Philadelphia Eagles, 2017.
In 2022, the NFL chose to make the schedule release an event spanning a couple of weeks.
In years past, each team’s order of opponents would be published, and that was that. Now, though, each television network leaks a juicy game or two, culminating in the full schedule drop on May 12.
For inquisitive minds, the Vikings were a part of the initial “leaks,” leaving mystery on 15 other games instead of all 17. And neither matchup for Minnesota is intempestive, but each is a rivalry game, albeit outside the NFC North.
In Week 2, Minnesota will travel to Philadelphia for a date with the Eagles. The Vikings and Eagles are not traditional foes, but the feud intensified after Philadelphia prevented Minnesota from achieving fate as a home Super Bowl participant. Indeed, the 2017 Vikings finished the regular season 13-3 with sights set on a Super Bowl tryst at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Eagles planned differently and spanked the Vikings in the 2017 NFC Championship.
Fans in Philadelphia were particularly rowdy and uncouth, so, coupled with a bitter defeat in the NFC title game, no love was lost for future showdowns.
The next chapter occurs on September 19th, a Monday Night Football contest at Lincoln Financial Field.
Thirteen days later, the Vikings will take on another hated enemy, the New Orleans Saints, in London. Minnesota was tapped for the NFL’s International Series, marking the Vikings third trip to England for regular season football. To date, the franchise is 2-0 in such bouts, and so are the Saints. Something’s gotta give.
Minnesota and New Orleans created bad blood 12 years ago in the — you guessed it — NFC Championship. That pogrom happened in January 2010 when the Saints upended the Vikings in Louisiana to earn a Super Bowl XLIV trip. Drew Brees and the gang knocked off Peyton Manning’s Colts two weeks later.
In the game’s aftermath, the Saints were revealed as orchestrators of a bounty program to maim quarterback Brett Favre. Once that knowledge filled Vikings fans’ brains — on top of the budding rivalry due to losing the game — loathing for the Saints was born.
In mini-acts of retribution, the Vikings ousted the Saints from the postseason in 2017 and 2019 — in stunning fashion.
And those are it for clues on the Vikings 2022 schedule. Some believe the New York Giants will travel to Minneapolis for Week 1. Based on the Week 2 and Week 4 games already on the books, Minnesota should host a game in Week 1. That is quasi-certain.
Overall, in addition to the Eagles and Saints games, the Vikings will play these teams:
The entirety of the schedule will be announced on Thursday.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).