Tough Minnesota Vikings Season Is About To Get Much Tougher

The Minnesota Vikings' 3-4 start to the season has been less than ideal. Between an ineffective, then injured, rookie quarterback, a two-game trip to Europe and a weird schedule full of varying start times, it's been a hard season for fans of the purple.

QB BLACK HOLE 

It may be easier to write about the things that have gone right, such as... And there was also the time that... Okay, so that list is shorter.

The Vikings decided to part ways with quarterback Sam Darnold, who left for Seattle and currently ranks tenth in passing yardage with 12 touchdowns against four interceptions.

They also saw Daniel Jones sign with the Indianapolis Colts. He's currently fourth in the NFL in passing yardage and has thrown 13 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

Instead, the Vikings rolled with rookie JJ McCarthy, who completed just 58.5% of his passes for 301 yards in two games as a starter before missing five games with an ankle injury. So far in his career, McCarthy has missed 23 of a possible 25 NFL games.

His backup, Carson Wentz, also struggled after being a late signing following training camp. In five games as starter, Wentz threw for 1,216 yards with six touchdown passes and five interceptions. Wentz admirably played through an injured non-throwing shoulder against the Eagles last week and is now on season-ending injured reserve.

Now, it will be again up to the rookie McCarthy to turn the Vikings' season around. But it won't be easy, as the team's schedule goes from favorable to the hardest in the league.

STRENGHTH OF SCHEDULE... STRENGTHENS 

The early part of the Vikings' schedule looked, if not easy, favorable even with a rookie quarterback. After navigating a nail-biting road win in Chicago in week one, the Vikings and McCarthy laid an egg at home against the Falcons on Sunday night football.

After a bounce-back win at home over the Joe Burrow-less Bengals with Wentz at quarterback, the Vikings scraped past the Browns in London after losing to the Steelers in Ireland. Since then, the Vikings have lost to the Eagles (at home) and the Chargers (on the road).

The Vikings' strength of schedule for the first seven games was ranked as the single 'easiest' schedule in the NFL. However, the REST of the schedule has them ranked as having the single -hardest- schedule the rest of the way with two games against the Lions and Packers and touch matchups with the Ravens, Seahawks and Cowboys.

If the Vikings want to make a run to the NFC playoffs, they don't have much time to turn the season around. Not only are the Vikings buried in the basement of the NFC North standings, but the team is also all the way down in 12th place in the NFC playoff race.

The Vikings will play against the Lions in Detroit on Sunday, November 2nd. The game can be heard on WJON.