Who’s had worse injury luck this season, the Vikings or Chargers?

The Vikings and Chargers enter Week 8 banged up and struggling.

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell (left) and Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh (right) | © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images | © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Vikings' roller coaster of a 2025 season continued Sunday, returning from a bye to suffer a 28-22 loss to the Eagles. They now head out to Los Angeles to take on a Chargers squad that is coming off a loss of their own, which is their third in their past four games. So, which team is struggling more and where are the advantages for the Vikings?

Injury bug

Vikings fans are well aware of the team's lengthy injury list already this season, most notable with starter J.J. McCarthy on the shelf since the Week 2 loss to Atlanta. While important starters have made their way back over the bye week — Donovan Jackson, Brian O'Neill, and Blake Cashman — the Vikings still were without several key contributors on Sunday.

McCarthy looks likely to miss Thursday's action as well, as he continues to recover from his ankle injury. Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel's status for Thursday remains up in the air as well. Meanwhile, running back Aaron Jones is still on injured reserve, as is starting center Ryan Kelly and backup running back Ty Chandler.

While those injuries have certainly had an impact on Minnesota's season, it pales in comparison to what the Chargers are dealing with.

Before the season even got underway, Los Angeles lost starting left tackle Rashawn Slater to a season-ending knee injury in training camp. That forced former Totino-Grace (Minn.) standout Joe Alt to move over to left tackle. Then in Week 4, Alt suffered an ankle injury that has kept him out the past three weeks, and his status remains in question ahead of Thursday's game.

Alt's replacement at right tackle, Trey Pipkens III, has also missed the last two weeks with a knee injury. That has left Los Angeles with just eight available linemen and none of them have been good this season. More on that later though.

Also out have been the team's top two running backs, Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris. Harris, 27, was lost for the season in Week 4 due to a torn Achilles. Hampton has missed the previous three weeks with an ankle injury and remains on injured reserve. That has left the Chargers with just two running backs, Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins.

On the defensive side, Los Angeles just saw Khalil Mack and Denzel Perryman return to action after stints on injured reserve. Meanwhile, they were without safety Elijah Molden (thumb) and Troy Dye (thumb) on Sunday.

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Offensive line struggles

Chargers QB Justin Herbert has had the most drop backs under pressure this season at 119, according to PFF. Carson Wentz and J.J. McCarthy's combined 83 drop backs under pressure would rank as the 13th most in the league this season.

Overall, the Chargers have the fifth-worst pass blocking grade in the league at 49.4, while Minnesota's 65.8 is ninth-best in the NFL. As shown by the pressure numbers, that grade is only a portion of the story.

As has already been noted, the Chargers have dealt with a long list of injuries to their tackles. The interior though hasn't missed much time this season, but that doesn't mean it's been great or even good. None of the Chargers' starting guards (Mekhi Becton and Zion Johnson) and center (Bradley Bozeman) have a PFF pass blocking grade higher than 63.

Bozeman's 18 pressures allowed is the third most among all guards and centers, while Becton's 12 pressures ranks ninth most, and Johnson's 11 pressures allowed is 10th most in the league. Herbert, this season when under pressure, has a 45.1% completion rate. When he's kept clean, that jumps all the way up to a 78.9%.

Meanwhile, presumptive Vikings starter Carson Wentz has been equally as bad under pressure with a 56.4% completion rate, which jumps to 70.9% when kept clean.

In the run game, the Chargers, despite losing their top two backs, have generally found a bit of success. So far this season, Los Angeles is rushing for an average of 4.9 yards per carry, third best in the NFL. But they struggle to punch it in on the ground with only two rushing touchdowns this season. Minnesota has the sixth-fewest rushing yards (623) while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Minnesota's struggles containing the run have been well documented, and could be an area Jim Harbaugh looks to target on Thursday. On the other hand, the Vikings' ability to get after the quarterback could severely hamper the Chargers' options and make them a one-dimensional offense.

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