The Minnesota Vikings have spent the first six weeks of 2026 doing the one thing nobody saw coming: staying perfect.
That seemed improbable right from the jump. In Week 1, Minnesota was staring at a 12-point hole against the Green Bay Packers before flipping the game completely, scoring 29 straight points on the way to a 39-22 win. Since then, the Vikings have kept stacking victories, beating the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints before heading into their Week 6 bye at 5-0.
That record is impressive on its own. What makes it even more striking is what comes next. Based on current win-loss records, Minnesota has the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the entire NFL over the final 12 weeks.
The Vikings’ remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of .572, and a big reason for that is simple: the NFC North is loaded up right now. Minnesota sits atop the division at 5-0, but the Packers and Bears are both 4-2, with Green Bay holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. Detroit is 3-2 and, amazingly, still in last place.
Eight of Minnesota’s final 12 games are against teams currently above .500.
Four of those are division games, and those will shape the stretch run. The Vikings still have Detroit twice, in Weeks 8 and 15. They also go to Lambeau Field for the rematch with Green Bay in Week 10, then close the regular season at home against Chicago in Week 18.
The non-division part of the schedule is no picnic either. Minnesota gets the Buffalo Bills, who are 5-1, in Week 9.
They also face the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers, who are 6-0, in Week 11. Add in the Carolina Panthers, who lead the NFC South at 3-2, in Week 13, and the New England Patriots, who are 4-2, in Week 14, and there isn’t much breathing room.
The softer spots are there, but not many of them. The Vikings will play the Indianapolis Colts, who are 2-4, this Sunday, then the Atlanta Falcons, who are 2-4, in Week 12. Later comes Washington at 1-4-1 in Week 16 and the New York Jets at 2-4 in Week 17.
Minnesota would obviously love to run the table, but that’s not the way this league works. Still, the cushion from this 5-0 start matters. Even a 6-6 finish from here would leave the Vikings at 11-6, a mark that should be enough to get them back into the postseason.
If they manage to win two-thirds of the rest of their games, a 13-4 finish would likely be enough to take the division.
And the Vikings aren’t the only NFC North team facing a rough road. The Bears are tied for fourth in remaining strength of schedule, while the Lions are sixth and the Packers are seventh.
For now, Minnesota gets to enjoy the start it has built. Next up is Indianapolis on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, with the unbeaten run still intact and the schedule about to turn much less forgiving.
In Other News...
Vikings Could Catch A Break As Colts Injuries Start Looming
The Colts second injury report of the week gave Minnesota a little more to monitor heading into Sundays game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The reports, which track participation from Wednesday through Friday and note designations like IR-OUT and limited work, showed a handful of Indianapolis starters dealing with availability concerns as the weekend draws closer.
Sauce Gardner, Tyler Warren and Rigoberto Sanchez were among the Colts players who were not on the field Thursday, leaving their status worth watching as the week moves along. Indianapolis did have some players move in the right direction on the report, but with no final game designations out yet, the Vikings still have to wait for the last word before knowing exactly who theyll be facing. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Fans May Have Blamed The Wrong Coach For Last Season
The frustration around last seasons finish still lingers in Minnesota, and it is easy to see why special teams keeps coming up in the discussion. A single kickoff return, along with a handful of other key moments across the year, fed the belief that the Vikings let a playoff spot slip through their hands. But when you zoom out from one play to the broader arc of the season, the blame gets harder to pin on any one coach or unit alone.
Matt Daniels has remained a central figure on that side of the ball, and his work has continued to matter for both special teams and player development. The bigger lesson for the Vikings is that the seasons disappointment was built from more than one breakdown, from quarterback play to coaching decisions to late-game execution, which is why the aftermath still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert Is Suddenly At Center Of A Chargers Debate
The quarterback market keeps a Minnesota angle in view, even after the Vikings made their own offseason choice by bringing in Kyler Murray and letting Sam Darnold walk. Justin Herbert has been productive across his first six seasons with the Chargers, and the questions around his future have only sharpened the intrigue for teams that are always watching from the edge of a franchise-altering move.
For the Vikings, any Herbert talk is less about immediate need than about the kind of rare opening that can reshape a contender in a hurry. Nothing official has been confirmed, and Los Angeles has given no clear answer on where it stands, but the uncertainty alone is enough to keep Minnesota in the conversation as long as Herbert's status remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]