The 2025 Vikings Season Is Following A Pattern
It was a day of missed opportunities, some questionable officiating on key moments, and ultimately disappointment for the Minnesota Vikings as their Week 7 meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles ended in defeat. The loss at US Bank Stadium saw the continuation of a pattern to begin the Vikings 2025 season.
VikingsTerritory takes a look at the pattern the Vikings 2025 season has taken so far and what the remainder of the season may look like.
Minnesota is trading wins and losses through the first six games of the season. Starting the season with a win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, the team has won a game and then lost a game in sequence.
Vikings Alternate Wins and Losses
Not even a change at quarterback interrupted the flow. Failing to back up a win with another has been a problem indicative of a team with too many issues. The results so far are as follows;
- At Chicago Bears — 27-24 win
- Vs Atlanta Falcons — 22-6 loss
- Vs Cincinnati Bengals — 48-10 win
- At Pittsburgh Steelers — 24-21 loss
- At Cleveland Browns — 21-17 win
- Vs Philadelphia Eagles — 28-22 loss
Should the trend continue, that means the Vikings are about to travel to the West Coast on a short week and beat the Los Angeles Chargers. That is a very difficult prospect.
Failure to do so will see Minnesota drop to a losing record for the first time this season before heading back on the road to the Detroit Lions. A team they have lost to five games in a row over the last three seasons. The post bye stretch of games always looked tough and potentially season-defining for the Vikings. The games will continue with the Baltimore Ravens (who may have two-time MVP Lamar Jackson back by this point), the return game with Chicago, and road trips to Green Bay and the Sam Darnold-led Seattle Seahawks.
If the Vikings could continue the pattern and get to the end of those games 6-6 they will have done extremely well. Indeed, getting to 6-6 anyway they can — would do. The season would remain alive, and the team will be competing for playoff football.
Right now that feels unlikely, the team being led by Carson Wentz at quarterback doesn’t look good enough to beat these good teams. The coaching tandem of O’Connell and Brian Flores will keep Minnesota competitive in games, they nearly always do, but predicting the team to come out on the right side of games against the upcoming matchups feels wildly optimistic.
Awaiting the Return of J.J. McCarthy
The story of this season was supposed to be about the development of JJ McCarthy. The 2024 first-round pick was finally getting his chance after missing his rookie season through injury.
That still is the major story, but his been sidetracked by another injury and speculation of when he would return. Getting injured during a bad performance against the Falcons and then taking longer to return than initially expected. The conspiracy theories have been rife and will no doubt continue this week as we wait to see who Kevin O’Connell names as the starting QB for Thursday Night Football.
It will be interesting to see how the Vikings approach this week. They have become notoriously cautious about bringing injured players back into the fold — not just with McCarthy. If he is ready to go McCarthy has to play but if there’s any doubt it is one more game from Wentz before an extended break and McCarthy’s return in Week 9 against the Lions.
The Vikings have managed to respond to both of their previous losses this season with a win. Can they keep that pattern going? This feels like a defining point in the 2025 season for the Vikings. A loss here could see the season soon spiral out of control, and McCarthy will be trying to develop in a team low on confidence. The thing that wasn’t supposed to happen when he was drafted to Minnesota.
You must be logged in to post a comment.