3 Minnesota Vikings Critiques Heading into Their Bye Week
The Minnesota Vikings are going to relax at home this weekend after two straight weeks of playing overseas.
It’s a well-deserved rest for the team after starting 3-2 and overcoming a number of injuries across their roster to get into this position with a winning record.
There has been a lot of good from this team so far in 2025, but they still have a few things to clean up when they get back on the field in Week 7.
Running Game, Run Defense
Obviously, the injury to Aaron Jones has impacted Minnesota’s running game at least a little bit this season, but it still hasn’t been a consistent effort on the ground for the Vikings this season.
Once again, the Vikings are a bottom-10 team in terms of rushing yards per game, averaging 106.8 yards on the ground through five weeks. It’s a familiar problem for Minnesota, but this year, they simply haven’t committed to running the ball. Their 23.8 carries per game are tied for the fifth-fewest in the NFL.
On the other side, the Vikings’ defense has allowed 132.2 yards on the ground to opponents, tied for the eighth-most in the NFL.
That combination is not a winning formula, especially with games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, and Detroit Lions on the docket after Minnesota’s bye.
Turnovers
The Vikings have nine turnovers so far this season. Only the Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders have given the ball away more often in 2025, and both of those teams seem to be headed towards the basement of the NFL.
Minnesota has had multiple turnovers in three of its first five games, and their only win has come against a Cleveland Browns team that has been unable to generate any offense throughout the year.
Those turnover issues have been exponentiated by the fact that the defense has not been forcing its own turnovers. Of course, there was the five-takeaway performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, but outside of that, Minnesota has two takeaways in its other four games.
The only two teams to average 0.5 takeaways or fewer in 2025 are the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers. It’s a far cry from the 2024 Vikings that led the NFL in takeaways.
High Rolling in Free Agency
The Vikings brought a lot of excitement to fans this offseason by being big spenders in free agency this offseason.
However, those high-price players haven’t exactly played up to those price points this season. For example, despite being one of the few Vikings players to start all five games this season, Jonathan Allen is yet to record a sack, and he has just one tackle for loss. PFF has not been impressed, either. They’ve given Allen a 49.7 grade, which, among 107 defensive linemen with at least 100 defensive snaps this year, ties for 91st.
Meanwhile, Javon Hargrave hasn’t exactly had a stellar season, either. He recorded two sacks against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 and hasn’t had another since. His PFF grade of 54.4 ranks 80th among those 107 defensive linemen with at least 100 snaps this season.
Byron Murphy hasn’t had a major impact on defense either after signing a big extension, and then there is the Ryan Kelly concussion situation which very well could keep him sidelined for the rest of the season.
Minnesota will need at least a couple of these names to make an impact down the stretch of the year.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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