The Minnesota Vikings‘ 2025 season was marred by poor quarterback play. J.J. McCarthy was inconsistent and was limited to only 10 games after battling a multitude of injuries.
Looking to stabilize the position and the offense, the Vikings signed Kyler Murray this offseason. His own play has been inconsistent over the past four seasons, but Minnesota is hoping that pairing him with Kevin O’Connell can help Murray return to his early-career Pro Bowl form.
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If Murray can do that, the Vikings could be a surprise playoff team in 2026, says Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report. All indications so far are that Murray has taken to the Vikings’ coaching, providing optimism that he can see a Sam Darnold-like resurgence in 2026.
Assuming Murray does win the job, he’ll have one of the best trios of wide receivers in the league at his disposal in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and newcomer Jauan Jennings. The offensive line is decent, if unspectacular. The Vikings were third in the league in total defense last year and seventh in points allowed.
The NFC North has the makings of being quite the donnybrook in 2026. But if head coach Kevin O’ Connell can coax the same sort of comeback from Murray he did from Darnold, the Vikings will be right in the middle of it.
Also working in Minnesota’s favor is that the Chicago Bears, who won the division last year, face the league’s hardest schedule in 2026. The Green Bay Packers are tied for the third-hardest schedule.
That could provide an even clearer path for the Vikings to get back to the top of the North. They will host the Packers in Week 1 and travel to Chicago in Week 2, perhaps providing early indications of whether the Murray experiment will work.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings could make the playoffs in 2026 despite expectations