12 Reactions as the Vikings Hit Rock Bottom as a Franchise
For a second consecutive week, the Minnesota Vikings produced a pitiful three hours of football, losing in a shutout at the Seattle Seahawks, their first such scoreless output in about two decades.
Twelve reactions capture the mood as the Minnesota Vikings hit rock bottom as a franchise, highlighting frustration, disbelief, and what’s next.
The franchise is in a terribly dreadful spot, with little room for optimism this season or in the immediate future. Maybe even the long term.
Snap Reactions to Vikings Debacle at Seahawks
The futility was merciless.
1. If this week isn’t considered rock bottom for the Kevin O’Connell era — or any point of Vikings football in the last few decades — one might shudder to think about what will be worse.
2. All the theories about Max Brosmer’s story arc to mirror Brock Purdy’s career were false. Somehow, Brosmer played more poorly than J.J. McCarthy, and all he had to do was clear a very low bar to entice fans. He did not. Brosmer probably won’t start another game in the pros. He can’t get past his first read on offense. Panic ensues after.
3. There is no fix for the Vikings in the foreseeable future. They extended the contracts of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell less than a year ago, and those men’s extensions haven’t even kicked in. The only remedy would be a suddenly productive McCarthy, and that just doesn’t seem like an option. If Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are not terminated in January, trading for players like Kyler Murray or Mac Jones is the only real Hail Mary repair. Otherwise, the organization is quite screwed. And Murray or Jones are just gasping-at-straws ideas — not sound fixes.
4. Dallas Turner is turning into a star before your very eyes, and of course, it just doesn’t matter because the rest of the team is rudderless. Turner logged another fantastic game, his third in a row, and fourth if not for a roughing-the-passer penalty against the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month.
5. Brosmer wasn’t destined to play well, but to start the game, his pass catchers, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, dropped passes that were at least somewhat catchable. When it rains, it pours.
6. Eric Wilson played like an All-Pro — again. When Minnesota gets to the offseason, re-signing him will be a priority, and Wilson remains one of 2025’s most fantastic stories in a horrid season.
7. The Vikings would pick 11th in the 2026 NFL Draft if the season ended tonight. Do you trust Adofo-Mensah to spend that pick on a quarterback? That will be discussed ad nauseam rather soon.
8. Speaking of draft position, and somewhat comically, Minnesota hosts Washington next weekend, a team that has lost six games in a row. It’s a battle of losing streaks, and the winner will screw up its draft position. Morbid but funny.
9. T.J. Hockenson finally received some attention in the offseason, probably because Brosmer couldn’t operate after his first read. Hockenson looked like 2022 Hockenson, a refreshing change of pace.
10. The Vikings had 10 penalties. They have not fixed that demon yet. An average NFL team has six per game.
11. The Vikings can’t realistically fire Adofo-Mensah because there’s almost no evidence that dismissing a general manager while keeping the head coach leads to organizational success. And moving on from O’Connell makes even less sense; if fired, he’d be hired immediately and almost certainly thrive elsewhere. It could mirror the mistake of letting Sam Darnold walk.
Staying the course with McCarthy is its own gamble, because, without exaggeration, McCarthy has been one of the worst statistical quarterbacks in league history through six starts. He might simply be a miss, no different than Josh Rosen, Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, and other first-round quarterbacks who never developed. Busts happen.
Keeping everything intact — same front office, same coaching setup, same quarterback — risks inviting a near-identical result in 2026 and drifting into the “definition of insanity” territory.
As for signing a free-agent quarterback in March, that path is familiar. It’s the same method that brought Kirk Cousins to Minnesota, and any veteran available on the open market arrives with a limited ceiling. That’s precisely why the Vikings never reached a Super Bowl with Cousins or Darnold. Other teams let those quarterbacks leave for a reason, and the Vikings shouldn’t expect a different result by recycling the same formula.
12. Because this season has broken so badly, the offseason will be one of the most intriguing and suspenseful in years.
Bonus: We can’t even bang our chests over Will Reichard this week — the team wasn’t good enough to get inside the 45-yard line for a field goal attempt without a bozo turnover.
If you want a good laugh, the Vikings are early 1.5-point favorites to beat the Commanders next week.
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