The Top 4 Storylines for Vikings at Giants
The Minnesota Vikings’ pivotal offseason is complete, and the team heads to New Jersey on Sunday for a Week 1 matchup with the New York Giants.
The Top 4 Storylines for Vikings at Giants
Kevin O’Connell’s squad is favored by a point or two to knock off the Giants.
Along the way, these are the four storylines to watch, ranked in ascending order of importance (No. 1 = most important).
4. Giants’ Mighty DL vs. Vikings Decent OL
New York showcases otherworldly defensive linemen in Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Christian Darrisaw, Brian O’Neill, and Garrett Bradbury must put up with those dudes for three hours on Sunday.
The fumbles could begin if the Giants get to Sam Darnold, dampening the Vikings’ chances of winning. Watch to see if Minnesota’s offensive trenches hold up.
3. Minnesota’s RB Fix
Last year, the Giants showcased a fairly crummy rushing defense and didn’t do much to fix it in 2024. Meanwhile, Minnesota signed Aaron Jones from the Green Bay Packers, who finished the season on an incredible hot streak.
But Minnesota’s rushing offense has struggled in back-to-back seasons, so Sunday’s game, on paper, is a bad rushing attack versus a porous rushing defense. Something’s gotta give.
Folks will tune in to determine if Jones can fix the longstanding rushing woes.
2. Can the Vikings Rattle Daniel Jones?
Anyone who watched HBO’s Hard Knocks learned that the Giants want to give Jones an honest-to-goodness shake at QB1 — but they also recognize that injuries could derail his career. So far in his career, Jones has played fantastically against the Vikings twice, decent at other times versus other team, and often not good at all.
Well, Minnesota’s fancy new pass rush must get to Jones, rattling him so the bad version of Danny Dimes is exposed. Can Jones really light the Vikings up thrice consecutively?
1. Is Sam Darnold Any Good?
Until mid-August, Darnold was supposed to be a patchover quarterback for an unknown amount of weeks before J.J. McCarthy’s takeover. Then, McCarthy tore his meniscus in Preseason Game No. 1, and he’s out for the year. Such is life.
All eyes are on Darnold to determine whether he can rebuild his career on the fly. He could be awesome — or terrible.
He alone is the most fascinating Vikings storyline.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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