Minnesota Vikings — 2026 season outlook, updated Oct 14, 2026.
Minnesota Vikings finished the 2026 season 5-0.
Minnesota Vikings: 9-8 regular season.
Based on verified play-by-play data (nflverse).
By the numbers — 2026
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2026 schedule
- Bye week 6 — see all 2026 byes.
- 17th-hardest schedule — opponents average 8.50 projected wins.
- Vikings backfield and handcuffs — depth chart, refreshed daily.
Vikings players we cover
Vikings 23, Saints 13 — Week 5: 5-0 After an 87-Yard Scoop
Minnesota won 23-13 at New Orleans to go 5-0 after giving the Saints both of their scores on fumbles, as Byron Murphy intercepted Tyler Shough twice, the pass defense held New Orleans to 96 passing yards and Aaron Jones ran 25 times for 113 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.
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More episodes
- Camp · Sep 3, 2026
Vikings Camp — Sep 3: Brosmer Cut for a Center, Then Back
Minnesota claimed two offensive linemen off waivers Monday morning and waived Max Brosmer and Dillon Bell to fit them — ending the four-quarterback roster about twenty-four hours after announcing it. Both came back on the practice squad Wednesday, the same day the Vikings added Kyle Van Noy to it after Tyler Batty's torn knee ligament thinned the edge room, and general manager Nolan Teasley answered the McCarthy Week 1 question in two words.
- Camp · Aug 31, 2026
Vikings Camp — Aug 31: McCarthy Stays on a Four-Quarterback 53
Minnesota kept all four quarterbacks on its initial 53 — Murray, McCarthy, Wentz and Brosmer — and the beat expects the room to shrink within days. Cut day also ended Johnny Hekker's run, with undrafted Ray Guy Award winner Brett Thorson taking the punting job, and answered our safety question with rookies. Tyler Batty's torn anterior cruciate ligament is the roster's hardest loss.
- Camp · Aug 23, 2026
Vikings Camp — Aug 23: Flores' Defense Held Baltimore at Midfield
Minnesota's defense controlled two joint practices with the Ravens — Dallas Turner was, in the team site's words, an absolute force off the right edge — while the quarterback week ran quieter: Murray split the charters Wednesday, finished clean Thursday, and sat Saturday's 13-3 loss entirely. The hard news came Monday: Jamal Adams' knee injury is season-ending, and his roster spot went to a cornerback.
- Camp · Aug 16, 2026
Minnesota Vikings Camp Update — August 16: Kyler Murray Is the Starter, a Week Early
O'Connell ended the quarterback competition Tuesday instead of letting the preseason decide it, naming Murray the Week 1 starter and keeping McCarthy as the developmental backup. Then the opener in New Jersey delivered a 13-10 win, one tidy Murray drive, and a frightening non-contact knee injury to Jamal Adams.
- Camp · Aug 9, 2026
Minnesota Vikings Camp Update — August 9: Kyler Murray Is Getting Twice the First-Team Reps
The rep count leans Murray, the tape leans nobody, and the beat's consensus after nine practices is the second-worst outcome: both quarterbacks have been fine. The bounce math from July is intact and still waiting for someone to claim it.
- 2026 Preview
Minnesota Vikings 2026 Season Preview — The Bounce Needs a Quarterback
Minnesota led the league in giveaways, fielded a top-four defense nobody could see, and swept the division favorite anyway — the turnover math screams bounce, and the entire bet is which quarterback catches it.
- Season Review
9-8 regular season
- Draft Recap
9 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft
- Week 4
Vikings 15, Dolphins 10 — Week 4: Five Field Goals, Then Three Kneels
Minnesota beat Miami 15-10 at home to go 4-0 on five Will Reichard field goals and no offensive touchdown, with T.J. Hockenson catching all 13 of his targets for 119 yards and a pass defense that held the Dolphins to minus 12.4 expected points on 19 pass plays.
- Week 3
Vikings 23, Buccaneers 16 — Week 3: Won Without a Red-Zone Snap
Minnesota won 23-16 at Tampa Bay to go 3-0 on an 86-yard punt-return touchdown and a defense that stopped 15 of 17 third downs, while its offense had six three-and-outs and never ran a play inside the Tampa Bay 20.
- Week 2
Vikings 9, Bears 3 — Week 2: Three Field Goals and a Blocked Kick
Minnesota won 9-3 at Chicago without scoring a touchdown: the defense allowed no points on 15 Bears red-zone snaps, forced a fumble at its own 1, Isaiah Rodgers blocked a 23-yard field goal with 6:26 left, and three field goals were all the scoring it needed while the offense gained 262 yards and converted 3 of 13 third downs.
- Week 1
Vikings 39, Packers 22 — Week 1: Trailed for 50 Minutes, Won by 17
Minnesota trailed Green Bay for fifty minutes, lost Kyler Murray to injury in the first quarter, and won by seventeen. The defense allowed minus nine expected points on the ground, the best run-defense figure of the week, and forced two strip-sacks and an interception in the fourth quarter. The last two touchdown drives took four plays and twenty-two seconds of game clock between them.
- Week 3 · What Repeats
Vikings, Week 3 — What Repeats: New Passer, Still Near Sixty Percent
Kyler Murray threw every Minnesota pass at Tampa Bay and was charted catchable on 17 of 29 throws, 59%, the second-lowest rate in the league this week, after Carson Wentz's 58% and 60% in Weeks 1 and 2 — while the defense sent five or more rushers on 63% of Tampa Bay's dropbacks, first in the league for the third straight week, and showed a light box on one of 18 designed runs, the fewest of any defense.
- Week 2 · What Repeats
Vikings, Week 2 — What Repeats: Rush Repeated, the Box Didn't
Minnesota sent five or more pass rushers on 31 of Chicago's 41 dropbacks (76%, first in the league for the second straight week, against 46% last season), but after showing a light box on 20 of Green Bay's 21 designed runs in Week 1 it showed one on only 7 of Chicago's 28 — and on offense Carson Wentz was catchable on 60% of his throws after 58% in Week 1, with two-thirds of his yards coming off play-action.
- Week 1 · What Repeats
Vikings, Week 1 — What Repeats: Five or More on Four in Five
The charting says Minnesota sent five or more pass rushers on 37 of Jordan Love's 46 dropbacks — 80 percent, the highest rate in the league in Week 1 with the next defense at 46 — while tagging a blitzer on only eight of them, and showed a light box on 20 of Green Bay's 21 designed runs; Love's catchable rate against it was 50 percent, the lowest of any offense this week.
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From The Muffed Read
- Which records are telling the truth? Minnesota's 5-0 with the 28th-ranked offense, San Francisco's win in Seattle, Houston's first win, Atlanta's fifth game and the ten 3-2 teams, run through a ruler built for five games.
At five games, a team's record, its point differential and how well it plays snap to snap predict the rest of its season about equally well. When they disagree, believe the play: 3-2 teams ranked top ten by net EPA per play reached the playoffs 25 times in 39 over the last ten seasons, and 3-2 teams in the bottom half 12 times in 33.
- Which first-month signals are real? San Francisco's offense, Atlanta's run game, Minnesota's blitz, the five 0-4 teams and Jaxon Smith-Njigba's targets, run through a ruler built for four games.
Four games in, how a team plays repeats far better than how well it plays: blitz rate, run-pass lean and target share all carry into the rest of the season at 0.51 or better, defensive results at 0.29 and touchdowns at 0.19. And no 0-4 team in ten seasons has reached the playoffs; this season has five.
- Which three-game patterns are worth believing? San Francisco's offense, Minnesota's blitz, the Raiders' 3–0, Houston's 0–3 and the receivers who kept their shares, run through a ruler built for three games.
Three games in, this season's offense now outweighs last season's. Defense still doesn't. Minnesota, the Raiders, Houston's 0–3, and the receivers whose shares held.
- How are NFL games actually won? The sport under the sport, in 19,811 charted dropbacks.
Pressure turned the league's best passer into a below-average one. Blitzing didn't buy what fans think. And the best pass in football came dressed as a run. The hidden layer of 2025.
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