the Chiefs.
New York went through an unusual schedule that season. The Jets shared Shea Stadium with baseball's Mets, who went on an improbable run and won the World Series.
At the time, the Jets were not allowed to play at Shea until the baseball season ended and the Mets didn't finish until Oct. 16.
That meant the Jets played their first five games on the road before playing seven straight at home. New York played its final two regular-season games on the road before coming back to Shea for the playoff game.
Stat of the Week
The Vikings are one of only two teams in the NFL that have two pass rushers with at least 4.0 sacks. DE Danielle Hunter has 6.0 and DE Everson Griffen has 4.0. They join Chicago linebackers Khalil Mack (5.0) and Robert Quinn (4.5).
Since 2016, Hunter (22.0) and Griffen (19.5) rank in the top ten in the league in sacks. Hunter is tied for fourth and Griffen is seventh.
Notable
Justin Jefferson joined Adam Thielen (2017, 2018) and Cris Carter (1994, 1995, 1997) as the only Vikings receivers with at least five receptions in each of the first five games of a season.
The only kickers since 2000 to start the season perfect from 50-plus yards through Week 5 with a minimum of five attempts are the Vikings' Greg Joseph this year and Adam Vinatierri with Indianapolis in 2016.
LB Eric Kendricks is tied with Eric Wilson (Philadelphia) and Logan Wilson (Cincinnati) for the most games with an interception (4) among NFL linebackers.
Scores
The Vikings lead the series with the Panthers 9-6
10-06-1996: Minnesota Vikings 14, Carolina Panthers 12
10-12-1997: Minnesota Vikings 21, Carolina Panthers 14
11-19-2000: Minnesota Vikings 31, Carolina Panthers 17
09-09-2001: Carolina Panthers 24, Minnesota Vikings 13
09-22-2002: Carolina Panthers 21, Minnesota Vikings 14
10-30-2005: Carolina Panthers 38, Minnesota Vikings 13
09-17-2006: Minnesota Vikings 16, Carolina Panthers 13 (OT)
09-21-2008: Minnesota Vikings 20, Carolina Panthers 10
12-20-2009: Carolina Panthers 26, Minnesota Vikings 7
10-30-2011: Minnesota Vikings 24, Carolina Panthers 21
10-13-2013: Carolina Panthers 35, Minnesota Vikings 10
11-30-2014: Minnesota Vikings 31, Carolina Panthers 13
09-25-2016: Minnesota Vikings 22, Carolina Panthers 10
12-10-2017: Carolina Panthers 31, Minnesota Vikings 24
11-29-2020: Minnesota Vikings 28, Carolina Panthers 27
Points scored: Carolina Panthers 312, Minnesota Vikings 288