Vikings 2024 schedule preview: Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins but no J.J. McCarthy

The Vikings’ 2024 season begins Sunday in New York (OK, fine, East Rutherford, N.J.), journeys to London, makes stops in Seattle and L.A. (OK, fine, Inglewood). They will play Aaron Rodgers again. Kevin O’Connell will face his old boss Sean McVay for the first time. Kirk Cousins returns to Minnesota as an Atlanta Falcon. According to various savvy users of Google Earth, the Vikings will travel 19,030 miles this season, 17th out of the 32 NFL teams.

But one thing has changed since the schedule was released in May. We no longer have to guess when the Vikings’ prized first-round quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, will make his first NFL start. For that, we’ll have to wait until next year.

Here’s a game-by-game preview of the the Vikings’ 2024 season.

Giants in 2023: 6-11

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, a Vikings “nemesis,” is ready for Week 1 after sustaining a torn ACL in his right knee in Week 9 last season. But all things considered, it is a forgiving opener for the Vikings and new quarterback Sam Darnold, who used to play home games at MetLife Stadium as a Jet. The schedule gets much tougher from here.

49ers in 2023: 12-5; NFC champion; lost to Chiefs in Super Bowl

The Vikings’ 22-17 home win over the 49ers on “Monday Night Football” last October was the highlight of their season. Cousins’ Achilles injury came a week later, changing the course of his Vikings career. This year, the Vikings will be led by Darnold, who backed up Brock Purdy in San Francisco last season. Fun fact: The Vikings have not lost to the 49ers at home since 1992.

Texans in 2023: 10-7; won AFC South; lost to Ravens in divisional playoffs

A talent pipeline developed between Houston and the Twin Cities this offseason, as edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and linebacker Blake Cashman (Eden Prairie, Gophers) came north while Danielle Hunter went home to Texas. The Texans are a model for success for a team drafting a QB and a pass rusher in the first round as the Vikings did. In 2023, Houston picked quarterback C.J. Stroud at No. 2 and traded up for defensive end Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3. They excelled as rookies, helping the Texans reach the postseason.

Packers in 2023: 9-8; lost in 49ers in divisional playoffs

It’s the first time in five years the Vikings are traveling to Lambeau in September, and Aaron Jones gets his revenge game in early. The Packers decided to go younger at running back, letting the 29-year-old Jones go and signing 26-year-old Josh Jacobs. Jones quickly signed with the rival Vikings like many Packers before him, saying Green Bay’s decision didn’t “add fuel to the fire.” We’ll see about that.

Jets in 2023: 7-10

Vikings fans in Minnesota will not get the chance to boo Rodgers again in person during his 30th regular-season game against his old NFC North rival, who are 3-0 in London games. Rodgers is 17-11-1 against the Vikings, all in games that took place in either Minnesota or Wisconsin. Rodgers, now 40, is expected to start Week 1 for the Jets after his first season in a different shade of green ended after four snaps with a torn Achilles.

Lions in 2023: 12-5; won NFC North; lost to 49ers in NFC Championship Game

Will Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson be back for this game against his former team? After having surgery on a torn ACL in his right knee in January, Hockenson is eligible to return from the physically-unable-to-perform list in Week 5, but the Vikings have used their bye week as a safety net for star players coming back from injuries (See: Jefferson, Justin).

Rams in 2023: 10-7; lost to Lions in wild-card playoffs

This is one of only two scheduled prime-time games on the Vikings’ slate, and this “Thursday Night Football” matchup features O’Connell matching wits against McVay and the Rams for the first time since they won a Super Bowl together in the 2021 season. Since “Thursday Night Football” became an annual feature of the NFL schedule in 2006, the Vikings are 3-8 in those games and have never won on the road.

Colts in 2023: 9-8

The Vikings can relate to the Colts, who drafted a quarterback in the first round last season (Anthony Richardson at No. 4) only to lose him to season-ending shoulder surgery after four games. Richardson, expected to be the youngest starting QB in the league at age 22, struggled with accuracy and injury (knee, ankle, concussion) before being shut down, compiling a limited body of work (50 of 84 for 577 yards, three TDs and one interception).

Jaguars in 2023: 9-8

The Vikings have played in Jacksonville only twice, in 2008 and 2016, and are 2-0 there. Even Harrison Smith, the only current Vikings player who was on the 2016 team, missed the last visit there with an ankle injury. The Vikings have lost to the Jaguars once in seven meetings, a 33-3 defeat at the Metrodome way back in December 2001, the home finale in a dismal season.

Titans in 2023: 6-11

Nashville, too, is a rare destination for the Vikings, who have played three games there (1998, 2008, 2016). Smith did play the 2016 game there, a 25-16 season-opening win. It is the only NFL game Smith, who grew up in Knoxville, Tenn., has played in his home state in his 13-year career. The Titans have a new coach in former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and don’t have Derrick Henry in the backfield anymore.

Bears in 2023: 7-10

The Vikings don’t face the Bears until Week 12, when much more will be known about Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in April. Having seemingly learned from Justin Fields’ struggles, the Bears have stocked up on help for Williams, acquiring Keenan Allen and drafting Rome Odunze to join D.J. Moore in the receiving corps. They signed running back D’Andre Swift in free agency and installed a new coordinator, Shane Waldron, another coach from McVay’s lineage on the Vikings schedule.

Cardinals in 2023: 4-13

The Vikings will spend most of December at home, and the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd will get to see some of the most exciting young receivers in the NFL, as Arizona rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., the No. 4 pick in the April draft, joins the Vikings’ Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the field. Addison and Harrison are both recent winners of the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the top receiver in college football.

Falcons in 2023: 7-10

The headline is Cousins’ return to U.S. Bank Stadium, but he is not the only new face in Atlanta, the favorite in the NFC South. Raheem Morris, the former Rams defensive coordinator, is now head coach, and Zac Robinson, also part of the Rams’ coaching tree, is running the offense. Running back Bijan Robinson, receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts give Cousins complementary pieces while the late summer additions of All-Pro safety Justin Simmons and Pro Bowl pass rusher Matthew Judon boost the defense.

Surprise, surprise: The Vikings are playing the Bears on “Monday Night Football.” This will be their 18th Monday night meeting, and sixth since 2016. The “MNF” producers will not get a matchup of top 10 rookie QBs they might have hoped for at this point in the season. But recent Vikings-Bears games on Monday night have not been known for their aesthetic pleasures.

Seahawks in 2023: 9-8

The Vikings head to Seattle for the fifth time since 2018, including last season’s preseason game. But they will not see Pete Carroll on the opposite sideline at Lumen Field. He stepped down after 14 seasons leading the Seahawks and was replaced by Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

Once again, the Vikings play Green Bay in Week 17. They can only hope this one goes better than the last three years, when the Vikings were outscored 111-37 in three sour losses that tarnished the careers of quarterbacks Sean Mannion, Kellen Mond and Jaren Hall.

The Vikings will end the season in Detroit for the second straight year. The Lions are the reigning division champions and favored to repeat, something Detroit has not done since winning three division titles in a row from 1952 to ‘54. After winning eight in a row against the Lions from 2017-21, the Vikings have lost four of five to Detroit.

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