The Vikings 2023 Opponents Are Officially Set
With the 2022 NFL regular season officially complete, the Minnesota Vikings 2023 opponents for each their home and away schedules have been set. By earning their first NFC North title since 2017, the Vikings will play a first-place schedule as well as match up against the NFC South and the AFC West.
Obviously, all focus right now is on the Vikings playoff run, and rightly so, but here’s a look at what the Vikings have in store for the 2023 regular season.
Home Opponents
- Chicago Bears (3-14)
- Detroit Lions (9-8)
- Green Bay Packers (8-9)
- Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
- Los Angeles Chargers (10-7)
- New Orleans Saints (7-10)
- San Francisco 49ers (13-4)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
Road Opponents
- Atlanta Falcons (7-10)
- Carolina Panthers (7-10)
- Chicago Bears (3-14)
- Cincinnati Bengals (12-5)
- Denver Broncos (5-12)
- Detroit Lions (9-8)
- Green Bay Packers (8-9)
- Las Vegas Raiders (6-11)
- Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
The most glaring difference between this schedule and last season’s is that the Vikings no longer have an advantage by playing more home games than road games. In fact, one of the Vikings “road” games in the 2022 season came in Week 4 when they took on the New Orleans Saints in London. Because of that, the Vikings essentially had seven true road games, a neutral site game, and nine home games.
Next season’s international games are yet to be determined, but as of now, the Vikings have eight home games and nine road games on their schedule. Additionally, a first-place schedule rather than a second-place schedule inherently means that Minnesota will be playing more playoff teams from this season as compared to last. On the 2023 schedule, six of the Vikings 17 games are against playoff teams from this season. The Vikings played five teams this season that have made the playoffs, going 3-2 in those games.
It looks like the Vikings could run into a number of quality QBs next season, including names such as Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, and depending on where he ends up, a matchup with a 46-year-old Tom Brady could be in store for 2023. There are also the usual two games against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (unless this indeed was his final season in Green Bay).
Overall, it’s impossible to predict right now just how difficult the 2023 schedule actually could be for the Vikings. We still have no idea what this Vikings team will look like in September, let alone their opponents. Throughout the offseason, free agency and the 2023 NFL Draft will make it much clearer as to what kind of task the Vikings have been assigned next season. For now, let’s hope Minnesota can stave off their offseason duties for another week by beating the New York Giants on Sunday.
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.
