The Vikings announced their **regular season schedule*** *Thursday.
We're breaking it down into groups of four games to break the ice on Minnesota's opponents in the 2016 season.
The final grouping of games includes the Vikings contests with two AFC South members (at Jacksonville and home against Indianapolis) and two with NFC North rivals (at Green Bay on Christmas Eve and home against Chicago on New Year's Day). Minnesota wants to be in position to secure its second straight division crown or play for positioning in the playoffs by the time the season comes to a close.
Week 14
Vikings at Jaguarsby @pcraigers
Noon* | Dec. 11 | EverBank Field
Series results
Vikings W-L-T: 4-1-0
Home: 3-1-0; Away: 1-0-0
Last time in regular season:Vikings won 26-23 in overtime on Sept. 9, 2012* *
Last time in regular season in Jacksonville:Vikings won 30-12 on Nov. 23, 2008
Jacksonville's 2015 offensive rankings:
Total yards: 5,581 (18th in NFL); Rushing yards: 1,473 (27th); Passing yards: 4,108 (10th); Points/game: 23.5 (14th); Sacks allowed/pass play percentage: 8.40 percent (25th) Interception rate: 2.97 percent (26th); Average time of possession: 27:34 (29th)
Jacksonville's 2015 defensive rankings:
Total yards allowed/game: 375.0 (24th); Rushing yards allowed/game: 106.8 (15th); Passing yards allowed/game: 268.2 (29th); Points allowed/game: 28.0 (31st); Sacks/pass play: 5.98 percent (23rd); Interception rate: 1.50 percent (31st)
Icebreakers:This will be just the second trip that the Vikings have made to Jacksonville, a team coached by Zumbrota native Gus Bradley. … This matchup will feature two of the three quarterbacks — Blake Bortles (No. 3 overall) and Teddy Bridgewater (No. 32) — selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Bortles threw for a franchise-record 35 touchdowns in 2015 after the Jaguars combined for 31 from 2013-14. Bortles, however, also led the league with 18 interceptions in 2015 and has suffered the most sacks in each of the past two seasons (55 in 2014 and 51 in 2015). … Allen Robinson ranked sixth in the NFL with 1,400 receiving yards and tied for the most receiving touchdowns (14). Allen Hurns added 64 catches for 1,031 yards and 10 scores. … The Jaguars rushed for 1,473 yards last season (12 less than the total by Adrian Peterson as the Vikings running back won his third rushing title) and five scores.
View images of the Vikings opponents after the 2016 schedule was released on Thursday.
Marcus Mariota threw 19 touchdowns for the Titans in 12 games played as a rookie in 2015.
Tennessee's defensive unit ranked 12th in the NFL with 39.0 sacks last season.
The Titans hired former Vikings tight end Mike Mularkey as the team's head coach in January of the offseason.
Clay Matthews recorded 6.5 sacks and one interception in 2015.
Eddie Lacy ran for 100 yards on 22 carries against the Vikings in Minnesota last year.
Mike McCarthy is 49 games over .500 (104-55-1) in 10 seasons as an NFL head coach.
Josh Norman had four interceptions and three forced fumbles in 2015.
Cam Newton won his first NFL MVP award in 2015 and threw for 35 touchdowns and 3,837 yards.
Ron Rivera has led the Panthers to a 47-32-1 record in five seasons as Carolina's head coach.
Eli Manning threw for a career-high 35 touchdowns in 2015.
The Giants defense ranked last in the NFL, allowing a total of 6,725 yards to opponents.
Ben McAdoo was hired as the Giants 17th head coach in January after working as the team's offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
J.J. Watt has won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year honor three of the past four seasons.
DeAndre Hopkins was third in the NFL in receiving yards last season (1,521), trailing Antonio Brown and Julio Jones.
Bill O'Brien has led Houston to two 9-7 seasons since taking over as head coach in 2014.
Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Malcolm Jenkins led Philadelphia with 109 tackles (90 solo), according to NFL.com.
Doug Pederson enters his first season as the head coach of the Eagles. Pederson spent two stints with Green Bay (1996-98 and 2001-04) as a backup to Brett Favre.
Pernell McPhee had 53 tackles, 6.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception last season.
Alshon Jeffery had four receiving touchdowns in 2015 after compiling 17 collectively in the previous two seasons.
The Vikings won at Soldier Field for the first time since 2007 last season.
Matt Stafford had a career-high 67.2 completion percentage in 2015.
Detroit's scoring defense ranked 23rd in the NFL last season, allowing 400 total points to opponents.
Jim Caldwell holds an 18-14 overall record as the Lions head coach.
Kirk Cousins compiled a 101.6 passer rating and threw for 4,166 yards in his first full season as a starter for the Redskins.
Jay Gruden led Washington to the playoffs with a 9-7 record in his second season as head coach.
DeAngelo Hall enters his 13 season in the NFL and his eighth year with the Redskins as the league's active leader with 43 career interceptions.
Tyrann Mathieu returns for his fourth season with the Cardinals after tearing his right ACL in December.
Carson Palmer is 16th on the all-time passing touchdown list (259).
Bruce Arians holds a 34-14 regular season record in three seasons as the head coach of Arizona.
Theo Riddick had five receptions for 41 yards against the Vikings in September.
Golden Tate led the Lions with 90 receptions last season. He totaled 813 yards and six receiving touchdowns.
The Vikings came back from a 14-3 deficit to win 28-19 at Ford Field last season.
The Cowboys defense finished last in the NFL in turnover margin last season (minus-22) with 11 takeaways against 33 giveaways by the offense.
Jason Garrett led Dallas to a 12-4 record in 2014, followed by a 4-12 record last season.
Dez Bryant had 16 touchdowns and 1,320 receiving yards in his last full season played in 2014.
Allen Hurns caught 10 touchdowns and had 1,031 receiving yards in his second season with the Jaguars.
The Jaguars defense placed 31st in the NFL, allowing 28.0 points per game by opponents in 2015.
Gus Bradley is 12-36 in three seasons as the Jaguars head coach.
Andrew Luck battled injuries in 2015 and started seven games for the Colts.
Chuck Pagano was 11-5 in his first three years as the head coach of Indianapolis. Last year he led the Colts to an 8-8 record.
The Indianapolis scoring defense was 25th in the NFL in 2015, allowing 25.5 points per game.
Aaron Rodgers had a career-high 572 attempts in 2015, throwing for 3,821 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Julius Peppers is the active leader with 136.0 sacks in the NFL.
The last time the Vikings played at Lambeau Field, Minnesota was crowned as the 2015 NFC North champion.
Jay Cutler compiled the best passer rating (92.3) of his career in 2015.
Tracy Porter had an interception and a forced fumble in the Bears secondary last season.
John Fox enters his second season as the Bears head coach.
Week 15
Vikings vs. Coltsby @pcraigers
Noon* | Dec. 18 | U.S. Bank Stadium
Series results
Vikings W-L-T: 7-16-1
Home: 7-5-1; Away: 0-11-0
Last time in regular season:Vikings lost 23-20 on Sept. 16, 2012* *
Last time in regular season in Minnesota:Vikings lost 18-15 on Sept. 14, 2008
Indianapolis' 2015 offensive rankings:
Total yards: 5,142 (28th in NFL); Rushing yards: 1,438 (29th); Passing yards: 3,704 (22nd); Points/game: 20.8 (24th); Sacks allowed/pass play percentage: 5.98 percent (14th) Interception rate: 3.07 percent (27th); Average time of possession: 29:32 (22nd)
Indianapolis' 2015 defensive rankings:
Total yards allowed/game: 379.1 (26th); Rushing yards allowed/game: 122.0 (25th); Passing yards allowed/game: 257.1 (24th); Points allowed/game: 25.5 (25th); Sacks/pass play: 5.98 percent (22nd); Interception rate: 2.91 percent (6th)
Icebreakers:Andrew Luck's consistency (went 11-5 in each of his first three seasons) and clutch play (four fourth-quarter comebacks in 2012 and 2013) hit a snag in 2015 because of injuries. Luck appeared in just seven games, going 2-5 and throwing for career lows in completions, yards, touchdowns, rating and an all-time high interception rate of 4.1 percent. It wasn't quite the follow-up to his 40 passing touchdowns in 2014 that helped him garner a third straight Pro Bowl selection. …Indianapolis went the veteran route in free agency by signing Frank Gore and Andre Johnson. Gore is poised to return for his 12th pro season as the only active running back ahead of Adrian Peterson in career rush yards. Gore had 967 in 2015 to give him a total of 12,040. Peterson has 11,675 rushing yards heading into his 10th season. They rank 15th and 17th all-time. … The Colts have veterans throughout their defense, including OLBs Robert Mathis (14th season) and Trent Cole (12th), ILB D'Qwell Jackson (11th), eighth-year CBs Darius Butler and Vontae Davis, S Mike Adams (13th), DT Arthur Jones (7) and DE Kendall Langford (9). Langford and Mathis tied for the team lead with 7.0 sacks, and Adams led the Colts with five interceptions in 2015.
Week 16
Vikings at Packersby @LindseyMNSports
Noon* | Dec. 24 | Lambeau Field
Series results
Vikings W-L-T:50-59-2
Home:26-28;Away:24-31-2
Last time in regular season:Vikings defeated Packers 20-13 on Jan. 3, 2016, in Green Bay* *
Last time in regular season in Green Bay:same
Green Bay's 2015 offensive rankings:
Total yards: 5,353 (23rd in NFL); Rushing yards: 1,850 (12th); Passing yards: 3,503 (tied for 25th); Points/game: 23 (15th); Sacks allowed/pass play percentage: 8.20 percent (24th) Interception rate: 1.40 percent (2nd); Average time of possession: 30:08 (tied for 18th)
Green Bay's 2015 defensive rankings:
Total yards allowed/game: 346.7 (15th); Rushing yards allowed/game: 119.1 (21st); Passing yards allowed/game: 227.6 (6th); Points allowed/game: 20.2 (12th); Sacks/pass play: 7.80 percent (5th); Interception rate: 2.90 percent (7th)
Icebreakers:This will mark the Vikings 58th trip to Lambeau Field since 1961. Minnesota will be looking for its 25th road win over the Packers after taking the NFC North division title in 2015's final regular season game. … Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is 11-5 against Minnesota and boasts 113.2 passer rating in the Border Battle. Rodgers led Green Bay on a five-game win streak (starting with the first game of the 2010 season) that the Vikings snapped with a 37-34 win on Dec. 30, 2012. … Vikings RB Adrian Peterson has racked up 1,760 rushing yards in 15 games against Green Bay, averaging 110 yards per game. Peterson has 13 rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown against the Packers. … Packers RB Eddie Lacy had a lower-production year in 2015 with 758 rushing yards (compared to 1,000-plus in 2013 and 2014) but is expected to once again play a large role in Green Bay's offense in 2016.
Week 17
Vikings vs. Bears by@Eric_L_Smith
Noon* | Jan. 1, 2017 | U.S. Bank Stadium
Series results
Vikings W-L-T: 57-51-2
Home: 35-21; Away: 22-30-2
Last time in regular season:Vikings defeated Bears 38-17 on Dec. 20, 2015, in Minnesota
Last time in regular season in Minnesota:Same
Chicago's 2015 offensive rankings:
Total yards: 5,514 (21st in NFL); Rushing yards: 1,851 (11th) ; Passing yards: 3,663 (23rd); Points/game: 20.9 (23rd); Sacks allowed/pass play percentage: 6.50 percent (20th); Interception rate: 2.29 percent (18th); Average time of possession: 31:01 (10th)
Chicago's 2015 defensive rankings:
Total yards allowed/game: 345.4 (14th); Rushing yards allowed/game: 120.9 (tied for22nd); Passing yards allowed/game: 224.6 (4th); Points allowed/game: 24.8 (20th); Sacks/pass play: 6.84 percent (12th); Interception rate: 1.56 percent (30th)
Icebreakers:Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had one of the best games of his career at home against the Bears last season as he threw for 231 yards and four touchdowns while adding another score on the ground. … This season will be the first since 2007 that the Bears won't have running back Matt Forte, who was released in the offseason. Forte rushed for 1,092 yards and a touchdown in 15 career games against the Vikings. … Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler had one of the best seasons of his career in 2015 as he threw for 3,659 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. … The Bears will look to improve on their 6-10 record in their second year under head coach John Fox. Chicago has finished last in the NFC North the past two seasons and last won the division in 2010, when they went to the NFC Championship game.
All listed times are Central.
- Game time subject to the NFL's flexible scheduling procedures.
