NFL: Minnesota QB Matt Cassel replaces injured Christian Ponder at Wembley

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel will replace injured Christian Ponder against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Ponder, who sustained a rib injury last week in a 31-27 defeat to the Cleveland Browns, travelled to London in hope of recovering in time to face the Steelers but Cassel was called up when the injury proved difficult.

The Vikings and Steelers have both endured a winless 0-3 start to the NFL season and will be looking to take home a win.

Opposing Cassel will be Pittsburgh QB “Big Ben” Ben Roethlisberger, who will finally be able to see the prestigious landmark that inspired his nickname.

“I think it’s good to get away,” said Steelers safety Ryan Clark.

“I don’t think it will be a distraction in a bad way. I think it will be a distraction in a good way because it gets us away from every day hearing what’s going on with us,” said Clark.

“We can get away, spend time together as a team, get some of the chemistry and fellowship that you lose once the offense and defense go into meetings. It gives us the opportunity to just play. That’s become our focus this week.”

Games in London have been so successful in the past six years that the NFL began a plan this year to play twice a year in England and is considering a possible third game in Britain starting next season.

Steelers President Art Rooney II was among those at a welcoming dinner at the Houses of Parliament and he spoke about the NFL looking at London for a franchise one day.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work as to whether London can be a city that hosts a franchise some day so this will be an interesting experience in terms of thinking about how that might work,” said Rooney.

“I think there is still ground work to be done. This year we are playing two games over there. I think the idea is that will increase over the next couple of years to three or four games. That will start to give us a better idea of whether a franchise can be supported on a regular basis.”

Peterson has 281 yards and three touchdowns on 69 carries this season for Minnesota while Roethlisberger has completed 67 of 111 passes for 848 yards and four touchdowns.

Peterson says his numbers are down from last season, when he narrowly missed an NFL single-season rushing record, because more defenders are tagreting him.

“Teams are adding an extra guy in the box,” Peterson said of alignments with extra run protection.

“They have just been doing a good job of containing the run and now allowing big runs to take place.”