Minnesota Vikings 2024 NFL Season Win/Loss Total
The Minnesota Vikings are starting over at quarterback this season after former Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta in free agency. Sam Darnold figures to be the early-season starter, but only keeping the spot warm for rookie first-round pick JJ McCarthy. We break down the 2024 Vikings.
A Closer Look at the Win/Loss Total for the Minnesota Vikings 2024 NFL Season
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— Vikings Territory (@vikingterritory) July 17, 2024
Minnesota Vikings 2024 NFL Schedule
- NFL Week 1: at New York Giants — 1:00pm ET (FOX)
- NFL Week 2: vs. San Francisco 49ers — 1:00pm ET (CBS)
- NFL Week 3: vs. Houston Texans — 1:00pm ET (CBS)
- NFL Week 4: at Green Bay Packers — 1:00pm ET (CBS)
- NFL Week 5: vs. New York Jets — 9:30am ET (NFLN)
- NFL Week 6: BYE
- NFL Week 7: vs. Detroit Lions — 1:00pm ET (FOX)
- NFL Week 8: at Los Angeles Rams — 8:15pm ET (Prime Video)
- NFL Week 9: vs. Indianapolis Colts — 1:00pm ET (CBS)
- NFL Week 10: at Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00pm ET (FOX)
- NFL Week 11: at Tennessee Titans — 1:00pm ET (CBS)
- NFL Week 12: at Chicago Bears — 1:00pm ET (FOX)
- NFL Week 13: vs. Arizona Cardinals — 1:00pm (FOX)
- NFL Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons — 1:00pm (FOX)
- NFL Week 15: vs. Chicago Bears — 8:00pm ET (ABC)
- NFL Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks — 4:05pm (FOX)
- NFL Week 17: vs. Green Bay Packers — 1:00pm ET (FOX)
- NFL Week 18: at Detroit Lions — TBA (TBA)
Minnesota’s strength of schedule for 2024 is tied as the 16th-toughest in the league, as its opponents had a combined winning percentage of .502 last year. The Vikings are +1 for Week 1 at the New York Giants before returning to U.S. Bank Stadium for back-to-back home games against the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans in Weeks 2-3. The regular-season road will end in Detroit for the third time since 2020. Overall, the Vikings have seven games vs. 2023 playoff teams. Five of those contests (vs. 49ers, Texas, at Packers, vs. Lions, at Rams) occur within Minnesota’s first seven games of the 2024 campaign.
The Vikings have gone under their win total in three of the last four seasons (went over in 2022 with 13 wins on a 9.5 total).
2023 Was Tough for Quarterbacks
In reality, Minnesota’s chances of being a playoff team last year for the second straight season ended on Oct. 29 in Green Bay, an impressive 24-10 Vikings win. Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles’ tear in the victory, and it would prove to be his final game with the franchise, with his contract having expired. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter. As he attempted to step up in the pocket, his right leg buckled, and he was sacked by Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Cousins entered that Week 8 matchup leading the NFL in touchdown passes (16) and was second in passing yards (2,057).
The Vikings used a handful of quarterbacks after he went down, none of them very good overall, and finished 7-10 – good for third in the NFC North via a tiebreaker with Chicago. This offseason, Cousins opted to sign a four-year deal worth up to $180 million with the Atlanta Falcons. Most had expected Cousins, 35, to return to Minneapolis, primarily because the Vikings had just received a firsthand lesson in how difficult life in the NFL can be without a franchise quarterback following Cousins’ season-ending Achilles injury. But the Vikings allowed Cousins to test the open market, leading him to accept Atlanta’s offer and pack up his family to move south.
Roster Update
Minnesota signed veteran Sam Darnold to a one-year deal this offseason and drafted Michigan’s JJ McCarthy with the No 10 overall pick. Darnold is a former No. 3 overall pick bust for the Jets who spent last season largely as a backup in San Francisco. He starts this next chapter of his career having completed 1,082 of 1,811 passes (59.75 percent) for 12,064 yards with 63 touchdowns against 56 interceptions and a passer rating of 78.3. Darnold should open the season as the starter, and McCarthy’s eventual ascendance will depend on a series of unpredictable factors that include injuries and his own progression through a complex passing offense.
Of course, the Vikings have the NFL’s best receiver in Justin Jefferson, who was limited to 10 games last season due to injury but still had 1,074 yards and five TDS on 68 catches. This offseason, he became the highest-paid wideout ever, signing a four-year, $140 million extension with $110 million guaranteed. The day before the 2023 season started, Jefferson declined a contract offer from the Vikings that would have paid him over $28 million annually. Turned out to be a smart move, as he now has an average value of $35 million annually. The 2022 Offensive Player of the Year, Jefferson has averaged 98.3 receiving yards per game — the most in NFL history for any career span — and his average of 6.5 catches per game is the second highest of any receiver in his first four seasons.
The Vikings also will have a new featured running back in former Packer Aaron Jones. He signed a one-year, $7 million deal after Green Bay shockingly released Jones. The Packers brass attempted to get Jones to take a pay cut to return — much like he did last season — but the veteran running back declined, leading to his release. Jones generated 1,100-plus scrimmage yards and seven-plus scrimmage TDs in four straight seasons from 2019-2022. Hamstring issues in 2023 broke the streak, as the back earned 656 rush yards, 233 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in 11 games.
The team beefed up the defense with two pass-rushers in signing Jonathan Greenard and moving up in the 2024 draft to select Dallas Turner. Greenard, 26, has 23 sacks in his career but performed his best in a contract year last season. He posted career-highs in sacks (12.5), tackles (52), quarterback hits (22), tackles for loss (15) and games played (15). Turner was the No. 17 overall pick out of Alabama. During the 2023 season for the Tide, Turner had 53 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. At 247 pounds, Turner was the only front-seven defensive player at the NFL combine this year who ran the 40 in under 4.5 seconds (4.46) and had a vertical jump of 40 inches or better (40.5).
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