For a 14-win team last season, the Minnesota Vikings absorbed a ton of roster turnover since the start of the new league year. It’s not surprising that their first month of 2025 has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride.
Vikings fans shouldn’t be sounding the alarms just yet. Aside from one of the most talent-rich rosters in the NFL (when healthy), their team employs arguably the league’s top coaching staff, led by a pair of well-established leaders and tacticians in Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores.
Minnesota’s 2-2 start is disappointing, but there’s reason to believe that the team can get things turned around. For starters, the Vikings have to survive Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns in London, get to their bye in Week 6, and allow some of their key injured players to heal.
They’ll also need to reverse a spiraling trend that you wouldn’t expect from an O’Connell-coached team.
Minnesota Vikings are committing penalties at an alarming rate to start the 2025 regular season
Two problem areas are absolutely crushing the Vikings through four games — sacks and penalties.
The former is directly connected to an injury-ravaged offensive line that could be without right tackle Brian O’Neill, center Ryan Kelly, and left guard Donovan Jackson this week.
Still, quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz have combined to be sacked on 13.95 percent of their drop-backs, which leads the NFL by an alarming rate.
The penalties might be an even bigger red flag. Minnesota leads the NFL in penalties per play entering Week 5.
They’re surrendering 71.8 yards to penalties on average, according to Team Rankings, which ranks 26th in the league; the Vikings were the 13th-least penalized team during the 2024 season.
Number of penalties committed by every NFL team. pic.twitter.com/XKM1RFdoKf
— Tyler Webb (@tylermwebb) September 30, 2025
The main culprit has been — no shocker, here — the offensive line. Backup center Michael Jurgens leads the team with four accepted penalties, followed by Fries (3) and left tackle Christian Darrisaw (2). The Vikings’ QBs have also been flagged for a combined five pre-snap infractions, according to Pro Football Focus.
Some of Minnesota’s penalty numbers are skewed. The Vikings were flagged an insane 13 times for 105 yards in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals — but that game was essentially over in the second quarter, as the Vikings cruised to a 48-10 win at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Still, with at least eight accepted penalties in every game this season, Minnesota has to start eliminating some of the bad football that held it back in September.
Even with all the new faces and moving parts, this Vikings' coaching staff is too good and experienced to let this trend continue.