2018 Minnesota Vikings season

The 2018 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 58th in the National Football League (NFL), their third playing their home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their fifth under head coach Mike Zimmer.

Following a Week 8 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the team could no longer improve on their 13–3 record from the 2017 season, in which they won the NFC North division and reached the NFC Championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Vikings failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three years when they lost to the division rival Chicago Bears coupled with the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the Washington Redskins in the final week of the regular season.

Notes

• The Vikings were awarded two compensatory selections at the NFL's annual spring owners' meetings. They received two additional selections in the sixth round, compensating for the losses of Cordarrelle Patterson and Adrian Peterson.

Draft trades

Owner/chairman – Zygi Wilf Owner/president – Mark Wilf Owner/vice chairman – Leonard Wilf General manager – Rick Spielman Assistant general manager – George Paton Executive vice president – public affairs – Lester Bagley Executive vice president – football operations – Rob Brzezinski Executive vice president – strategic planning and business initiatives – Jonathan Wilf Executive vice president/chief marketing officer – Steve LaCroix Executive vice president/chief financial officer – Steve Poppen Chief operating officer – Kevin Warren Project executive – Don Becker Consultant – Bud Grant Head coaches

Head coach – Mike Zimmer Offensive coaches

Interim offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Kevin Stefanski Assistant quarterbacks – Drew Petzing Running backs – Kennedy Polamalu Wide receivers – Darrell Hazell Tight ends – Todd Downing Co-offensive line – Clancy Barone Co-offensive line – Andrew Janocko | | | Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – George Edwards Defensive line – Andre Patterson Assistant defensive line – Robert Rodriguez Linebackers – Adam Zimmer Defensive backs – Jerry Gray Nickel/defensive backs – Terence Newman Defensive assistant/assistant defensive backs – Jeff Howard Defensive quality control coach – Nick Rallis Special teams coaches

Special teams coordinator – Mike Priefer Assistant special teams – Ryan Ficken Strength and conditioning

Head strength and conditioning – Mark Uyeyama Assistant strength and conditioning – Derik Keyes Assistant strength and conditioning –Reshard Langford Assistant strength and conditioning – Chaz Mahle |

31 Ameer Abdullah 44 Mike Boone 33 Dalvin Cook 30 C. J. Ham FB 25 Latavius Murray Wide receivers (WR)

12 Chad Beebe 14 Stefon Diggs 17 Aldrick Robinson 19 Adam Thielen 11 Laquon Treadwell 15 Brandon Zylstra Tight ends (TE)

83 Tyler Conklin 89 David Morgan 82 Kyle Rudolph | | Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Tom Compton G 65 Pat Elflein C 69 Rashod Hill T 63 Danny Isidora G 61 Brett Jones C 75 Brian O'Neill T 71 Riley Reiff T 74 Mike Remmers G Defensive linemen (DL)

90 Tashawn Bower DE 97 Everson Griffen DE 92 Jalyn Holmes DE 99 Danielle Hunter DE 94 Jaleel Johnson DT 96 Tom Johnson DT 98 Linval Joseph DT 93 Sheldon Richardson DT 91 Stephen Weatherly DE | | Linebackers (LB) 55 Anthony Barr OLB 40 Kentrell Brothers MLB 57 Devante Downs OLB 42 Ben Gedeon OLB 54 Eric Kendricks MLB 50 Eric Wilson Defensive backs (DB)

20 Mackensie Alexander CB 41 Anthony Harris SS 24 Holton Hill CB 23 George Iloka SS 36 Craig James CB 27 Jayron Kearse FS 29 Xavier Rhodes CB 35 Marcus Sherels CB 22 Harrison Smith FS 26 Trae Waynes CB Special teams (ST)

 5 Dan Bailey K 47 Kevin McDermott LS  6 Matt Wile P | | Practice squad 85 Jeff Badet WR 78 Adam Bisnowaty T 43 Reshard Cliett OLB 66 Curtis Cothran DT 67 Cornelius Edison C 87 Cole Hikutini TE 37 Jalen Myrick CB 72 Storm Norton T 95 Ifeadi Odenigbo DE 32 Roc Thomas RB Reserve

61 Ade Aruna DE (IR) 76 Aviante Collins T (IR) 62 Nick Easton G (IR) 21 Mike Hughes CB (IR) 68 Cedrick Lang T (IR) 51 Hercules Mata'afa DE (IR) 87 Josiah Price TE (IR) 34 Andrew Sendejo SS (IR) 48 Johnny Stanton FB (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 9 reserve, 10 practice squad |

The Vikings' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on April 11.

Minnesota in action at Detroit

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

The Vikings began the 2018 season with a home game against the San Francisco 49ers, their first home game since the Minneapolis Miracle in the divisional round of the 2017–18 NFL playoffs. The game saw quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson make their regular season debuts for the Vikings, as well as the return of second-year running back Dalvin Cook, who had torn his ACL early in the 2017 season. The two teams traded punts to start the game, before the Vikings put a drive together on their second possession, culminating with a 48-yard field goal by rookie kicker Daniel Carlson. The 49ers then failed to pick up a first down on their next possession, giving the Vikings good field position on their own 47-yard line off the ensuing punt as the first quarter drew to a close. Runs by Latavius Murray and a 17-yard pass from Cousins to Cook gave the Vikings a third-and-3 situation on the San Francisco 22-yard-line, from where Cousins threw a 22-yard strike to Stefon Diggs, the 100th touchdown pass of his career. On the ensuing San Francisco possession, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo linked up with tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Trent Taylor to get them into Minnesota territory, before a pass interference penalty against Vikings cornerback Trae Waynes put the 49ers just outside the red zone; however, the Minnesota defense stood firm and allowed just a 42-yard Robbie Gould field goal; however, on the Vikings' next drive, Cook fumbled the ball at the end of a 15-yard run, allowing San Francisco to regain possession. They marched down to the Vikings' 1-yard line, only for defensive tackle Linval Joseph to force a fumble from running back Alfred Morris, which safety Harrison Smith subsequently recovered. The Vikings were able to get out from under the shadow of their own goalposts and closed out the half with a 10–3 lead.

The Vikings defense forced a three-and-out to begin the second half, but only managed one first down on their ensuing possession before having to punt; however, three plays later, with the 49ers at third-and-8 from their own 20-yard line, the Vikings' rookie cornerback Mike Hughes intercepted a pass from Garoppolo and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to put the Vikings up 17–3. Garoppolo responded immediately, however, completing a 56-yard pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk to put the 49ers inside the Vikings' 20. As in the first half, though, the Minnesota defense held up and limited the 49ers to a 33-yard field goal. Cousins focused his attention on his wide receivers to begin the next Vikings possession, completing passes of 11 and 34 yards to Adam Thielen, the latter being the Vikings' longest completed pass of the day, to get into 49ers territory. Cook continued to run the ball, while Cousins' attention shifted to his tight ends, first completing a nine-yard pass to David Morgan II before an 11-yard completion to Kyle Rudolph for the Vikings' third touchdown of the day. A 36-yard completion from Garoppolo to Kittle was the highlight of the subsequent San Francisco drive, which culminated in a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Dante Pettis with 30 seconds left in the quarter. The Vikings went three-and-out on their next possession; they soon had the ball back, as cornerback Xavier Rhodes intercepted Garoppolo, only to again have to punt, giving San Francisco the ball back at their own 14-yard line. A 39-yard pass from Garoppolo to Pettis got the 49ers into the Vikings' half, but a tackle for a five-yard loss by Smith led to another third-down situation for San Francisco; Garoppolo's third-down pass was incomplete, which should have meant them having to punt, only for Richardson to be flagged for roughing the passer, giving the 49ers a 15-yard advantage and an automatic first down. They were able to get down to the Vikings' 4-yard line, but were unable to get the ball into the end zone and again had to settle for a field goal, reducing the margin to 8 points. The Vikings again had to punt on their next possession, but a 10-yard sack by Smith on the next series meant San Francisco had to do the same, giving the Vikings the ball back with six minutes left to play. A combination of runs from Murray and Cook allowed the Vikings to take three minutes off the clock, but a scramble run from Cousins came up just short of another first down; however, the Vikings were able to draw the 49ers' defense offside, giving them a free five yards and the first down. They were able to take another minute off the clock before punting, giving the 49ers the ball with 1:49 to play. Needing a touchdown to stand a chance of taking the game to overtime, Garoppolo had to go for it, but was intercepted by Smith on the second play of the drive, allowing the Vikings to run out the clock and claim their first win of the season.

Week 2 saw the Vikings travel to Lambeau Field to take on their archrivals, the Green Bay Packers, against whom Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr effectively ended Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' 2017 season with a hit that broke Rodgers' collarbone.

The Packers received the ball first and were forced to punt. On the ensuing drive, the Packers forced the Vikings to go three-and-out, but the punt from the Vikings' Matt Wile was blocked by Geronimo Allison and recovered by the Packers' Josh Jackson for a touchdown. On Minnesota's next drive, quarterback Kirk Cousins led the Vikings on an eight-play, 57-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 7–7, with the scoring pass going to Laquon Treadwell for 14 yards. Green Bay followed that with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Davante Adams early in the second quarter, making the game 14–7. After trading punts and a missed 48-yard field goal for the Vikings by rookie kicker Daniel Carlson, the Packers' Mason Crosby made a 37-yard field goal at the end of the first half to send the Packers to the locker room leading 17–7.

The Vikings received the ball after halftime, but their drive stalled and were forced to punt. Green Bay followed that up with a 40-yard field goal from Crosby with 6:32 left in the third quarter. After trading punts, the Vikings scored another touchdown on a three-yard pass to Stefon Diggs early in the fourth quarter to reduce the Packers' lead to six points. Green Bay followed that up with Crosby's third field goal of the day, this time from 31 yards, but the Vikings responded quickly on their next drive, as Cousins hit Diggs with a 75-yard touchdown pass to make it a 23–21 lead for the Packers. Crosby then made his fourth field goal of the day from 48 yards with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter. Cousins threw an interception on the first play of the Vikings' next drive, leading to a fifth Crosby field goal from 36 yards with 1:45 remaining, putting the Packers up 29–21. Cousins then led the Vikings 75 yards in eight plays, resulting in a 22-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen, but the Vikings needed a two-point conversion to tie the game. Cousins then connected with Diggs to tie the game at 29–29, with 31 seconds remaining in regulation. Green Bay was able to move down the field and into field goal range, but Crosby's 52-yard attempt missed left and the game went to overtime.

The Vikings won the overtime coin toss and received the ball. They moved 39 yards in seven plays, but Carlson's 49-yard attempt sailed wide right. Green Bay then was forced to punt after chewing 3:45 off the clock, and the Vikings started their next drive with 3:57 left to play. After moving 63 yards, the Vikings were at the Packers' 17-yard line with four seconds remaining in overtime, but Carlson missed his third field goal attempt of the game, this time from 35 yards, and again wide right. Carlson was waived the next day, replaced by veteran kicker Dan Bailey.

Although the Vikings entered the game as 16.5- to 17-point favorites over the Bills, they were dominated at home in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.

This was the first NFL broadcast in history to have an all-female announcing team (accessible only to Amazon Prime viewers).

The Vikings recorded their first-ever road win against the Jets, ending a five-game road losing streak against them.

This was a rematch of the Minneapolis Miracle from last year's divisional playoff game. There would be no miracle in this one however, as the Saints won 30–20 as the Vikings fell to 4–3–1.

Four Vikings players were elected to the Pro Bowl when the rosters were announced on December 18, 2018, with both outside linebacker Anthony Barr and safety Harrison Smith named to their fourth Pro Bowls. Wide receiver Adam Thielen was named to his second Pro Bowl, having received his first nomination in 2017, while defensive end Danielle Hunter received his first Pro Bowl selection.

Source: Minnesota Vikings' official website

Source: NFL.com

• Official website