Vikings Featured in Saturday Triple-Header for Week 15
When the Minnesota Vikings schedule for the 2023 season was released, it included dates and times for every week’s matchup with some notable exceptions.
One exception was their Week 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which has been labeled as TBD since the official schedule release. However, on Thursday afternoon, the NFL finally set a date for this game, and the league has opted to feature it as part of a Saturday triple-header on December 16th with kickoff scheduled for 12 PM.
Vikings Featured in Saturday Triple-Header
This game seemed like it would be a battle between two teams trying to claw their way into the playoffs for a long time, but now that Joe Burrow is out for the year, the Bengals hopes seem to have been dashed.
In their first game without the franchise QB, the Jake Browning-led Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend by a score of 16-10. Browning threw for 227 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. With the loss, Cincinnati now sits at 5-6 and in last place in the AFC North.
Of course, things haven’t exactly gone well for the Vikings either over the past couple weeks. They’ve lost two consecutive games by a combined total of three points and currently sit at 6-6. However, they’ve maintained their playoff positioning, and with the Seahawks falling to Dallas on Thursday night, they actually hold the No. 6 seed in the NFC going into the Sunday slate of games.
For the Bengals, two games await them before this Saturday afternoon game against the Vikings. They will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Monday Night Football game for Week 13, and next weekend, they will play the Indianapolis Colts.
The Vikings, meanwhile, are on their bye week right now, so they do not play in Week 13. Then, they will take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 14 before this Week 15 game.
Cincinnati and Minnesota are the first teams to play in the Saturday tripleheader. They are joined by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts at 3:30 PM Central as well as the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions at 7:15 PM Central.
Vikings fans will recall that this is the same Week 15 Saturday tripleheader that resulted in Minnesota’s historic comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts. After falling down 33-0 at halftime, the Vikings stormed back to force overtime before ultimately winning the game by a score of 39-36.
A more convincing win would certainly be preferable this time around, but regardless, hopefully the Vikings can grab another victory in Week 15.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.