Vikings score predictions for Week 16 road finale against Giants

Will J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson find a rhythm while Minnesota's offense stays hot?

Justin Jefferson against the Detroit Lions during Week 9 of the 2025 season. | Image courtesy of the Minnesota Viking

With the season fading and the pressure of being in playoff contention gone, the Vikings have rattled off consecutive wins against NFC East teams with bad defenses and they can make it three in a row when they visit the New York Giants in their final road game of the season on Sunday.

The offense has been humming the past two weeks behind J.J. McCarthy, who has four passing touchdowns and two rushing scores while leading the Vikings to 65 points in back-to-back wins over the Commanders and Cowboys. Can he do it on the road again to help erase doubts that he can be Minnesota's QB1 in 2026?

Our staff members have made their predictions.

Will Ragatz: Vikings 23, Giants 17

Since being functionally eliminated a few weeks ago in Seattle, the Vikings have seen real progress from J.J. McCarthy in consecutive wins over bad-to-mediocre NFC East teams. That trend will probably continue this weekend against a 2-12 Giants team. New York can be sneaky competitive via Jaxson Dart and a strong pass rush, but they've found a way to lose games all season. McCarthy should be able to have more success via quick passes that prevent the rush from getting home. It would be very on brand for the Vikings to continue stacking wins together that drag their draft pick towards the middle of the pack. Vikings 23, Giants 17

Joe Nelson: Vikings 38, Giants 19

My predictions have been terrible all season, but nearly every Giants opponent has lit up the scoreboard this season, and there's zero reason to think Minnesota won't score 30+ for a third straight game. It's why the Giants are 30th in total yards allowed, 29th in points allowed, and 31st in rushing defense. The fact that New York can't stop the run means there will be opportunities for huge plays in the passing game, and I'm going to predict that Justin Jefferson, who has 832 receiving yards, has his biggest game of the season and is over 1,000 yards by the end of the game.

Tony Liebert: Vikings 23, Giants 17

The Vikings are carrying their first win streak of the season, and there's reason to believe that J.J. McCarthy has turned a corner. He has a great opportunity to keep the ball rolling this week against a struggling Giants team. Jaxson Dart hasn't had the same juice since New York fired Brian Daboll, so I think Minnesota has another impressive showing offensively and extends the win streak to three.

Jonathan Harrison: Vikings 28, Giants 20

The Giants are bad. Washington ended its 8-game losing streak last week with a win over New York. The Giants' losing streak is now at 8 games and will reach 9 games this weekend when "Nine" shows up and guides the Vikings to a win. McCarthy had a great game last Sunday against the Cowboys, making it two solid performances in a row. With another bad opponent ahead, the Vikings' young QB will put together another confidence-building performance ahead of closing out the season with two tough tests against the Lions and Packers.

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Here are last week's predictions and our season records:

• Will: 9-5
• Tony: 6-8
• Joe: 4-10
• Jonathan: 4-10