In a largely disappointing season, the Vikings finished strong.
Minnesota concluded the 2025 regular season today with a 16-3 win over Green Bay that improved the Vikings’ record to 9-8 on the season. That’s not good enough to make the playoffs, but after a rough start, the Vikings ended the season on a five-game winning streak.
It helped that the Packers weren’t trying to win, as they were already locked into the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and rested many of their most important players. Third-string quarterback Clayton Tune started for the Packers and showed why he’s a third-stringer.
For Vikings fans, the best moments came when they recognized two longtime respected veterans, safety Harrison Smith and fullback C.J. Ham, both of whom got loud ovations in what may have been their last game in Minnesota.
The bad news for the Vikings was that quarterback J.J. McCarthy aggravated his right hand injury, raising more concerns that he’s simply not capable of staying healthy. McCarthy’s status as the franchise quarterback is the biggest question facing the Vikings in the offseason.
The Packers have bigger fish to fry. After treating today like a preseason game, the Packers will now get ready to travel to either Chicago or Philadelphia for the wild card round of the playoffs.
