The “Brutal” Aspect of the 2025 Vikings
If you peeked at the Minnesota Vikings’ schedule last week, a four-game stretch might’ve stood off the page.
The most brutal spot of the 2025 Vikings operation is quite obvious, according to Sharp Football Analysis — a four-game stretch after the bye week.
After the bye in Week 6, the Vikings will put rest and relaxation in the rearview and take on the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens — all in a row.
And according to Sharp Football Analysis, that’s one of the NFL’s most brutal stretches in 2025.
Sharp Football Analysis: Vikings’ 4-Game Stretch Ranks 3rd per Difficulty
Warren Sharp sized up the league’s toughest schedule foursomes, and Minnesota’s PHI-LAC-DET-BAL menu from Weeks 7 through 10 ranked as the third-most difficult.
He wrote, “Immediately after playing an international double header and then their Week 6 bye, the Vikings take on the Eagles, Chargers, Lions, and Ravens in consecutive weeks from Week 7 through Week 10.”
“If that four-game stretch wasn’t already the #3 toughest any team will face this year, rest disadvantages make it absolutely brutal. After playing the Eagles in Week 7, they play a short week road game on Thursday night football across the country in Los Angeles against the Chargers.”
Thankfully for the Vikings’ sake, the international trip at Dublin and London will feature opponents with quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Joe Flacco, at least per May depth charts. That’s a few weeks before the deadly stretch after the bye.
Sharp added, “Then they play another road game in Detroit, taking on the Lions with Detroit off a bye week. Then they play the Ravens, who are off a Thursday night game and have a three-day rest advantage. Brutal opponents made even worse with rest disadvantages.”
A Relentless Span
There is no other way around it. Playing the Eagles, Chargers, Lions, and Ravens consecutively is, in fact, brutal. The only way to make it worse might be possibly subbing the Kansas City Chiefs or Buffalo Bills for the Chargers.
Of course, it can’t be avoided, and the Vikings will merely have to battle four teams from the NFL’s top tier.
Learning the Vikings’ Mettle
The “good news” might be the implications of the four-game set. With little left to the imagination, Vikings fans will learn what kind of stomach the team has by facing four of the NFL’s best squads.
Minnesota hasn’t toppled the Eagles since 2019, the Chargers since 2021, the Lions since early 2022, and the Ravens since 2017.
It’s time to end some droughts, and in living color, playing against PHI-LAC-DET-BAL should prove if Minnesota is a contender in 2025.
Oddsmakers Expect Minnesota to Be Middle of the Road
Meanwhile — probably because of gauntlets like Eagles, Chargers, Lions, Ravens — sportsbooks believe Minnesota will finish close to .500 in 2025.
The franchise won 14 games last year with Sam Darnold ruling the roost, and because Darnold isn’t considered a God among men, purple fans expect the Vikings to finish above .500, perhaps around 10-7 or so.
Oddsmakers disagree, and the fans-versus-Vegas split will be put to the test from Weeks 7 through 10.
Bengals Have the Toughest Stretch
Late in the season, the Cincinnati Bengals play the Ravens, Bills, Ravens again, and Dolphins before two games against the Cardinals and Browns.
The BAL-BUF-BAL-MIA docket ranks tops per brutality in the NFL, says Sharp.
He explained, “No team plays a tougher four-week stretch than the Bengals this year. It’s because they play the NFL’s #1 toughest three-week stretch. It starts with a short week road game in Baltimore on Thanksgiving, a difficult situation for any team, let alone when they go up against the Ravens.”
“Baltimore has played the Bengals on Thursday each of the last two years and won each game. And speaking of which, why are the Bengals being forced to play the Ravens in Baltimore on a Thursday on short rest for three straight years? How is that fair?”
The New York Giants also have a “brutal” stretch from Weeks 6 to 8: PHI-DEN-PHI-SF.
Sharp added, “We know road teams struggle in these spots. The Bengals have hosted the Ravens on Thursday ONE TIME in the last 20 years, but are now playing in Baltimore on Thursday three straight years?”
“After that, they play the Bills on the road, followed by another game against the Ravens and a trip to Miami to play the Dolphins. No team faces a tougher four-week stretch this year.”
Not for nothing, the Vikings play the Bengals at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 3 — four weeks before Minnesota’s murderers’ row.
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