Case is hoping for a better day at Twickers this time
Minnesota Vikings quarter-back Case Keenum hopes that playing the winless Cleveland Browns today proves an easier Twickenham experience than the one he had last year.
Twelve months ago, Keenum started for the Los Angeles Rams at the home of rugby, but threw four interceptions in a 17-10 loss to the New York Giants.
It was a game that cost Keenum his starting job for the Rams, but he is in a very different place as the Vikings and Browns line up for the 21st London NFL game, almost 10 years to the day since the first in 2007.
Keenum began the year as Minnesota’s back-up, but was thrust into action when Sam Bradford went down in week two, and is 3-2 since for a team that arrives with a 5-2 record.
While the woeful Browns look like easy opposition on paper, four of their losses have come by just three points and Keenum knows their defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams well from their time together with the Rams.
“It’s a Gregg Williams defence so we know we have our work cut out,” he said. “We’ll have to be on top of everything.
“He’s got something up his sleeve for everything. It’s about being prepared for the unexpected, if that makes sense.”
The Vikings head to London on the back of three straight wins, with Keenum’s job made considerably easier by a defensive unit ranked fourth in the league on yards per game.
“I don’t know if it’s less pressure, it’s knowing that we have a great defence,” Keenum said. “We protect the football, don’t put our defence in a bad spot. I don’t know if it changes my mindset offensively as far as being attacking or conservative, it’s just nice to have these guys wearing purple.”
The Browns must hope that the disruption of travelling to London to play can cause enough of a shock to bring about their first win of the season.
The odds are not great. Of the seven teams who have previously arrived in London winless, only two have won in the capital, and that includes the 2013 Vikings who had the advantage of playing another winless team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“It’s a tall challenge, a real challenge for us,” said coach Hue Jackson.
The 52-year-old does, at least, know a little something about winning in London. Back in 1991, he coached running backs, receivers and special teams for the London Monarchs as they won the title in the inaugural season of the World League.
His task here is rather different as he tries to mould rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer into a winner.
The Browns’ second-round pick will start in London, but he has been benched in each of his last three appearances, and sat out the loss to Houston two weeks ago entirely as he gets tough love from his coach.
“I’m very honest with DeShone,” Jackson said. “This is a performance-based business and there’s some things at the quarterback position which are non-negotiable for me. He knows turning the ball over is something we can’t do. I think he gets it.”
Jackson and Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer are firm friends from when they were offensive and defensive co-ordinator respectively on the 2007 Atlanta Falcons, and whatever the Browns’ record, Zimmer has been full of praise for his old colleague this week.
Asked what it meant to hear those comments, Jackson showed he has not lost his sense of humour even as the losses mount.
“It means I paid him,” he said. “Just kidding.”