{"id":61676,"date":"2025-05-19T06:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T06:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/61676\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T06:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T06:20:12","slug":"vikings-will-have-all-eyes-on-them-to-begin-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/61676\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Will Have All Eyes On Them to Begin 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Minnesota Vikings fans in the crowd cheer against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve now had a little while to fully analyze and digest the 2025 NFL Schedule Release<\/a>, specifically for our beloved purple and gold team in the frozen north. After weeks of speculation, fake rumors, real steam, and awful predictions, we finally got the real-deal roadmap to the Vikings\u2019 2025 regular season in our hands.<\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t have to look at it long to realize something; we\u2019re gonna be seeing a lot of this Minnesota Vikings club on national television. In fact, four of their first five contests will be shown to the entire country (and then some) as nationally televised games:<\/p>\n

Week 1 \u2013 @ Chicago Bears, Monday Night Football on ESPN \u2013 7:15 pm<\/p>\n

Week 2 \u2013 vs. Atlanta Falcons, Sunday Night Football on NBC \u2013 7:20 pm<\/p>\n

Week 4 \u2013 @ Pittsburgh Steelers (Dublin, Ireland) International Game on NFL Network \u2013 8:30 am<\/p>\n

Week 5 \u2013 @ Cleveland Browns (London, England) International Game on NFL Network \u2013 8:30 am<\/p>\n

\"vikings\"Oct 29, 2017; London, United Kingdom; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) celebrates after scoring on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns during an NFL International Series game at Twickenham Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

With a Week 3 date with the Cincinnati Bengals at U.S. Bank Stadium, splitting them, the Vikings will have back-to-back nationally televised games twice in the first five weeks of the 2025 NFL season. Their first back-to-back consists of their season opener on the road at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football, as well as their home opener the following week against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football.<\/p>\n

The second back-to-back is their now-infamous international double-header<\/a>, where they will play the Steelers in Dublin, Ireland, followed by the Cleveland Browns the next week in London, England, a follow-up to their 2017 matchup in the same city that saw the Vikings skirt away victorious by a score of 33-17, led by Case Keenum.<\/p>\n

The Vikings will also replay another international matchup, this time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, whom they faced in London in 2013, with the difference this time, of course, being the location of Dublin. The Vikings also won that game 34-17.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oct 6, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O\u2019Connell (left) talks with New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) after the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Vikings are no strangers to playing across the pond, especially over the last three seasons. These are the third and fourth times that Minnesota will compete in an exhibition in Western Europe since the beginning of the Kevin O\u2019Connell era in 2022.<\/p>\n

They are also no stranger to former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, as well as the Chicago Bears, whom Johnson now coaches. This is their Week 1 foe, and it\u2019s got a little bit more juice behind it this time around. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re used to that dreaded annual Monday Night Football showdown with the Bears, but with Caleb Williams and a talented offense under the direction of a wiz-kid like Ben Johnson, this matchup should have plenty of fireworks we\u2019re not used to seeing in this divisional showdown.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dec 16, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) talks to Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell after the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Vikings aren\u2019t really strangers to the Falcons either, and it\u2019s not just because Kirk Cousins is (currently) on Atlanta\u2019s roster. This will be the seventh time in the last ten seasons these two teams will go at it (with the Vikings being 5-1 in the last six meetings), as well as the third consecutive year they face off, dating back to 2023. The Vikings won both of those matchups.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Minnesota Vikings fans in the crowd cheer against the Los Angeles Rams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234,10956,5375],"class_list":{"0":"post-61676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings","14":"tag-vikings-2025-schedule","15":"tag-vikings-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114533054940078092","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}