NFL 2025 Week 8: The Minnesota Vikings Have a Serious Problem to Solve
If you were a Minnesota Vikings fan watching Week 7’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, you probably didn’t find a single moment of comfort in the disappointing loss. I never had an ounce of hope watching this matchup, even as the Vikings crept closer to the Eagles’ lead.
The Vikings had miscue after miscue. Multiple failures to stop the Eagles’ offense and offensive disasters led to an inevitable loss. One look at the sidelines during this game told viewers that the Vikings never thought they had a real chance. Why? What was the problem for a team that’s seemed fearless in several other games so far this season?
The Real Issue With This Loss
The defense’s shockingly bad performance against the Eagles’ passing attack didn’t help the Vikings’ chances in this game, but this loss is mostly due to offensive collapse. The Vikings scored just one touchdown and finished 1 for 6 on converting red zone chances into TDs. While the blame could be pushed onto the heavily injured offensive line for weeks prior, the failure this week mostly rests on quarterback Carson Wentz’s poor performance.
He was never expected to be elite when he was signed as a backup, but his performance Sunday showed that the 32-year-old’s time as the starter should be short-lived. He finished with 313 yards passing and 26 completions on 42 attempts, but he had no touchdowns and his two INTs were terrible decisions that cost the Vikings any momentum they had in the first half. Wentz now sits at 2-2 as the starting QB while J.J. McCarthy recovers from a Week 2 ankle injury, but the Week 7 result suggests the Vikings need McCarthy back in a hurry. With a short week to prepare for their Week 8 game on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, though, fans may have to suffer through another game with Wentz commanding the offensive attack.
The strange circumstances surrounding McCarthy’s recovery have also brought into question how much trust the team has in him to be the leading signal caller. He was originally reported to have a 2-4 week timeline to return, but when he didn’t play Sunday despite suiting up, reporters like Adam Schefter suddenly disclosed that "doctors expected it to be a six week injury" for McCarthy. Given the initial reports, though, there’s cause for suspicion about McCarthy’s status.
So why was McCarthy held out?
Sure, Head Coach Kevin O’Connell might be making the safety of his young QB the number one priority. Given the Vikings spent the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on McCarthy, it’s understandable why they want to prevent a future injury for someone they expect to be their QB of the future.
At some point, though, the Vikings need to admit that they need to win this season more than they need to plan for the future. The Vikings don’t have a great outlook for the future–they are currently projected to have the second-least cap space of any NFL team next offseason. This roster was built this year with significant spending in free agency and draft picks that were expected to come in and produce immediately. The Vikings should be in win-now mode and do whatever it takes to reach the top–but instead they’re playing it safe. Why?
Perhaps their faith in McCarthy really has faltered. Many questioned his selection in 2024 amidst a loaded QB class, and the meniscus injury that kept him out for all of the 2024-25 season certainly didn’t silence questions of how successful he would be in the NFL. He earned the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after a crazy comeback win against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, but his Week 2 performance against the Atlanta Falcons was an even worse showing than Wentz’s Week 7 numbers. In that 6-22 loss to the Falcons, McCarthy had just 158 yards passing, 11 completions on 21 attempts, no touchdowns, and 2 INTs.
Who could replace McCarthy?
I was scared of the possibility that McCarthy might lose KOC’s trust, and now my fears might become reality. If McCarthy isn’t performing at the level the Vikings need to fight for the Super Bowl, then the Vikings only have one option: trade for someone better.
Of course, fond memories of past seasons bring Kirk Cousins to mind. Before his achilles injury in 2023, Cousins was commanding a Vikings team that looked dangerous. He’s a locker room favorite and was considered underrated by peers and fans before he left for what turned out to be a disastrous deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins now rides the bench behind Michael Penix Jr., however, and at 37, his best years may be behind him. His massive contract with the Falcons makes him a non-option for the Vikings unless the Falcons decide to eat a large portion of his remaining contract and cut the veteran.
Other veteran options prove equally undesirable or even unrealistic. Russell Wilson got beat out by rookie Jaxson Dart in New York, 40-year-old Joe Flacco is leading the Cincinnati Bengals and Daniel Jones is far too valuable to the shockingly supreme Indianapolis Colts offense. Is it too late to ask for Sam Darnold to come back and end our misery? Sadly, the Seattle Seahawks likely wouldn’t let Darnold return to Minnesota without significant draft compensation in return. The elite options around the league will ask the Vikings to give up important pieces of this roster that has everything but a consistent QB to lead it.
The Vikings, then, have three options: hope McCarthy flips the switch in his sophomore season, give up more than they might want to in a trade, or wallow in the misery of being average and blow up the team next season. As a Vikings fan who’s dealt with plenty of misery already, though, I’m hoping for one of the first two options, and I’m sure my fellow fans agree. Something needs to be done to find success this season. Let’s hope the Vikings do that “something” soon.