5 Vikings Who Haven’t Met Expectations in 2025
We are in the bye week, a time for reflection. Following on from my five success stories article, I will now look at 5 Vikings disappointments through the first five games of the 2025 season — areas the team will need to improve and get more from coming out of the bye week.
VikingsTerritory looks at five Vikings disappointments through the first five games of the 2025 season.
Three of the disappointments pertain to individual performance, while one is a specific area of the defense, and the last one is a problem that has plagued the Vikings throughout the early part of the season.
Vikings Disappointments So Far in 2025
The good news is there should be optimism for improvement over the remainder of the season.
J.J. McCarthy
After his rookie season was lost to injury, J.J. McCarthy lasted two games before injury struck again. This time it wasn’t a serious one, and we await his return from the high ankle sprain that has kept him out of the last three games.
Through eight quarters of football, McCarthy has been underwhelming for seven and led an impressive fourth quarter comeback in the other. Two games are too few to decide the fate of the young quarterback, so he will return. However, something needs to click so we see more of what we saw in the fourth quarter in Chicago.
With two wins under their belt, led by Carson Wentz, Minnesota is competitive this season. While the long-term vision with McCarthy is more important, the team won’t want to throw this season away. Minnesota is a franchise that prides itself on being competitive.
The Injuries
Injuries have hit the Vikings hard already this season, with nine players who would be considered starters missing time. Justin Jefferson also came into the season having missed all of the preseason.
The good news is that there have been no serious, season-ending injuries to any key players — yet — and the bye week has come at a good time. The team can rest up, as Minnesota expects some key players back, with others edging closer to a return. The offensive line has been particularly beaten up, with right guard Will Fries the only starter who hasn’t missed time.
Kevin O’Connell schemes around that problem again, one of the best defenses in the league last week, and will need to continue doing so with only Donovan Jackson likely to return for Week 7.
The Run Defense
Minnesota’s passing defense is as good as there is across the league, but Brian Flores has a problem to solve with the run defense. Teams have had too much success running the ball against the Vikings this season.
The defense allows a miserly 157.6 passing yards per game through five games, the third-best mark across the league, while allowing 132.2 rushing yards per game, which ranks 24th — that’s a big discrepancy. Teams are aware of this and will look to run the ball down the Vikings’ throat, as the Falcons did in their win, and the Browns did with considerable success in London. Failure to stop the run and get teams into obvious passing situations means Flores has less ability to impose his exotic pass defense and put pressure on the opposing QB.
With a certain Saqoun Barkley coming to Minnesota in Week 7 behind the Eagles’ dominant offensive line, Flores and company had better have a plan in place to solve this problem. The possibility of a returning Blake Cashman at middle linebacker would help.
T.J. Hockenson
T.J. Hockenson is being paid top-end TE money, so people rightfully expect top-end production. We haven’t seen that over the first weeks of the season, but there are mitigating circumstances to put forward.
The injury problems on the OL have meant that Hockenson has had to help out with blocking more than would be ideal. The team and Hockenson have had to sacrifice some of their playmaking ability to help out at the line of scrimmage.
I also don’t believe O’Connell has utilized him effectively; a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage that puts three rushing defenders immediately in his face is not a recipe for success for someone of Hockenson’s stature.
Minnesota has much better options to jink past players with speed for that play — Jordan Mason, Aaron Jones, Jalen Nailor, Zavier Scott, Miles Price — throwing that one to the TE should be scrapped immediately. Quick passes over the middle that see Hockenson have the momentum to power through tackles are where he thrives and what we need to see more of going forward.
Adam Thielen’s Low Production
Just before the season began, the news that Adam Thielen was coming home via a trade with the Carolina Panthers. Vikings rejoiced in the return of a local hero, and while no one should have been expecting prime Thielen to show up, we probably all expected more than we’ve got so far.
A significant role in the first three games, while Jordan Addison was suspended, never really materialised, and it seems that Thielen’s role is to trot out on obvious passing plays like third down when O’Connell wants four receivers on the field. So far Thielen has caught 4 of 8 targets for 37 yards, with all of his catches enough to gain a first down.
He should still show up in critical moments for the Vikings, with hopefully a touchdown somewhere on the horizon. However, he didn’t see a single target against the Browns.
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