The Minnesota Vikings open the 2026 NFL season with two NFC North division games. Minnesota will face the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, then the Chicago Bears in Week 2. The Vikings won’t win the division in the first two weeks of the season, but they could sure lose it.
Coming out of the gate 0-2, with both losses being divisional games, would be the worst-case scenario. It would deal Minnesota’s chances of winning the division a major hit.
Moreover, ESPN Insights already doesn’t see the Vikings winning the NFC North despite making an upgrade at QB with Kyler Murray being the starter.
“The Vikings enter the season with a 10 percent chance to win the NFC North per ESPN Analytics, lowest in the division,” the outlet wrote on Aug. 25 on X. “Kyler Murray will be the fourth Week 1 starter in five years for Kevin O’Connell. Murray has averaged 6.6 yards per attempt since 2022. J.J. McCarthy averaged 6.7 last season.”
During his time with the Cardinals, Murray had a passer rating of 92.2 with 20,460 yards, 121 touchdowns and 60 interceptions in 87 games, per StatMuse.
Kyler Murray Working Through One Major Concern
One issue that has emerged in practice is the center-quarterback exchange between Murray and Blake Brandel. Both players are looking to get that chemistry down for snapping the ball, and it’s clearly a work in progress.
On Aug. 19, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke to the media and shared the latest on one major issue that Murray and Brandel will need to overcome as Week 1 approaches.
“[Murray and Brandel] got to practice it, and that’s where we have time, but not that much time, as I like to say; we’ve got to acknowledge it, and then you’ll see, hopefully, center-quarterback exchange for the next two weeks,” O’Connell told reporters. “We’re only working those things to make sure we can continue to identify as new things come about in our offense or new techniques in the run or pass phase that stress Blake.
“We can practice those enough so he gets that thousand-rep rule, and we can lock those in because those are critical… Blake’s had a really good camp. For sure, the quarterback-center exchange is something that we’re going to continue to harp on and make sure we get corrected. As there’s many things throughout training camp where, when there’s an issue, we got to fix it. It cannot continue to be an issue.”
Kyler Murray Gets Strong Advice Before Vikings 2026 Season
With Murray having the keys to the Minnesota offense, ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards gave the signal-caller clear advice that could help him succeed with the Vikings.
“When you think about their offense, [Jordan] Addison, [Justin] Jefferson, [T.J.] Hockenson, [Aaron] Jones, they have some outstanding skilled players,“ Edwards said on the Aug. 15 edition of “SportsCenter.” “They just need a quarterback not to do too much. Just run the offense.
“Kyler Murray [has to realize], you know what? All I got to do is run the offense. I don’t have to run around. Just sit in the pocket, get the ball out of your hand. So, this is going to be kind of fun to watch this competition.”
Vikings Get Concerning Outlook Ahead of Week 1 Packers Game