In this putrid mess of a Vikings season, no one is absolved from blame

It's stunning to think about how far the Minnesota Vikings have fallen in less than a year.

Exactly 11 months ago, the 2024 Vikings were 14-2 and riding a nine-game winning streak after a big home victory over the Packers. They were preparing for a massive Week 18 showdown in Detroit, with the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line.

Since then, it's been almost entirely downhill, with only a few moments of hope mixed in. Sam Darnold and the Vikings famously laid an egg in that game against the Lions, then did the same a week later in a wild card round loss to the Rams. That set in motion an offseason full of decisions that have mostly all aged poorly.

The 2025 Vikings were once 3-2, but historically awful quarterback play from J.J. McCarthy — and, most recently, Max Brosmer — now has them at 4-8. They haven't scored a point in their last six quarters. Their supposed young franchise QB has become a meme. Their O-line still isn't fixed. Their superstar receiver has nothing left to say. The amount of money they doled out on underwhelming veterans this offseason makes their 2026 cap situation a mess.

It's all quite bleak right now. We wrote last week that this is the type of season that is going to cost people their jobs, and that feels even more inevitable after Sunday's 26-0 shutout debacle in Seattle. In this disaster, this absolute calamity of a Vikings season, no one can be absolved from blame.

That starts at the top, with head coach Kevin O'Connell. Yes, he's the reigning NFL coach of the year and received a well-deserved contract extension this offseason. No, I don't think his job is in any remote jeopardy moving forward. But this hasn't been good enough. It's alarming when an analyst who works for the team is calling the offense "broken." O'Connell has gotten non-functional quarterback play from McCarthy and Brosmer, but is that partially because he hasn't adjusted his offense to make it more friendly for inexperienced QBs?

Short-yardage situations have been a nightmare for the Vikings all season. O'Connell continues to regularly dial up passes in those spots despite having substantially more success when he runs it. The offense can't stay out of its own way or come up with any sort of consistent all-11 execution. To some degree, that has to fall on the architect and play-caller on that side of the ball. Unless McCarthy drastically turns it around over the final five games, O'Connell is going to head into his fifth year with a massive quarterback question and zero postseason wins.

Speculatively, it feels less certain that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will reach a fifth year with the franchise. He also signed a contract extension this offseason, but that does not guarantee anything in professional sports. Adofo-Mensah is the one who assembled this highly-disappointing roster, which has far more issues than quarterback play. His 2025 free agent class has been almost as much of a letdown as the 2024 haul was a smashing success. His struggle to find contributors in the draft, especially outside of the first round, has been widely publicized.

In defense of Adofo-Mensah, it's hard to parse exactly how much influence the Vikings' coaching staff has on personnel decisions. O'Connell undoubtedly played a major role in the McCarthy pick and the decision to let Darnold walk this offseason. Brian Flores was a big reason why Minnesota signed Isaiah Rodgers, a move that looked incredible in Week 3 and much less so with his four missed tackles in Seattle. He likely also factored into the signings of Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Byron Murphy Jr., who have all been disappointing relative to cost.

If Vikings' ownership doesn't make a big move by letting Adofo-Mensah go, at least one or two less-prominent leaders will inevitably have to take the fall. Among the logical candidates on paper are special teams coach Matt Daniels, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, offensive line coach Chris Kuper, and assistant GM Ryan Grigson.

But again, this starts at the top, with O'Connell. He must find a way to drag the Vikings out of this mess, this hole they've dug for themselves. Five weeks remain in a lost 2025 season to hopefully begin that process.

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