November Will Be the Make-or-Break Month for the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have dug themselves a hole in the NFC North race at 3-4 to begin the year.
It doesn’t seem as bad compared to other potential division contenders across the NFL, but the Vikings are currently last in the NFC North with all three of the Chicago Bears (4-3), Detroit Lions (5-2), and Green Bay Packers (5-1-1) being above .500. They’re also 2.5 games behind the Packers for the division lead, meaning they have a decent bit of ground to make up.
As a result, the next month could prove to be a very big one for Minnesota.
November Looks Like a Big Month for the Minnesota Vikings
Let’s take a look at the schedule. Throughout the course of November, here are the five games the Vikings will play:
- Week 9 at Detroit Lions
- Week 10 vs. Baltimore Ravens
- Week 11 vs. Chicago Bears
- Week 12 at Green Bay Packers
- Week 13 at Seattle Seahawks
The thing that stands out the most about November is the Vikings will play each of their division rivals one time. It means the Vikings can either gain a lot of ground in the division in a hurry with wins, or they could lose a ton of ground just as quickly with losses.
Sandwiched in between those divisional games is a matchup at home with the Baltimore Ravens. At 2-5, the Ravens haven’t exactly been impressive so far this season, but they are set to get Lamar Jackson back on the field in Week 9, making that Week 10 hurdle a heck of a lot harder to get over.
The conclusion of the month is equally as important. The Vikings will travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks; a place where they have historically struggled mightily to get wins. Making that matchup even more intriguing is a rematch with Sam Darnold, who quarterbacked Minnesota to a 13-4 record and a playoff berth in 2024.
This spring, Darnold signed a three-year contract with the Seahawks, and Seattle has put themselves in perfect position to make a playoff push during the second half of the season at 5-2.
Assuming Seattle continues their winning ways, the Vikings very well could need that victory to stay within reach of at least the NFC Wild Card teams.
Adding to the already high-pressured month, November will mark the return of J.J. McCarthy to the field at quarterback, who will be taking his first live snaps since Week 2.
Some Vikings fans have already expressed some serious doubts with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell this season, and those groans will only get louder if McCarthy is not able to lead the team to wins in these big games.
November is the make-or-break month for the Vikings. We’ll soon see how they respond.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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