Minnesota Vikings have a crucial advantage over the rest of the NFL that Kyler Murray is primed to take advantage of
It’s hard to know what will be impactful year over year, but there is a potential advantage for the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings need to have a bounce-back season in 2026 for a multitude of reasons, but most importantly, to save Kevin O’Connell from being on the hot seat.
Despite being 43-25 in his four seasons at the helm in Minnesota, O’Connell has zero playoff wins in two appearances. The success in the regular season with 13 and 14-win seasons has been tremendous, but losing both games in the playoffs, one of which to a Daniel Jones-led New York Giants team, has left many on edge.
This season, the Vikings’ schedule has a really interesting flow to it, and it gives them an interesting advantage.
Minnesota Vikings face the worst collection of defenses
There are a couple of interesting angles to look at the Vikings’ schedule: Weeks 8-11 being an insane gauntlet and having five out of the last seven games at home. Outside of that, there are other aspects to look at.
One that hasn’t gotten enough attention with who the Vikings are playing, is how strong their defenses are, or in this case, aren’t. The Vikings’ schedule has some weak defenses, and when you look at them collectively via DVOA, their schedule is the weakest in the NFL.
It’s an imperfect collection of data for the Vikings here. Year over year projections are hard to be right about due to roster and schematic changes. However, it gives us a good baseline to work with.
With Kyler Murray coming in, having an easier slate of defenses is a good thing. It could take a few games to get into the swing of things with a new offense and personnel he’s working with. It also matters if it ends up being J.J. McCarthy, as his final four games that brought the most success were against the worst defenses.
Anytime you can have something go your way before you take the field, it’s a good thing.