Minnesota Vikings opponents 2026: Who’s on the schedule, how easy or hard will their schedule be

The Minnesota Vikings finished above .500 for the third time in the last four years this season. Unfortunately, the Vikings’ 9-8 season wasn’t nearly good enough to make the playoffs. You can’t blame Minnesota if they’re missing former QB Sam Darnold right now after he just led the Seattle Seahawks to a fantastic season. The Vikings will hope for a bounce-back season next year with head coach Kevin O’Connell very likely to return, and now they know their 2026 opponents.

The Vikings will have a third-place schedule with nine home games and eight road games next year for the 2026 regular season. Minnesota is going to need a better and healthier season out of quarterback J.J. McCarthy to take a step forward, but at least he can say that he won his last four starts of this season.

Here are the Vikings’ 2026 opponents, followed by some analysis on their early strength of schedule.

Minnesota Vikings list of opponents

Home opponents

• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• Green Bay Packers
• Atlanta Falcons
• Carolina Panthers
• Buffalo Bills
• Miami Dolphins
• Washington Commanders
• Indianapolis Colts

Road opponents

• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• Green Bay Packers
• New England Patriots
• New Orleans Saints
• New York Jets
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings schedule analysis

The Vikings are going to have a pretty tough schedule just by virtue of playing in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions are all possible playoff teams next year, and that’s six tough games right off the rip for Minnesota.

The good news for the Vikings is that they still have some gimmes on the slate. Road games against the Saints and Jets are about as easy as it gets when you’re traveling in the NFL. Home games against the Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins, and Colts are all highly winnable, too. Split against all three division opponents, and that’s nine wins right there. The hardest road game has to be against the New England Patriots.

It won’t be easy for Minnesota next year unless McCarthy makes a substantial leap. He was pretty bad in his de facto rookie season after returning from a torn meniscus, but at least there’s nowhere to go but up. O’Connell is a really good head coach, and he’s clearly built a high-floor team, so anything is possible. For now, I’d give this schedule a 6-out-10 in terms of difficulty.