It is Friday, July 25th, and we are officially less than one week away from football. Live, real, tangible football. That’s right, one week! Sure, the game that’s six days away is the Canton Hall of Fame game, which is essentially the preseason of the preseason, but who cares? It’s football! As I tush-push my way into my second year in South Dakota, I feel like we are comfortable enough with each other now to express how deeply I love the game of football. Most people’s “perfect day” consists of sunny and 75, maybe being out on the lake with the family or making a trip out to the beautiful Black Hills. My perfect day? Waking up on a Sunday morning to a fresh coat of snow on the ground, flipping on NFL Network about an hour before kickoff of one of the many international games the NFL has this season, setting my fantasy football lineups and asking myself, “Why did I join all of these leagues?”, and then proceeding to watch NFL football from the 8:30 AM London game, all the way through seven hours of (somewhat) commercial-free football on NFL RedZone, then capping that off with Sunday Night Football. All of this, of course, coming after gorging myself with 14-hours of college football the day before. On the menu? An exorbitant amount of buffalo chicken dip, some chicken wings, and maybe some jalapeño poppers if I am really feeling frisky. I love football, plain and simple. I don’t have kids, but if I did, it would really cut into my football watching ability. But, no kids, so for now, all ball.
When I released my ‘Way Too Early’ Vikings season prediction last year, the title defined the outcome, because after its publication, JJ McCarthy tore his meniscus which really threw a curveball into each game that I forecasted. So I pushed it off by about a month this year to make sure the same did not happen again. However, in 2024 the Vikings still proceeded to overachieve the 12-5 ‘Overachievers’ category I put out for them. I predicted that a 12-5 season would be a superb and unlikely season for the Vikings with the presence of a rookie quarterback who would need a little time to get his feet wet. As it turned out, we wouldn’t get to see that rookie, but instead a veteran in Sam Darnold who was a first-round draft pick for the Jets in 2018 who never quite panned out. That is, of course, until he got to Minnesota. Once we knew that Darnold was going to be the guy for the Vikings, I tried to tell everyone who would listen that the Vikings would likely flourish with their new quarterback because he was given tools and coaching he had never had before. Did I think he would lead the Vikings to the brink of an NFC North title? Not exactly. However, we knew Darnold had the talent. There was an obvious reason why the USC quarterback was drafted so high. He simply never had the coaching nor the talent surrounding him to show off that talent. Nothing against the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets, but former HC Adam Gase was an unmitigated disaster of a coach, and their premiere wide receiver was Jamison Crowder. Gase couldn’t coach himself out of a paper bag and Crowder is a number four receiver on a majority of rosters in today’s game. What Darnold had in Minnesota was night-and-day from what he had in New York (technically New Jersey as the Bills are the only team to actually play in New York), coupled with Kevin O’Connell as a mentor, and one of the greatest receivers to ever play the game in Justin Jefferson, Darnold proved why he was so sought after coming out of college. Leading the Vikings to a 14-3 regular season before running out of gas in the postseason, it was a huge step in the right direction for the Vikings who now look at 2025 as an opportunity to take the organization even closer to the Super Bowl they continue to search for.
As expected, the Vikings moved on from Darnold, which was the wise thing to do. After his incredibly successful campaign in 2024, he would certainly be commanding a contract the Vikings would not be smart to pick up. The Seattle Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100 million deal. The Vikings essentially told Darnold, “Thanks for all you did, congratulations on getting paid, here is the door”, as they now turn to McCarthy whose game checks are pennies in the bucket compared to what Darnold is going to be drawing from Seattle. So, let’s dive in together and preview all 17 games ahead of us for the Minnesota Vikings 2025 schedule.
Week 1- Monday, September 8th, @ Chicago Bears (MNF):
One thing I have learned from Vikings fans is that the NFL is out to get them. And I am starting to believe them after seeing their first five games of the season. Very tough to say the least. And it starts with a tough one on the road in Chicago against the Bears. I don’t consider myself a Vikings fan, but with as much as I find myself covering the team, I have somewhat adopted them as a team to root for. I want to see them do well, but this one certainly scares me. With the Bears hiring offensive mastermind Ben Johnson from Detroit, I have a feeling he is going to want to make a statement in his first game as head coach. What does that mean? We are going to see some wild plays. Ben Johnson has gone on record saying his bag of tricks is incredibly deep, almost endless, and with the first game of the season being in primetime against a rival, it is likely he is going to be shoulder-deep in that bag to pull out some crazy looks to score some points. The line opened for this game at 44.5 points, and all I can say is an over never looked so good in my eyes. This game is going to have points, and a lot of them. I am going to say it right now, we are going to be treated to an offensive shootout and a coaching chess match that will set the bar very high for other MNF games all season long. If the Vikings want to start 1-0, they are going to have to be hitting on all cylinders to beat what I believe will be a very good Bears team. Talk about a baptism by fire for JJ McCarthy to start off his career. This will not be the Bears teams of years ago led by Matt Eberflus who often forgot how to be an NFL coach and singlehandedly cost his teams games with his coaching decisions (or lack thereof), so a loss in week one to the Bears and Johnson won’t be the end of the world, because the Bears are going to be a problem.
Week 2- Sunday, September 14th, vs. Atlanta Falcons (SNF):
Back to back primetime games for the Vikings! I don’t know about you, but there’s a certain buzz I get from seeing my teams play in primetime. As a Bills fan, that didn’t happen for me growing up. I remember when Buffalo played in the Canton Hall of Fame game, which is essentially the most pointless game out of all the preseason games, but it felt like the Super Bowl to me because the Bills were on TV. So Minnesota getting two standalone games in a row has got to have you fired up if you’re a Vikings fan. I can almost hear the SKOL chants in the distance. Sunday Night Football, first home game, the dome might cave in due to the noise instead of snow! Too soon? Ok, let’s get back to the game. The Falcons are another team I think might be a team to look out for in 2025. Atlanta finally got off the Cousins train and has turned to their first-round pick in Michael Penix Jr. who showed glimpses of his immaculate arm-talent late in the year last season when he finally got his shot. The Falcons have slowly cobbled together a really respectable roster, and are building a defensive line that may actually see the backfield, something the Falcons haven’t seen since John Abraham. But the Vikings, on paper, should be the better team. This should be a game for the Vikings to not necessarily dominate, but control. Look for the crowd to play a factor in this game while a young Penix still tries to find his footing as an NFL quarterback. This is going to be a fun game to watch two budding quarterbacks try to put their stamp on the league.
Week 3- Sunday, September 21st, vs. Cincinnati Bengals:
The Bengals had a wildly disappointing campaign in 2024. They started off 1-4 a year ago, and essentially played themselves out of the postseason before the season really got started. I expect the opposite in 2025. This is a brutal three-game stretch to start the year off for the Vikings. In my eyes, the Bears, Falcons and Bengals all should be playoff contenders. The Bengals have, however, dealt with a flurry of offseason turbulence with their owner and front office’s inability to please their best players. Cincinnati took care of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but they neglected their best pass rusher Trey Hendrickson by completely butchering his contract negotiations and publicly leaving him in the lurch. So much so, Hendrickson was forced to tell reporters that he doesn’t know if he is even going to be playing for the team in 2025. They also have blundered the rookie contract of their first-round draft pick Shemar Stewart, who has also turned public with his displeasure of the Bengals front office who are nickel-and-diming him in a very weird way. Stewart left mini-camp because of the negotiations (or lack thereof) and could theoretically hold out to the point where he doesn’t even play. Interesting tidbit, Stewart could technically not sign, re-enter the draft next year and be a draft candidate for every team BUT the Bengals. Anyway, the game. This feels like one for the Vikings taking. Joe Burrow is an incredible quarterback, and the Bengals are a good team. But this, much like most NFL games, will come down to coaching. And that is where the Vikings have the edge. I don’t envision the Bengals starting 1-4 again, but it would certainly hurt for Minnesota not to win this one at home.
UPDATE: Trey Hendrickson has informed ESPN’s Adam Schefter that he will not be attending training camp. Hendrickson also said something to the tune of, “Sometimes you feel like you just need to smoke a cigarette.” When your premiere pass rusher is at the point where he feels like he needs to rip a dart, you should probably reconsider how you run the show. Things are going great in Cincy…
Week 4- Sunday, September 28th, @ Pittsburgh Steelers (Dublin):
Make sure your phones are charged before church, because you will have to prop up the phone on the back of the pew while the preacher is giving his sermon for this 8:30 AM kick. The international games are usually fun, except when your team is involved. I always need a few hours to mentally prepare myself for my team to play on a Sunday, but as we venture into the new NFL where they introduce more and more international games, everyone is going to have to do it sooner or later. This one is interesting, you never know what you’re going to get in an international game. They really are a tossup. You can throw schedules out the window, you can forget what happened the week before, international games are just a total blind shot. There’s no way to foresee how a team will feel physically after the long flight and time change, there is also something to be said about playing on a completely different continent. On paper, this should be a game the Vikings win. The Steelers are starting from scratch with a new, yet very old quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, and if that experiment went anything like it did with the Jets, Vikings all the way. However, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has an innate ability to get his team ready to play no matter what the circumstances. There’s a reason he has not finished a season under .500 since he took over the last 16 years, he knows how to get his guys geared up. The Steelers have also improved their receiving corps adding veteran DK Metcalf to the fold and parting ways with George Pickens who seemed to tear the locker room apart more than he brought it together. If the Vikings are still fully healthy at this point, they should come in as slight favorites to this game across the pond.
Week 5- Sunday, October 5th, @ Cleveland Browns (London):
I know what you are thinking, “The NFL has a vendetta against Minnesota!”, and I can fully understand why you would think that seeing as the Vikings are the first team to ever play back-to-back international games in different countries since they started playing over there. Spin zone, this might actually work out well for the Vikings. If you’re going to play two games internationally, you might as well play them back-to-back. You’re already over there, you’ve gotten adjusted to the time change, and you already played a game on foreign grass. Plus, you’ll probably already be endeared to the fans over there who choose their NFL team by familiarity and not much else. Add on the fact that after the Deshaun Watson debacle (that is still ongoing) and the draft of Shedeur Sanders, there really aren’t that many Browns fans outside of Cleveland at the moment. If you don’t mind, I would like to take a second to talk about the Browns. What the heck is going on with that organization? They knowingly brought on Deshaun Watson in the midst of his legal battles in which he had over 20 accusers of sexual assault. They offset his contract to avoid taking a cap hit while he served his suspension, for the sexual misconduct during his massage sessions. So they swung and missed on checking the box for morality, and decided he was worth $270 million on top of that. Strike two. Then, he actually played and was one of the worst quarterbacks in the entire league. Scratch that, he was the worst quarterback in the entire league. He ranked 33rd in a few different categories as a passer, which means there was a backup QB who had better numbers than he did. Strike three looking. The Browns now turn to Joe Flacco who just turned 40, Joe’s not exactly a spring chicken. If that fails, they drafted not one but two quarterbacks in this years draft, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Oh, and they signed Kenny Pickett who was cut by Pittsburgh, and the rumor mill is swirling that Pickett might be QB1 going into camp. At this point I do feel bad for Browns fans. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Browns signed Antonio Brown at receiver, whom is currently facing attempted murder charges. Because, why not? If the Vikings lose this game it will be solely because of the international status of this matchup. The Vikings are better in every aspect, this should be a win for the guys in purple.
Week 6, BYE:
Where are you going to get a full breakdown of a teams bye week? Right here, that’s where. If this were the Browns season breakdown, this might be the most exciting week I cover! But in all seriousness, this kind of stinks for the Vikings. It makes sense because of their two international games the weeks prior, but your bye coming after just five games is a bit unfortunate. Maybe it’s just me, but bye weeks are best reserved for later in the season around week 11 or 12. You always welcome an off-week, but after this the Vikings will have to play 12 games in a row, half of which are road games. The midway point of the season is where you start to see those nagging injuries that aren’t bad enough to sideline you, but just painful enough to put you on the injury report. That’s why those late bye weeks are so important. You may have a group of guys just banged up after a long start to the season, but they can always look to the bye to earn that extra week of rest to get back as close to 100% as possible. The early bye doesn’t really give you that option. I will say, one way an early bye could help the Vikings is in preservation of momentum. It’s always said, it’s not about the best team at the end of the season, it’s about which team is playing the best at the end of the season. If a team is rolling and everything is clicking, sometimes the worst thing you can do is interrupt that rhythm with a week off. Let’s hope that’s the case for the Vikings this season. Last year, the Vikings also got their bye in week 6. They would go on to lose their next two games, but the first one was to the red-hot Lions, then on the road on a short week against the Rams. Also, teams that played the Lions last year would usually go on to lose the following week. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Vikings went on to rip off nine straight after those two losses. So the Vikings are in familiar territory with another week 6 bye this year.
Week 7- Sunday, October 19th, vs. Philadelphia Eagles:
I really, really hope the Vikings got all the rest possible on the bye week, because this stretch of games we are about to roll through can only be described as brutal. If there’s one good thing about this game, it’s at home. But you are facing off with the reigning Super Bowl Champions, who really didn’t lose any pieces from that squad. At first, I thought, “How is this game not primetime?” but then I saw that the following game on the schedule is Thursday Night Football, so if this game could start at 9 AM that would bode well for the Vikings. This will be a good benchmark game for Minnesota to see where they stand in the league and as a team. It is a bit of a weird start for the Vikings who play two night games and two international games before getting a week six bye, but this is the game that kind of settles the season down while being a pretty important game all at once. There’s no better litmus test than to play the champions from the year before, so the Vikings will learn a lot about themselves this week. McCarthy will need to have one of his better starts this week for the Vikings to compete, but this week feels like McCarthy’s opportunity to really solidify himself as “The Guy” in my eyes. I am sure there will still be some questions floating around if the Vikings aren’t sitting at a winning record by week 7, but if JJ can deliver against Philadelphia, he will have everyone’s confidence both outside and inside the locker room.
Week 8- Thursday, October 23rd, @ LA Chargers (TNF):
Gross. Thursday Night Football on the road against a Jim Harbaugh coached team after playing the reigning Super Bowl Champions four days prior? Not exactly your average walk in the park. This is almost a carbon copy of a season ago, when the Vikings got a week 6 bye, played a tough team off the bye then had a road TNF game after that. Same script this year. As I mentioned in the bye week breakdown, the Vikings lost both games after their bye (Lions and Rams) but won nine straight after that. This game just smells to me. Thursday Night Football has never sat right with me from a players standpoint. From a viewer standpoint, I want football on 7 days a week. For players, it has to be incredibly difficult to play a violent sport for 60 minutes, and then turn around and do it only a few days later. But the schedule falls as the schedule falls and the Vikings will just have to suck it up and go play. If the Vikings drop this one, they get a free pass of no criticism for the week after. Very rare a team gets one of those passes from me, but this is a tough spot to be in, especially after hosting the Super Bowl Champions four days prior. Especially since I feel like Harbaugh and his Chargers are going to make a huge leap from a season ago. The weird thing about the Chargers is it feels like every year we’re waiting on Justin Herbert to break through, yet it just hasn’t happened yet. Almost like Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars, it feels like everything is there but it just hasn’t come together. Herbert is incredibly talented and he and Harbaugh feel like a match made in heaven. Harbaugh just wins, it’s really that simple. The guy was born to coach football, and has the resume to back it up. If this one doesn’t go the way of the Vikings, don’t hang your head.
Week 9- Sunday, November 2nd, @ Detroit Lions:
If there’s one thing going for the Vikings this week, they had a few extra days of rest and preparation coming off a Thursday Night Football game the week prior. This year’s Lions team is going to be very intriguing. The team we saw last year is going to be a far cry from the team we see this year with the departure of OC Ben Johnson who, as I mentioned earlier, took the head coaching job in Chicago. That is going to create a massive shift in the offensive look of this year’s Detroit Lions. The situation with Ben Johnson takes me back to the 2016 Atlanta Falcons, who broke NFL records in numerous offensive categories under the tutelage of then OC Kyle Shanahan and went to the Super Bowl. That Falcons offense was very closely mirrored to the Lions offense a year ago, airing the ball out all over the field and scoring points at an unbelievable rate. The following season, Shanahan took the HC job in San Francisco and the Falcons offense essentially took a nosedive. It was astounding to see the impact that Shanahan had on that team, and it feels like Johnson made a similar impression on the Lions offense. I believe the Lions offense will see a similar decline, not because new OC John Morton isn’t a good play-caller (and play-designer), but simply because there is really only one Ben Johnson. All of that aside, the Lions are still a team that is going to beat you up in the trenches and play ferocious defense. Led by head coach Dan Campbell, the Lions play with an edge many other teams dream of possessing. With or without Johnson, the Lions will be hard to beat, but it won’t be the juggernaut we saw in 2024. This, for obvious reasons, will be a massive game for the Vikings. If they could steal a road win against their division foe, it will give them a considerable leg up in the NFC North.
Week 10- Sunday, November 9th, vs. Baltimore Ravens:
This will be one of the most unique, yet contrasting quarterback battles we will see on the schedule all season long. The Ravens have been such an interesting product to watch over the last few years, especially with superstar Lamar Jackson at the helm. Shifty, quick, fast and dangerous are all adjectives that describe Jackson well, and with the seemingly ageless Derrick Henry pounding the rock and a few weapons outside, the Ravens offense is not one to be taken lightly. Then there’s JJ McCarthy, who is essentially the opposite of Lamar Jackson. Pretty standard pocket passer who can run if he has to, but doesn’t prefer it. If you told me I had to make the virtual opposite QB of Lamar Jackson, it would look an awful lot like McCarthy, which is not a bad thing by any means, it is just facts. But with all the flash on the offensive side of the ball, Jon Harbaugh has always had a knack for putting together a stifling defense that constantly finds themselves amongst the top of the ranks. The Ravens are such a dangerous team, yet they cannot seem to get it to all click come postseason time. They always seem to be playing their best football until they run into a Buffalo or Kansas City team that is just simply playing better. The problem for this week is, it’s not the postseason, it’s the middle of the regular season when the Ravens seem to be at the top of their game. After their inexplicable loss to the Browns last year at the end of October, the Ravens won seven of their following nine games. Their two losses came in a two-point heartbreaker on the road to Pittsburgh and a loss at home to the team that would go on to win the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles. I hold Jon Harbaugh in the same regard as Mike Tomlin, incredibly gifted coaches that have their entire organization bought in. So a win against the Ravens will not be easy, but will be something that could spark a mid-season push for the Vikings.
Week 11- Sunday, November 16th, vs. Chicago Bears:
It is always tough to beat a team twice, and both games against the Bears feel like they could be tossups. Like I said a few paragraphs ago, the Bears should be a team to look out for in 2025. I think the Bears will be in the playoff hunt at this point in the season. They’re about as deep talent-wise as anyone in the league, and Ben Johnson will have had 10 weeks of his program in place to make sure his offensive schemes are operating at a high level. I truly think the best case scenario for the two game series of sorts for the Bears and Vikings will be a split. Sure, it would be great to win both games against the Bears this year, but I think Vikings fans should be perfectly pleased if you win one of the two and essentially break even. What scares me about the Bears is not only Ben Johnson, but if Caleb Williams limits his turnovers and cuts out the scrambling sacks. In his rookie season, Williams was operating under the assumption that he could escape pressure the way he did at USC, but that’s a mile away from reality. NFL defenses operate at a different speed, and Williams learned that the hard way, taking 68 sacks last year, the third-most in NFL history. It is a glaring issue that will need to be cleaned up, and will be point of emphasis number one for Johnson with his second-year quarterback. The Vikings should take advantage of this one being at home.
Week 12- Sunday, November 23rd, @ Green Bay Packers:
NFC North, rivalry football in late November at Lambeau Field… The week leading up to Thanksgiving… Does it get any better than that? I always find it interesting when two division rivals don’t play each other for the first time until week 12, but that’s always exciting because both teams have a pretty good idea of what their ceiling for that year is. You’re either in the midst of a postseason run, hanging on by a thread, or your teams being talked about for one of those top draft picks the following April. Whichever it is, these games carry weight. I have stood on my soapbox and screamed out that Jordan Love is going to bring the Packers back to the promise land, Love is one of the most talented and underrated QBs in the NFL. His arm strength is off the charts and he just throws a damn good football. He also learned the back foot throw from his predecessor Aaron Rodgers. It’s actually kind of scary when you see some of the throws he makes because they look so physically similar to what Rodgers did when he was in a Packers uniform. There’s been a lot of question marks around Packers HC Matt LaFleur and if he has what it takes to take the Packers to the Super Bowl, they have certainly been knocking on the door. But enough waxing poetic about the Packers, this is the Vikings season breakdown! The biggest question surrounding this game to me is, “How far has McCarthy come as a starting quarterback in the NFL?” I also hate to say this, but another question could be, “Has McCarthy made it this far as a starting quarterback in the NFL?” We all know about the injury, and we all hope that was a one-time freak thing. However, there is the very real possibility that McCarthy isn’t quite ready to lead a team through a 17-game schedule in his first actual year of healthy NFL football. Being a starting quarterback in the NFL is unimaginably tough, there are so many factors that play into a guy thriving versus surviving. Unfortunately for most teams in the league, not every rookie (or guy playing their first season) can lead their team like Jayden Daniels did a year ago. Sure, a guy can catch lightning in a bottle, but even Peyton Manning threw more interceptions than he did touchdowns in his rookie year (26 TDs to 28 INTs). If McCarthy is as advertised, prepare for a shootout at Lambeau. If not, let’s hope the defense is geared up and ready to go.
Week 13- Sunday, November 30th, @ Seattle Seahawks:
I know what you’re thinking… DON’T DO IT! You can fly out and go to the game to support Pierre’s Grey Zabel, but you simply can’t root for the Seahawks in this game, no matter how much you love that young man. For those that don’t know, former Pierre Governor and Pierre native Grey Zabel became the first player from this town to get drafted to the NFL. Oh, and he just so happened to go in the first round. No big deal. There is a real pride around town for him, and we are all happy for him! However, I am writing this for Vikings fans who are hungry for a Super Bowl. So, just make a compromise and hope that Vikings sacks come from the opposite side of the line from Zabel. This game is going to be surprisingly tough for Minnesota. It will certainly feel like a revenge game for former Viking and now Seahawk Sam Darnold, who was on the good side of Vikings fans for about 16 weeks, until he wasn’t. It is safe to say Darnold left Vikings fans with a sour taste in their mouths after the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. Sure, he played incredibly well for about 90% of the season, but this is a “What have you done for me lately?” type of league, and fans (especially Vikings fans) have a short memory. The Seahawks have done a pretty substantial amount of shuffling, adding a few offensive weapons and beefing up their offensive line. And their second year head coach Mike Macdonald is a defensive mastermind, which we saw start to fall into place late last year. The Seahawks are going to be formidable, and will certainly provide a tough test for Minnesota. Not to mention Seattle has one of the toughest environments to play in with the 12th Man, their vaunted fan base that moves the needle, both figuratively and literally (see what I did there). You mix in a possible postseason berth for Seattle, married with the idea that they want to “stick up” for their newest QB who just came from Minnesota, you’re going to get a raucous environment. This stretch of games for Minnesota just keeps getting tougher and tougher as the weeks roll on.
Week 15- Sunday, December 7th, vs. Washington Commanders:
This game is one that caught my eye the minute I grabbed the warm piece of paper off the printer with the schedule on it. The Commanders obviously had a dream season a year ago with the emergence of rookie superstar Jayden Daniels, and the big question here is the feared sophomore slump. It could certainly happen because of the incredibly high level he set the bar at in year one. But if the Commanders aren’t in playoff contention at this point in the year, then slump it is. The Commanders won some pretty ridiculous games last year, take for example the Hail Mary to beat the Bears when one of Chicago’s defenders was taunting the crowd instead of trying to defend the actual play. There was also the 36-33 win over the Eagles in week 16 that was so unlikely it almost felt scripted. Those are so tough to re-create. So I don’t think we will see the same theatrics from a year ago in this 2025 season, but I still expect the Commanders to be a tough test. This game will mean something for one of these two teams, it just depends who it will be and what it will be for.
Week 16- Sunday, December 14th, @ Dallas Cowboys:
I was really looking forward to previewing this game, because covering the Cowboys feels like Groundhog Day with the amount of headlines they produce before anyone takes the field. This year, it is contract negotiations that stole the show along with some comments made by Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones. Parsons, one of the top edge rushers in the game, is currently negotiating a new contract with the Cowboys, and like most contract talks, has hit a bit of a snag. It’s the same song and dance, player wants X, team offers Y, player still wants X, stalemate. During an outdoor press conference earlier this week, a squinty-eyed Jones said about Parsons, “Just because we sign him doesn’t mean we’re gonna have him. He was hurt six games last year, seriously. I remember signing a player for the highest paid at the position in the league and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year, Dak Prescott.” Couple issues with this, issue one is that Parsons missed four games, not six. Issue two, did you really need to throw that stray at your franchise quarterback? Sure, it makes for a good comparison in your argument, however, Dak probably heard that and said to himself, “How did I get dragged into this?” Jones would also go on to comment on the Parsons contract by saying, “Michael Parson is one of the toughest negotiators I have ever dealt with”. To Jerry’s credit, he is 82 years old, so names are tough to remember, it could also be a total powerplay by Jones. Classic move to purposefully get someone’s name wrong to show you’re not thinking about them. As for the team, what version of the Cowboys will we get in December? The Cowboys have been an utter disappointment in years past towards this point in the season. Last year, they turned to Cooper Rush in week 10 after Prescott hurt his hamstring against the Falcons. The Cowboys actually looked somewhat decent with Rush behind center, and you may remember there was a lot of chatter around whether Prescott was the right guy for Dallas, because if a guy like Cooper Rush could lead the Cowboys the way he was, what does that say about the starter? Even on the road, this is a game the Vikings should control. Obviously a lot will have transpired at this point in the season, but on paper, I like Minnesota here.
Week 16, Sunday December 21st, @ New York Giants:
So it came out yesterday that Russel Wilson has been designated as the Giants starter in 2025, and I have to say I am a little disappointed and surprised. I think Giants HC Brian Daboll really, really loves Jackson Dart, the rookie QB they drafted out of Ole Miss. Wilson is now entering his 14th season with his 4th different team, his first with the Giants. Wilson has been on quite the roller coaster throughout his career. Super Bowls in Seattle to scrutiny in Denver, back to winning in Pittsburgh and now to New York where the media will crucify you for incompletions in big moments. Wilson certainly has seen it all. It is not uncommon for this scenario to play out where the veteran gets the starting role while the new rookie still tries to figure out the intricacies of the league. It takes a lot for a rookie quarterback to learn what it takes to be successful in the NFL, and a lot of those lessons come from actual in game moments whether they’re learned on the field or from the sideline watching someone else do it. The Giants feel like they have a better chance to win early with Wilson as QB, even though Dart is the quarterback of the future. However, in week 16? I have a feeling the Vikings will be preparing for Dart at QB. You can bookmark this and come back to it in late December, I think Dart will have won the starting role by this point in the year. I truly believe Dart is going to win a lot of games for the Giants, while he looks like a frat-boy who would rather be pool-side, the kid knows football and he knows how to run a high-powered offense. Dart scored a lot of points at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin, and he’s a gamer. I would not be surprised if Dart takes over midway through the year and has the Giants knocking on the door to the postseason. When you see the Giants on the schedule, you subliminally mark that as a win, but be careful with the Giants this year. Daboll is a great coach and Daniel Jones has been holding him back. Going to need to be on top of your game to get a win this week. Especially with the prospect of a short week ahead.
Week 17, Thursday December 25th, vs. Detroit Lions (Christmas Day):
Vikings tin foil hatters stand up! Another short week sandwiched by tough opponents for Minnesota. Does the NFL hate the Vikings? I will let you answer that question for yourself. Back-to-back international games for the first time ever, and now not one but two Thursday games on the schedule for Minnesota. But trust me, the NFL cares about player safety! Sidenote: If anyone ever argues that the NFL, above all else, cares about the safety of it’s players, just remind them Roger Goodell made the Chiefs play four games in 18 days in 2024. While not exactly the same, the Vikings (whose bye came 11 weeks prior) are playing their third game in just 11 days as the NFL turns Grinch and steals Christmas Day away from the NBA. This transition happened last year when the NFL held two games on Christmas Day and the ratings nuked the NBA Christmas Day schedule that had been a cornerstone for as long as we can remember. When LeBron said, “Christmas still belongs to the NBA” I think Goodell took that personally and dropped the hammer this year. There are now three Christmas Day NFL games, and they’re bangers. Vikings vs. Lions, Cowboys vs. Commanders and Broncos vs. Chiefs is the slate, and they’re all on Netflix. So, if you wanted to flip over to check on the NBA games, you must exit the app, open a new app and then repeat the process. It’s probably just better if we keep Netflix open and check the scores on our phone. Goodell, you dirty dog. Sorry, NBA, Christmas belongs to the NFL now. As for this specific game, this is a dangerous proposition. One of, if not both of these teams are going to be in playoff contention, and likely competing for the NFC North title. Luckily for Minnesota, this one is at home, so they have that going for them. I have never been a fan of what could potentially be such a crucial game in terms of playoff implications falling on a Thursday, but here we are. This game will likely come down to coaching. Who will have their team better mentally and physically prepared for such a big game on such a short week on the back-end of the regular season? Don’t kill me, but this is where Dan Campbell thrives. Kevin O’Connell will need to pull out all the stops to get a win this week.
Week 18, TBD vs. Green Bay Packers:
The NFL has listed every game in Week 18 as TBD, because they want the most important games in primetime, and this is a very real candidate for ‘Game of the Week’ should both teams seasons shake out like we expect them to. Best case scenario for Minnesota is Justin Jefferson, JJ McCarthy and others are all on the bench because the division is wrapped up and the outcome of this game is pointless. Worst case scenario, the Vikings are just playing to spoil a postseason berth for the Packers. All I am going to say about this week is I hope everyone is still healthy and gearing up for a playoff game. If this game finds its way into the primetime slot, that means something is on the line. It also means that the Vikings have found success to this point in the season, and McCarthy had a breakout year. This week is going to get here before we know it, so cherish each and every NFL Sunday leading up to this point, because it could potentially be the last Vikings game of the year. I hate to say that, but we all know how these things go.
Alright, we have broken down every single game, and I need to get this posted because it has taken me three days to lay all of this out, and headlines and quotes keep coming out that I just can’t leave out, like Jerry Jones calling Micah Parsons “Michael Parsons” and Trey Hendrickson saying that dealing with the Bengals front office makes him need a cigarette. Now it is time to give the season predictions. Last year, as you read earlier, the Vikings hit the ‘Overachievement’ category. They actually surpassed that! So, we can only hope for the same this season. Let’s predict, shall we?
Underachievers (4-12):
This is the worst case scenario for the Vikings this year. There are only four games on the schedule that I look at and think “We can probably put in a win now”. Those are the Browns, the Giants, one of the Bears games and the Cowboys. These are the games that if the Vikings do not win, it will be a sad Monday at the office. The Browns are the Browns, simply no path forward, more quarterbacks than coaches in that QB room. With the Cowboys, I am playing the odds because by week 15, they’re usually justifying some horrible Jerry Jones comment and battling the media instead of preparing for an opponent. The Bears are going to be tough, but you will have to win one of those. With the Giants, I really think they’re going to be a good football team this year, but it’s the Giants, you have to beat the Giants. This section is also just assuming the Vikings would lose EVERY big game they have on the season, I don’t envision that happening.
Realistic Record (9-8):
With as tough as the Vikings schedule is this season, 9-8 feels very respectable. You have to take everything into account, the Vikings are turning to an essential rookie in JJ McCarthy this year. He hasn’t taken a live NFL snap yet, and there’s something to be said about a guy who is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for an entire season. I think JJ McCarthy will be a good quarterback in the NFL, but it is going to take some time. He has a couple things going for him, he’s got the best receiver on planet earth in Justin Jefferson, and a coach in Kevin O’Connell that can take him further than many other NFL coaches could. Coaching is crucial in the NFL, especially for quarterbacks, and the Vikings have a great one in O’Connell. There are going to be bumps in the road this year, injuries will happen, and other stuff like bogus calls by referees will hurt the Vikings. On the flip side, there will be big wins by McCarthy that make you say, “I think this is our guy”. With the level of difficulty of this schedule, a good goal for the Vikings this year is to achieve a winning record. I know that’s not flashy, but it’s a good goal. A winning record can still get you into the postseason, and who knows, maybe some of those wins come at the end of the year and Minnesota starts getting hot at the right time. But a winning record is plausible, and would be a huge step for the organization moving forward with their new quarterback.
Overachievers (13-4):
I debated whether to run with 14-3 again or drop it to 13-4. I chose the latter because of just how many tough games the Vikings have coming up. It’s not just the amount of difficult games they have, but the way in which they’re scheduled. Two international games and two Thursday games just really throw a curveball into the whole system. International games take a lot of mental toughness to get ready to play. You’re far from home, you’re playing in an unfamiliar building, playing in a completely different time zone and it just feels like a weird road game. The Thursday games are so tough because the body is just not meant to play an NFL football game that close together, but both teams have to do it. A 13-4 record would be an incredible campaign, you would beat a ton of really good teams and would almost certainly put yourself in the postseason. However, I think it’s important to set expectations low so if we have another special season like a year ago, you enjoy it a bit more. Overachieving would be great, but with new quarterback JJ McCarthy I feel a 9-8 season would still be considered a success.
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