No pressure, Carson: Next 3 games could make or break Vikings' season

The Vikings would never admit it, because their singular focus is on the upcoming game, but Sunday's matchup with the Bengals is the start of a three-week stretch that could make or break their season. And with J.J. McCarthy likely to miss all three games, the Vikings will be relying on veteran backup Carson Wentz, who hasn't started a meaningful game in close to three years.

On the one hand, that's why they went out in late August and upgraded at the backup spot after being unsatisfied with Sam Howell and Brett Rypien. On the other hand, there's now a lot of pressure on Wentz to deliver, and the Vikings will be without 2-4 other offensive starters this Sunday. Jordan Addison and Aaron Jones are definitely out, while Christian Darrisaw and Ryan Kelly appear to be more likely than not to miss the game.

Even amidst all of their injury woes, the Vikings have to find a way to go at least 2-1 over their next three weeks. It starts with a battle of backup quarterbacks against the Bengals, who are turning to Jake Browning after Joe Burrow's injury. Then it's a two-week international trip to face the Steelers and the Browns, who are led by the only two quadragenarian starting quarterbacks in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco.

The reason why these next three games are so critical? Just take a look at the schedule after the post-Europe bye in Week 6. The Vikings will host the defending champion Eagles, travel to face the Chargers on a short week, go to Detroit to play the Lions, and then host the juggernaut Ravens. There's a real chance they won't be favored in any of those four games.

If the Vikings are 4-1 or even 3-2 heading into the bye, they'll have afforded themselves the ability to go 1-3 in that brutal four-week stretch and still have their playoff aspirations intact. If they're 2-3 and need to split the four games to stay in the mix, things will get dicey. 1-4 would be a death sentence, considering the schedule doesn't exactly ease up all that much in Weeks 11-18.

The range of outcomes for the Vikings over the next three weeks is wide. If Wentz is capable, the roster is more than talented enough to go 3-0 before the bye. The skill position group remains strong and will get Addison back in Dublin. The defense, despite missing a key player in Blake Cashman, should give the Browning/Rodgers/Flacco trio trouble.

0-3 is also in play, considering Wentz is a pretty major unknown at this point in his career. The most glaring other concern is the health of the offensive line, and specifically Darrisaw's availability against the pass rush gauntlet of Trey Hendrickson, T.J. Watt, and Myles Garrett over the next three weeks. It's also been a somewhat unspectacular start for a Vikings defense that came into the season with very lofty expectations.

Sunday's Bengals game, which currently sees the Vikings as 1.5-point favorites, is already a critical one. Browning is better than most backup QBs and has one of the league's top skill groups at his disposal, but he's also liable to throw interceptions — and Cincy's defense isn't great. The Steelers are always frisky, but they've allowed over 30 points in each of their first two games. The Browns are 0-2 and staring down the Packers and Lions, which means they'll probably be a desperate 1-3 or 0-4 heading into the London game.

Our Joe Nelson, in ranking the Vikings' 15 remaining games by difficulty, has these next three all among the four easiest on paper. The four after that are all among the five most daunting. Thus, it is absolutely imperative to the Vikings' rest-of-season outlook that Wentz and company find a way to win at least two — and ideally three — football games in three different countries between now and October 5.

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