The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Los Angeles Chargers last Thursday night in a complete rout, 37-10. That’s the long and short of it. In a game where the Vikings needed to dig deep and find out what they’re made of in the face of true adversity, it was a no-show that left the fanbase somber.
This is shaping up to be one of the most disappointing seasons in the franchise’s recent history. Supporters of the team don’t need to be reminded of all the other valid examples that fall under this category. However, what makes 2025 increasingly perplexing is that it falls on the back end of justified expectations.
This would be a fitting time to pull out the infamous “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” line. But I am both mad and disappointed. Disappointment is only possible when you’re expecting something greater.
The balance of what one will get from what they’re expecting is extremely delicate. Coming off of 14 regular-season wins last year, Minnesota’s trajectory was perhaps the most promising it’s been in quite some time. Although there was still a crash-and-burn ending in the first round of the playoffs, it didn’t dampen the excitement for 2025.
The Vikings have established that J.J. McCarthy is their franchise quarterback. The flexibility of his rookie contract allowed Minnesota to bring in premier players on the interior of the defensive and offensive lines. The 2024 coach of the year, Kevin O’Connell, would have a full offseason to adjust this operation to his standards.
However, McCarthy has only played eight quarters all year, and the free agents they signed to improve the trenches have been subpar at best. The team as a whole is not meeting any standard, let alone the lofty one O’Connell preaches.
It’s been a season of aberration to say the least, and last Thursday’s loss had a sobering effect on the situation. The Vikings have a 5% chance to sneak into the playoffs, per ESPN and The Athletic. We can talk about the -.11 offensive EPA, the inability to stop any opposing running back from rushing over 100 yards, and precisely what is going on in a bizarre quarterback saga that nobody saw coming. Metrics are fine and dandy, but the eye test also suggests this is a group that isn’t playing with the tenacity and the will to win we’ve become accustomed to in the O’Connell/Flores era.
Outside of the electric fourth quarter in week 1 against the Chicago Bears and the final drive against the Cleveland Browns in London, this team has been uncharacteristically bad in the moments where you have to have it.
The situation at hand has everyone searching for answers. Each week, there seems to be a new area of concern about why this team can’t execute or get out of its own way.
The news that Carson Wentz was playing the last two games after the bye with a left shoulder dislocation, which tore the labrum and fractured the socket, has been the latest puzzler for those trying to understand the choices being made from the coaching staff throughout this increasingly horrifying season. More questions than answers seem to be the order of the day.
Minnesota faces the toughest strength of schedule for the remainder of the season. After already dropping two home games, three out of the following four will be divisional matchups, starting with an away game in Week 9 against the Detroit Lions. It’s probably best if Vikings fans don’t look at the rest of the schedule as a whole. It’s daunting. This will be a week-to-week concern for a team desperate for a spark, cohesion, or a plain old lucky break.
J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer are the only healthy quarterbacks left on this roster at the moment, suggesting McCarthy is set to return against the Lions this coming Sunday.
There is no more room for error. If the Vikings want to fight in the face of adversity, truly, it starts this Sunday against one of the NFL’s most efficient operations. Again, there is good news. We have the guys in-house and on the field to get it done.
The Vikings remain one of the most talented units on paper. But they play football on a field, not on paper, and it must start with the leadership qualities of this team – its coaches and players – to determine whether this ship can be course-corrected.