The Best Vikings Season That Never Should Have Happened
When the Minnesota Vikings kicked off their 2024 season, they did so, with fans having little reason to believe. Sure, Kevin O’Connell had proven to be a pretty solid head coach, but they were coming off a year in which they missed the playoffs. Projections put Minnesota’s over/under win total at just 6.5 games.
The Best Vikings Season That Never Should Have Happened
J.J. McCarthy was drafted to be the future face of the franchise. He wasn’t going to start Week 1, but he wasn’t supposed to miss the entire season due to a knee injury, either. Sam Darnold was brought in to be a bridge quarterback. At $10 million, and in the first good situation of his career, there was hope that he could work.
No one could have projected things would go this well. The Vikings ripped off 14 wins in a division that produced three of the best teams in football. They beat the Green Bay Packers twice, and, at times, Darnold looked like a legitimate MVP candidate.
It’s unfortunate how bad Darnold looked in his final two games of the season. There is no denying how awful he was against the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams. He did earn himself a ton of money, though, and will easily be the most coveted quarterback on the free agent market this offseason.
It’s because of O’Connell, the development of Darnold, and the production for Minnesota that the season even had a chance to be successful. The Vikings found themselves within sniffing distance of the top seed in the NFC. They were favored in every game but their last down the stretch, and they were considered road favorites in the Wild Card round.
This entire year could have been little more than building for 2025. Had McCarthy played, it likely would have reflected Darnold flaming out. Minnesota probably would have been looking at a losing record, and O’Connell would work to make his youngster successful in year two.
Instead, we saw a situation that proved O’Connell can work wonders at the quarterback position. The Vikings have a more talented passer ready to step in, and they have a lot of money to address other roster issues. They also got to experience a high level of winning while adversity stacked the deck against them.
Nothing about this season was supposed to go like this. They were playing with house money and nearly took the house for all it was worth. The 2025 campaign represents an exciting time for this franchise, and the offseason should be one to remember.
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Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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