Minnesota Vikings have one thing left to achieve in the 2025 season and it goes against conventional wisdom
Despite being eliminated from the playoffs, winning is still more important than anything for the Minnesota Vikings
The 2025 season for the Minnesota Vikings has not gone the way they had planned.
After getting a dramatic win in the season opener against the Chicago Bears, the massive string of injuries truly began with running back Aaron Jones and quarterback J.J. McCarthy both being placed on injured reserve with their injuries. That came after inside linebacker Blake Cashman injured his hamstring in Week 1 and both left tackle Christian Darrisaw and safety Harrison Smith missed the first two games of the season.
Winning football games should be the focus for Minnesota Vikings
Because the Vikings are 6-8 without a chance to make the playoffs, there is a lot of discussion about how to handle the final three games. They were eliminated from the playoffs before their 34-26 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, but their play didn’t reflect that, as it was one of their best offensive performances of the season.
The one major question circulating around the team over the last few weeks is a simple one: Should the Vikings try to win football games over the last three weeks or “tank” so they can improve their draft position?
Over the last few years, the conventional wisdom has become that “trying to lose” when the games don’t matter is good business for the future, as it improves your draft position. A higher draft slot theoretically will get you better players in each round. Even so, that doens’t automatically mean the player you take at 10th overall will be better than the one you select at 13th overall.
There is also the factor that losing games doesn’t automatically mean you will improve your draft position. Right now, the Vikings are one of three teams that are 6-8 with the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs. The Vikings have the toughest strength of schedule with these three teams, meaning they are picking 13th instead of 11th or 12th. If all three teams end up losing, the Vikings could remain picking 13th overall after this week, and they might only go up a slot or two after losing all three games when the season is over.
Does that sound like it’s good business? Not particularly. There is one other factor that doesn’t get discussed enough in this conversation: team culture matters.
It’s been one of the biggest things with head coach Kevin O’Connell’s tenure with the Vikings. They have gone out of their way to rebuild the culture that had become borderline toxic under former head coach Mike Zimmer. They were able to flip the script for the 2022 season, and O’Connell is currently 40-25 in his four seasons as the head coach.
Continuing to focus on nothing but winning football games is very important for the long-term culture of the franchise. Players can sense when you don’t care about winning, and that mentality can end up sinking your team. Plus, these games are incredibly important to build momentum going into the offseason. It’s also big for McCarthy, who only has eight starts under his belt.
Would you like to have a slightly higher draft pick? Absolutely, but it’s not worth sacrificing the culture that O’Connell has built over the last four seasons. Plus, there is always the question: Does tanking actually work? Historically speaking, not really.
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