This Four-Week Stretch Will Define the Vikings Season
Josh Frey
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Thursday night’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers marked the official beginning of the second half of the 2022 NFL regular season. While the Vikings have not quite reached the halfway point of their 17-game schedule, the four-week stretch between now and the beginning of December will define the Vikings season in 2022.
Quality of Competition
Over the course of these four weeks, the Minnesota Vikings face the toughest competition of the season. Granted, they played the 8-0 Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, but that game was sandwiched by matchups between the 3-6 Green Bay Packers and 2-6 Detroit Lions.
This next month of games brings about consistently difficult matchups for the Vikings, and if the season ended today, three of the Vikings next four opponents would be playoff teams. The only team that misses the cut by a hair is the New England Patriots, who, at 5-4, are half a game behind the Los Angeles Chargers for the seventh seed in the AFC. Here’s the full list of matchups and their current records:
- 11/13: Week 10 at Buffalo Bills (6-2)
- 11/20: Week 11 vs. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
- 11/24: Week 12 vs. New England Patriots (5-4)
- 12/4: Week 13 vs. New York Jets (6-3)
If you’ll notice, not only do these Vikings opponents have a combined record of 23-11 for a winning percentage of 67.6%, but three of them occur over a very short period. The next three games for the Vikings will be played within the next 11 days because of the Thanksgiving Day game against the New England Patriots.
Roster Depth
Because of this difficult stretch, the Vikings roster depth will be tested. They’re already seeing the impacts of this with Cam Dantzler’s ankle injury. The starting CB headed to IR on Saturday and must miss at least the next four games. Precisely, the four-game stretch that the Vikings must perform at their best.
In his stead, the Vikings should get to see what they truly have in their rookie CBs Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans. The latter took Dantzler’s place in the second half against Washington and performed extremely well.
However, the true litmus test remains this week and the weeks following. A matchup against Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs likely looks much more daunting of a task than Taylor Heinicke and Terry McLaurin.
Additionally, Dalvin Tomlinson looks like he will miss his second consecutive game with a calf injury, and we can’t forget about Adam Thielen’s ankle problem over these next 11 days, either. Minnesota’s depth will be tested over these next four games, and their ability to step up could define whether or not the Vikings can win.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings likely are not in danger of losing their lead in the NFC North. In fact, there is a 100% chance that they will lead the division at the end of this four-week stretch due to their 4.5 game lead. It doesn’t look like either of the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers are on the verge of putting together a long winning streak, either.
However, Minnesota must have their sights set on something bigger than merely making the playoffs. They are on the verge of making some serious noise in the NFC playoffs, and that is only amplified if they can find a way to capture home-field advantage.
The Vikings certainly don’t need to go 4-0 during these games to prove that they are legitimate, either. However, if they can go 3-1 and head into mid-December with a 10-2 record and NFC North crown, that feels much different than going 1-3 and being 8-4. The Vikings have a huge challenge in front of them, and it will define how far they can go in this year’s playoffs.
The Vikings Game This Week
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.