Souhan: Four games made the difference between the Vikings and the NFL playoffs

The Vikings picked a bad year to have a bad November.

A four-game losing streak in the year’s penultimate month erased any chance of a playoff berth, preventing the Vikings from taking advantage of a season of muddled mediocrity in the conference and division.

The NFC and the North Division have failed to produce a dominant team. Had the Vikings employed a better backup quarterback, or won a couple of close games, or gotten J.J. McCarthy up to speed earlier, they could have had a place in one of the least impressive NFC playoff fields in memory.

The best team in the NFC, the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks, is led by the quarterback the Vikings ditched because he choked in the two biggest games of the 2025 season. Now, Sam Darnold faces at least two consecutive big games — one for the NFC West title, against San Francisco, that will determine the first seed in the conference, and then a playoff game.

Last season, faced with exactly that scenario, he shriveled.

The best team in the North, the 11-5 Chicago Bears, benefited from a soft schedule and a ridiculous number of late-fourth-quarter comebacks. If the Vikings hadn’t botched the kickoff coverage against the Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 16, the Vikings would have swept the Bears this season without even playing well.

All of this mediocrity has produced a rarity: a Vikings-Packers game that means nothing.

Green Bay, with a chance to contend for the division title, allowed Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry to rush 36 times for 216 yards and four touchdowns at Lambeau Field. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he’s not sure whether he will play all of his starters, including quarterback Jordan Love, against the Vikings on Sunday, Jan. 4.

A victory for the Vikings would give them a 9-8 record and reason to second-guess every decision they made that cost them that one victory that might have gotten them into the playoffs.

Here is where the Vikings needed to be just a little bit better:

Yes, McCarthy played horridly against the Falcons in Week 2, but it was the Vikings run defense that was truly embarrassing.

The Falcons rushed for 218 yards on 5.6 yards per carry in their 22-6 victory, and McCarthy suffered the ankle injury that would short-circuit his season.

The Steelers led 7-3 in the second quarter and had the ball on their 20-yard line.

Wide receiver DK Metcalf, the only game-breaker on the Steelers offense, ran a simple down-and-in and found nobody covering him. Linebacker Blake Cashman, who is so good at covering the middle of the field, was out with an injury, and Ivan Pace Jr. didn’t appear to drop deep enough in coverage.

Metcalf caught a routine pass over the middle and turned it into an 80-yard touchdown after several Vikings failed to tackle him.

The Vikings would lose 24-21. That play was the reason.

Defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia had lost two straight games, managing just 17 points in each, when the team came to Minnesota in October. The Vikings secondary allowed Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to run wild. The two combined for 13 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns.

The Vikings experienced the Full McCarthy in a home game against the Bears in November. McCarthy was awful for much of the game, then led a fourth-quarter drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison that gave the Vikings a 17-16 lead with 50 seconds remaining.

Then the Vikings allowed a 56-yard kickoff return by Devin Duvernay that led to a game-winning field goal for the Bears, who won 19-17.

If not for the kickoff return, the Vikings would be 9-7, a half-game behind the Packers for the seventh seed in the conference, and would have a 4-1 record in the division, with all four victories produced by McCarthy.