Don’t Fall for These 4 Vikings Myths in 2025

Sep 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings mascot Viktor before the game against the San Diego Chargers at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports. Heading into the regular season, VikingsTerritory debunks myths associated with the current Minnesota Vikings squad. Plenty of oddities and falsehoods surround the 2025 Vikings. Don’t fall for these four myths as the team enters an exciting season. And 2025 is no different. You can read the 2024 batch here. Vikings-themed myths are items relating to the team that are false, overblown, or viewed in an inaccurate light. For example, last summer, many thought Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy would have a true quarterback competition at training camp and in the preseason. McCarthy tore his meniscus, and the Vikings later revealed that he would’ve sat on the bench, watching and learning anyway, according to the plan. Here are the myths for the Vikings 2025, listed in no particular order. Deconstructing Vikings Myths in 2025 Some of the following talkers are overblown. 1. Mandatory Regression from 14-3 Remember when the Vikings finished 13-4 in 2022, and the whole world insisted that they had to regress because they won so many close games? Well, that crowd was correct, as Minnesota finished 7-10 in 2023 after Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell stands alongside tight end T.J. Hockenson (87) during pregame warmups against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on September 14, 2023. The Vikings aimed to bounce back under O’Connell’s leadership in this early-season clash. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports. NFL media hasn’t quite guaranteed a regression this year for the Vikings, but sportsbooks believe Kevin O’Connell and friends will finish 8-9 or 9-8. But here’s the deal: mandatory regression need not apply to the 2025 Vikings. Why? The 2024 club ranked eighth in the NFL last season per point differential, outscoring opponents by roughly five points per game. In 2022, they were outscored by their opponents by an average of 0.6 points per contest. Point differential is usually a decent indicator of a team’s legitimacy, and the eighth-best ranking is not like the 2022 squad. In short, the Vikings didn’t get “lucky” by winning so much in 2024. They won convincingly, unlike the 2022 team. 2. The European Trip (Ireland, England) as a Bad Thing It didn’t make much sense, but some Vikings fans cried foul over the team’s back-to-back trip on tap for Europe this season. Minnesota will play Pittsburgh in Week 4 in Ireland and face the Cleveland Browns in Week 5 in England. NFL London Games branding decorates the facade at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 13, 2024, featuring logos from the Jets, MIN, Jaguars, and Bears ahead of the International Series matchup. The event highlights the league’s growing international presence. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images. These games are technically road games, but given the broad global reach of the Vikings’ fan base, they will probably feel like home games with a raucous crowd. Why is that bad? Turning two road games into home games should be preferred. And that’s precisely why Minnesota put itself front and center for this trial. Your favorite football team will be the guinea pig for the experiment, and if it works, other clubs will seek it in 2026 and beyond. Flipping road games into home games by traveling four extra hours by plane isn’t some huge inconvenience. It’s a cerebral strategy, in fact. 3. The Vikings as an 8.5-Win Team Sportsbooks don’t know what to do with J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota won 14 games in 2024 with Sam Darnold, and oddsmakers decided McCarthy represents a 5.5-win depression. Here’s the thing: an eight- or nine-win season doesn’t have to be the outcome. It may be difficult to replicate a 14-3 season — few teams do that back-to-back — but finishing 11-6 or 12-5 won’t feel like a mammoth downgrade. Minnesota quarterback J. McCarthy (9) and center Michael Jurgens (65) warm up before facing the Las Vegas Raiders in preseason action on August 10, 2024, at U.S. Bank Stadium. It marked McCarthy’s first NFL game setting. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports. Moreover, as mentioned above, Minnesota ranked eighth in the NFL last year per point differential. They didn’t win with “luck” or with fluky outcomes, as was the argument for the 2022 Vikings, a team that regressed the following season. Vegas should get over the fear of McCarthy’s inexperience and nudge the 8.5-win total a bit higher. Kevin O’Connell can cook with any competent quarterback. Haven’t they realized that by now? 4. Brutal Strength of Schedule Minnesota’s strength of schedule is the fifth-most challenging in 2025. Heading into last season, the team also had the fifth-toughest schedule on the menu. O’Connell and Co. later won the aforementioned 14 games. Indeed, the docket looks murderous from a July standpoint. But the NFL always changes. For example, in 2024, the early-season games against the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers felt like backbreakers on paper. Minnesota won both because neither team was elite. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) rolls out of the pocket during the second half against the Los Angeles Rams at M&T Bank Stadium on December 10, 2023. Jackson’s mobility remained a focal point for the Ravens’ offense. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports. Playing the New York Jets in London initially looked daunting because Aaron Rodgers was due for a turnaround season. Didn’t happen. Minnesota prevailed. From Week 10 to 12, Minnesota had a road gauntlet on tap: at Jacksonville, at Tennessee, and at Chicago. Those teams stunk, but we didn’t know it last July. The NFL landscape changes every season, with injuries and teams failing to meet expectations. Just because the Vikings’ schedule looks brutal in July doesn’t mean it will remain that way. Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily ... More about Dustin Baker