Vikings Finally Showed the Version Everyone Wanted to See
“Woulda shoulda coulda” — that will be the story of the 2025 Vikings, who lost too many games with poor quarterback play, injury issues, lack of turnovers forced by the defense, and special teams miscues. The Vikings and their fan base will lament the home losses to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago that were winnable games, along with the Pittsburgh loss in Dublin.
The Vikings finally looked like the version everyone wanted to see, dominating Washington in a 31-0 showing that felt long overdue.
Sunday’s 31-0 demolition of the Commanders had to have everyone thinking this was the team and the performance hoped for going into this season.
After a highly inconsistent first six starts to his career, number seven was a gem from 2024 first-round QB J.J. McCarthy with a highly efficient performance. He produced career-bests with three TD passes, no interceptions, a 69.4% completion rate, and a passer rating of 129.2.
Vikings Alas Find Their Blueprint
We saw a strong rushing attack behind a solid and intact offensive line (for only the second game this season) with the duo of Aaron Jones (76 yards, 5.4-yard average) and Jordan Mason (52 yards, 4.7 average, one TD) running hard and not fumbling.
Defensively, there was the usual Brian Flores blitzing, which resulted in consistent pressure on Washington QBs Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota. That looked like the 2024 Vikings D that led the league with 33 takeaways and produced three Commanders turnovers, including the biggest play of the game—Andrew Van Ginkel’s patented interception of a quick outside pass by Daniels deep in Vikings territory, which he returned 40 yards to set up a field goal and a 17-0 lead.
Special teams contributed a 35-yard kickoff return by Myles Price to jump-start the opening TD drive. Reliable Will Reichard made his only field goal attempt (45 yards) and was perfect as usual on extra points. The kick coverage units didn’t have any disastrous plays, such as in the Bears game three weeks ago.
The Vikings are the first team since the 1992 Broncos to shut out a team after being shut out the week before (26-0 in Seattle). And they’re the first team to have both shutouts consisting of 25 or more points. That certainly speaks to the roller coaster season the Vikings are having.
If the Vikings had bottled this performance in all three phases more often this season, they’d have at least three more wins (perhaps more) and still be in the hunt for the division title and have a realistic shot at a Wildcard berth.
Here are my other reactions from the Vikings’ win over Washington
1. Fast start: That was the emphasis to the team from Kevin O’Connell, and he backed it up by taking the ball first after winning the coin toss. McCarthy was told not to worry so much about his mechanics and to focus on decision-making and completions. That was evident on the opening drive of seven plays and 61 yards that ended in a perfect throw to Josh Oliver for an 18-yard TD.
The defense followed with a goal-line stand (helped by Deebo Samuel’s fourth-down drop). Then the offense produced the drive of the year—19 plays, 98 yards, 12:01 off the clock with five conversions on third down (including a 7-yard scramble by McCarthy and his accurate passes to Jordan Addison for 21 yards on 3rd-and-8 and 13 yards to Justin Jefferson on 3rd-and-12).
2. O’Connell had to especially love McCarthy’s first-half accuracy: 9 of 11 for 99 yards. Several of his completions came on throws he’s often missed, such as long sideline passes to Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
McCarthy did hold the ball too long a few times and took four sacks, but he didn’t make any big mistakes or poor throws that led to picks. His season passer rating jumped almost 10 points—from 57.9 to 67.4, and his completion percentage improved from 54.1% to 56%. It’s a step in the right direction and a big confidence builder for McCarthy and the team.
3. Opportunity for McCarthy to keep it going: Washington did present a soft coverage zone scheme with the No. 31 pass defense entering the game, so McCarthy wasn’t facing a top defense. Yet his accuracy and decision-making were much better than in his last few games, which is a good sign, and he needs to continue playing at that level over the remaining games.
There should be a good chance for success in the next three weeks. Next up is Dallas (6-6-1) on Sunday night, and the Cowboys just allowed 309 passing yards to Jared Goff while giving up 44 points in their loss to Detroit. Dallas’ pass defense ranks last, and their overall defense is No. 29. Then come the Giants (2-11) with the No. 24 pass defense and ranking 31st overall. These two games are on the road, where McCarthy has played well in wins at Chicago and Detroit.
In Week 17, the Vikings host the Lions in a short week (Thursday/Christmas Day), and the Lions rank 19th against the pass and 15th overall. McCarthy beat them in Week 9 as he threw two TD passes and ran for a score in the upset win. The regular season finale will be against Green Bay’s excellent D (5th overall and 7th in pass defense).
4. On Jefferson’s quiet game: he was doubled a lot and had only two catches for 11 yards on four targets. He had an important 13-yard catch on third-and-12 on the 98-yard TD drive, but McCarthy was pressured and late on a deep ball when Jefferson was open early. It was still good that he threw the 50/50 ball since it was single coverage (the pass was broken up).
Jefferson should always be targeted at least 10 times, as he’s proven his ability to get open against any coverage, and McCarthy has to be willing to take shots—short and long—to one of the league’s best receivers.
5. C.J. Ham’s impact: he played 41% of the offensive snaps on Sunday and helped with run blocking on a 162-yard rushing day for the team, and in pass protection, as Ham did a great job, as usual, picking up blitzes. We should expect to see a continuation of this increased play time for Ham, who missed six games this season with knee and hand injuries.
Another player who had a productive game was Josh Oliver, who recorded his first career two-TD game and strong run blocking. The Vikings missed Oliver when he was out for two games with a foot injury.
It also appeared that Ryan Kelly had one of his best games as a Viking. He was a big loss when he missed seven games this season (two concussions).
6. Van Ginkel: Speaking of the absence of key players, his five games missed with a neck injury significantly hurt the defense. His playmaking and instinctive play are such a key component. Same with Jonathan Greenard and how the pass rush suffered when he couldn’t play in the losses to Chicago and Green Bay due to a shoulder injury.
7. Harrison Smith had perhaps his best game of the season with his 38th career interception (most among active players) and several excellent blitzes of Daniels that disrupted him.
8. On the first quarter goal-line stand, there were back-to-back good defensive plays by Byron Murphy, recognizing the tackle eligible pass and getting back in coverage, and ex-Commander Jonathan Allen pressuring Daniels into an incompletion on third down.
9. Few penalties: only three for 24 yards in one of the most disciplined games this season.
10. Time of possession and third/fourth down play: The Vikings controlled the ball for 35 minutes, which always helps towards a win. On third/fourth downs, the Vikings offense was 8 of 13, while the defense held the Commanders to 4 of 13.
Around the NFL Observations from Week 14
1. The Packers took over first place in the NFC North with their 28-21 win over the Bears at frigid Lambeau. Jordan Love was impressive with three TD passes (two to Christian Watson), and the Packers’ Keisean Nixon sealed the win by intercepting Caleb Williams in the end zone with 27 seconds left.
Green Bay (9-3-1) and Chicago (9-4) meet again in two weeks at Soldier Field after the Packers have a tough test next Sunday at 11-2 Denver, while the Bears host the lowly Browns. The Bears fell from the NFC’s top seed to No. 7 after the loss. The Lions (8-5) also have a difficult game at the Rams (10-3, co-leaders with Seattle in the NFC West).
2. Daniel Jones’ fine season ended with a torn Achilles as his Colts fell out of first place in a 36-19 loss in Jacksonville. The Colts’ playoff hopes probably went down the drain with the Jones injury.
The Chiefs’ playoff hopes are in big trouble at 6-7 after Houston’s No. 1 defense intercepted Patrick Mahomes three times in a 20-10 road win. The Texans (8-5) have won five straight and have rebounded from their 0-3 start to trail the Jaguars by one game.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 284 yards (148 yards to DK Metcalf) as the Steelers (7-6) regained solo first place in the AFC North with a 27-22 win at Baltimore (6-7). The teams meet again in the regular season finale at Pittsburgh.
3. Sam Darnold tossed three TD passes as the Seahawks rolled over the Falcons 37-9 in Atlanta. In this battle of former Vikings QBs, Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions. Seattle outscored Atlanta 31-3 in the second half.
4. Josh Allen threw three TD passes and ran for a score in Buffalo’s 39-34 comeback win over Cincinnati. The Bills (9-4) head to New England (11-2) on Sunday. The Patriots won their first meeting (23-20 in Week 5 at Buffalo), so a win this week will clinch the AFC East and end the Bills’ five-year run as division champs.
5. The biggest upset on Sunday was New Orleans knocking off the Buccaneers 24-20 in Tampa. There’s a tie for the NFC South lead with the Bucs and Panthers both 7-6. It was Tampa Bay’s fourth loss in its last five games.
I’ll be back on Friday to preview Sunday night’s Vikings-Cowboys matchup in Dallas as McCarthy seeks his first back-to-back wins and the Vikings defense tries to contain the league’s top-ranked offense directed by QB Dak Prescott.
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