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The Vikings struggles in Seattle (a 3-10 record all-time) are well-documented.

Sunday's 26-0 loss added a grunge track that worsened Minnesota's record this season to 4-8 and 1-6 since its bye. The loss eliminated Minnesota (4-8) from contention for the NFC North. The Vikings have to win their final five contests just to avoid a losing record, and it is unlikely that 9-8 will be enough for a Wild Card spot in the NFC Playoffs.

Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer made his first start in place of J.J. McCarthy (concussion protocol), but the offense couldn't establish the run game or find rhythm in the passing game. Minnesota again entered a game missing starters on the offensive line and lost another during the game.

The Vikings defense played a spirited game, making things difficult for former Viking Sam Darnold, dramatically cutting into the QB's production, but the theme of being on the field too much and having to overcome disadvantageous field position continued.

Before getting to people's comments, I would like to congratulate the Special Olympics flag football teams sponsored by the Vikings and Seahawks who participated in a great Unified Bowl on Saturday at Seattle's training facility. We'll have coverage (photos, video and a write-up) from that experience soon on Vikings.com. The sportsmanship and camaraderie were so impressive. Athletes and their friends and families should be very proud.

Lastly, we try to allow fans to express their criticisms, which have been earned through repetitive disappointments this season. I include those, but when people request firing people, I don't include within the Mailbag. I do believe the organization and football leaders believe accountability and honest assessments are important when trying to find fixes.

The game against the Seahawks was hard to watch. Injuries continue to plague the team, but at some point, you have to look at the roster. Too thin on the offensive line. QBs not ready. Re-signing valued free agents will be tough. Even if they lose all the remaining games, no chance at a top-5 pick.

McCarthy better get his act together if he wants to remain a starter. I could see the team turning to Desmond Ridder.

Can't call this offense competitive, which is crazy when you look at the talent.

Cap flexibility is looking like a pig in a poke.

— Gary L.

Somehow the Vikings are one of 11 teams at 4-8 or worse, so people will probably be tracking teams in that range this season instead of keeping tabs on playoff scenarios like last year or 2022.

Since winning 27-24 at Detroit on Nov. 3 — which feels like forever ago to a lot of people — the Vikings have scored 42 points in four games.

The line of scrimmage is so important, especially with inexperienced quarterbacks. The Vikings didn't redefine the line of scrimmage on offense and create an opportunity to lean on the run game in a defense, field position and ball control kind of game.

Time on task, which includes painful in-game reps, is the best way to grow.

Other than one great play from Jordan Mason and T.J. Hockenson, it was like the offense didn't even show up against Seattle. No, I take that back. It looked like the offensive linemen were pretending to be doormen at a hotel, opening big lanes for the Seahawks to run right through.

And I thought that Brosmer was supposed to get the first-team reps this past week in practice. That underhand heave that landed right in Seattle's breadbasket was cringeworthy, like watching that poor ski jumper pinwheel in the old intro video to ABC's Wide World of Sports TV show back in the '70s. You knew it was going to end badly, but you just couldn't turn away.

But I guess it reminded Vikings fans that J.J.'s performance the past few weeks wasn't rock bottom for the team. Now maybe we can all turn our calendars forward to February and start our annual wish lists for the draft and next season. And hopefully GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's staff will have learned an invaluable lesson about where to spend your free agency money.

— David A. (from the North Shore but stuck in the South)

It was really disappointing that the offense was unable to be better around Brosmer, who experienced the challenge of making his first start in an incredibly difficult place to win against a strong team.

It was very much a lean on the running game kind of setting. Everyone knows the season Sam Darnold is having, but Minnesota's defense gave him fits throughout the day. The Seahawks were able to make fewer mistakes and lean more on their defense and run game, which are both well-established in that team's identity (Darnold has just supplemented it with success on deep passes in most games this season).

If you don't know to expect the worst possible outcome of a play at a key point in this Vikings season, then you probably haven't been watching or listening to the games.

Like any team that falls short of its goals, there will be plenty to try to fix in the offseason. The pro scouting department has had some successful additions in free agency, but the collective new pieces this season have not materialized with collective success.

It would be easy to beat the weekly dead horses here. Awful QB play. Team body language. Defense giving up almost only field goals. Inopportune mistakes (turnovers/penalties/gaffes) in all phases.

Been there. Done that. And no, you don't fire Kevin O'Connell. But just about everything else deserves earnest evaluation. Front office. Position coaches. Brian Flores should be safe, too. But he's ripe for a head coaching gig.

Instead, I'll focus first on injuries. Too many. And too many key guys. Christian Darrisaw and Donovan Jackson out? And then Ryan Kelly goes out. Again. Against this defense? I know. Next man up. But please. There's a reason Darrisaw and Justin Skule have the contracts they have. The starting OL has played only a handful of snaps as a full unit. So many starters on both sides of the ball have missed games. It's a lot to overcome with solid QB play let alone subpar.

Secondly, I can't be the only fan who's noticed every stinking bounce seems to go against the Vikings. Tipped balls find the ground (if on defense) or the opposition (if on offense). Fumbles bounce away from Vikings. Kudos to Jalen Redmond's fall on the Darnold fumble and the Jalen Nailor recovery. Still, the bounces are overwhelmingly against the Vikings. I've never seen anything like it.

Finally, you don't tank. Teams, coaches and players don't do that. But it will frost me harder than a 3 a.m. Minneapolis freezing rain if the Vikings rattle off a string of meaningless wins here. Another draft pick in the teens dooms the Vikings to the same good, not great, season we fans have tolerated so often for literally decades. While my faith in Vikings draft picks overall remain less than optimistic, a pick at 6 or 7 buoys me more than a pick at 16 or 17. There are not many benefits to a lousy season. A high draft pick is one of the precious few.

Skol!

— Jeff K. in Sacramento, California

The team as intended has been together for so little this season. The Lions game had one of the highest concentrations, and it created a belief that standing pat (instead of becoming sellers at the trade deadline) would allow the team to play better football than what has happened the rest of the month.

There were so many instances — again this week! — of the Vikings tipping a pass but the ball falling an arm or less out of reach of another defender. Seattle was able to benefit from a tip and an overthrow for two of its four interceptions.

I never want to wish time away, but I'm not going to miss much that occurred Nov. 9-30, 2025. It's been a generational heater.

As a 50-plus year Vikings fan, I've rolled with this team through the ups and downs. Every year before the season starts, I look at the schedule and predict the win-loss total. I've been pretty realistic and accurate over the years. I confess, Kevin O'Connell's teams have outperformed my expectations until this year. I know that Vikings fans are eternal optimists and the fact that the team has exceeded expectations the past few years, I understand that hopes were high. But seriously, a rookie quarterback is never a great recipe for instant success. I picked our boys to go 7-10 this year. That may have been optimistic. This is as tough a season as we've seen in a long time. It's gut-check time for everyone from the front-line through the front-office.

My wife and I are making our annual pilgrimage to U.S. Bank Stadium next week to see our boys play the Commanders. Good times, bad times, I'll be screaming my guts out. Good times, bad times, I trust our team will be playing its guts out. It's the darkest of times that determine what you're made of.

— Tom Vander Well in Pella, Iowa

The schedule has been one of the hardest the Vikings have ever faced, but the team just hasn't done enough to help itself along the way. I think if everything had worked out well, then a winning record (10 or 12 wins) would have been feasible.

It clearly hasn't, so getting to 7-10 will require going at least 3-2 in the final five games.

Glad that you and your wife will be making the trip to U.S. Bank Stadium this week. I know the game presentation staff will continue working hard, and I fully expect fans will continue to make it one of the most special places for a sporting event.

It was fun to see what Max could do, but our extraordinary offensive woes continue, as the five turnovers indicate. Too bad Max gave up that careless pick six from inside the 10? He airmailed one sideline pass, threw high over Nailor for a pick, threw behind Jefferson at least once and appeared to hold the ball too long on occasion. However, he did also make a great scramble/check down pass and hit Hock on a nice seam. Overall, I rate him at the same level of overall ineffectiveness as J.J. McCarthy. At this point, I am not convinced that Kevin O'Connell is capable of calling any play that will actually work or succeed in high-stakes, short-yardage situations. Below are my 3 Ups and 3 Downs for the game:

UPS:

1. Brosmer's passes to the flat in the opening series of the game. Accuracy to the outside is so refreshing and good! Too bad he couldn't sustain that accuracy throughout the game.

2. Overall defensive play was pretty good, and I thought the defense played well enough for us to win — if we had an offense that could score points. Turner shined. Too bad we kept helping the Seahawks again and again with defensive offsides penalties that led directly to Seahawks FGs?

3. Another good game punting for Ryan Wright. His punt distance was great today. It is always good to see an oppenent's punt returner running backward.

DOWNS:

1. Holding on the Vikings punt return team — again. Just more of the same uncoached and undisciplined return/coverage play by the Vikings. We also give up our standard really good punt return heading into halftime, gifting the Seahawks 3 points? Just par for the course on Vikings special teams play when it matters most.

2. Our defense finally gets a strip sack turnover inside the 15, but it doesn't matter since our offense cannot score even from that cherry field position. We can't even get a first down in three plays? Followed by a foolish pick six on fourth-and-1? I just hate our offense anywhere, all the time, on third- and fourth-and-short. A deep drop-back pass on fourth-and-1 from inside the 10? How about a quick throw to the flat or a quick opener run to Ham?

3. Our horrible offensive performance. Another game with a feckless and ineffective offense. A shutout to boot? The Vikings offense is hapless; no opposing defense in the NFL is concerned with them in their current state. It is just painful to watch.

The Vikings are currently very good at stacking losses. As we move quickly toward a losing season record. The Washington game should be as interesting as who will play QB for us next week that's for sure!

Respectfully,

— Jeff L.

O'Connell said he wished he had made a different call on fourth-and-1. Hindsight always provides more clarity.

If a coach believes it will be tough for a team to move the ball consistently, I can understand going for it on fourth-and-1, but I lean more conservatively and am a big fan of tying the game at that point in a contest, especially with how well the defense is playing.

Players and Coach keep saying the same story every game. History says doing the same plan repeatedly, you are bound to get the same results. Vikings need a change — a change in game plan, different pass routes, and short distances for example, and running plays! Change and change more, nothing to lose.

Then a shoutout for our defense, so proud of them. They would be even better if the offense could do better.

— Gill Sorg in New Mexico

I helped out Paul Allen, Pete Bercich and the Vikings Audio Network's broadcast with tracking stats. P.A., Pete and I concurred that was arguably the best the defense has played all season.

Great game by the defense! Happy for Aaron Jones, Sr., achieving his career yardage milestone as a Viking.

Down 3-0 in the red zone with fourth and 1, why put additional pressure on a rookie QB. Take the points on the road!! Both defenses were controlling the game at that point.

— John Christensen in Seattle

The Vikings talked this offseason about trying to build a team that could win in multiple different types of games, but that sometimes requires venturing from personal preferences on a call sheet.

For those that may have missed the nugget, Jones became the 122^nd player all-time with 10,000 career scrimmage yards. Unfortunately, Jones suffered a shoulder injury at the end of a big hit by DeMarcus Lawrence that caused a fumble. He did not return to the game.

Veteran receivers need to catch the ball.

The pick in the red zone is on Brosmer.

Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson dropped passes. With the offensive weapons we have, getting shut out is not an option.

— Troy Boblitt in Springfield, Illinois

The 60.2 completion percentage for the Vikings this season is rough and is a combo of some off-target throws and way too many drops. Minnesota has 410 pass plays this season (367 passes thrown and 43 sacks allowed), compared to 221 rush attempts.

I'm gonna take the extremely risky bet and guess the Mailbag today will be rather dark and depressing. So I wanna try to highlight at least some positives, even though they are few and far between Sunday.

First: Our defense improves every game, imo. We still severely lack the turnovers we had last year, and our point total could use so badly. But allowing only one TD off five turnovers and no offense at all to help relieve some of the burden is extremely impressive. Darnold was under duress most of the game and had hardly an easy throw. Going with only 13 points into halftime with only around 10 minutes of offense on five drives is really good. Usually that should be enough to stay in games, and I believe it can be the next couple games.

Second: Ryan Wright, it's said special teamers mostly get their accolades when there is nothing else good, but Wright had great punts the whole day. Seattle started four of five possessions after our punts inside their 15-yard line.

And thirdly, maybe the silver lining: The schedule. Now the opponents should never be an excuse, but it's hard to argue that we had one of the toughest schedules of the league so far. And it's my only hope at this point that now it lightens up, especially for our offense. The Commanders, Cowboys and Giants should hopefully provide some ground for our young quarterback to grow. Otherwise, even the last of my optimism will wilt away.

Love and respect,

— Alexander from Germany

Folks who have made it this far probably benefit from a bit of Alexander's optimism.

The defense really was incredibly impressive on so many metrics, but there were some missed tackles, which continue to happen at inopportune moments.

Wright opened with a couple of fantastic punts and finished with an average of 50.4 with a long of 60.

Lifelong Vikings fan for over 50 years.

I am very disappointed in the little help K.O. gave his rookie QB. The play calling into the huddle was late and gave Brosmer less than 10 seconds at the line to read the d.

Then the pivotal moment in the game, when K.O. should have tied the game, he asks the rookie QB, on the road, to make a play. Again, late to the line, immediate pressure in his face, and the rookie tries to do too much. I believe that J.J. and Brosmer can be a great QB tandem going forward, but like most rookie QBs, they will struggle early. The d is built to win now, but the QB position is not. Injuries everywhere has been a killer, too, but the coach needs to adjust to that with strategy.

Here's hoping for a better next year.

— Michael Harris from Alburgh, Vermont

O'Connell mentioned there was a little uncertainty with the spotting of the football going into the fourth-and-1, so that may have prompted a little delay. Again hindsight, for a play of that magnitude in the waning moments of the second half, maybe it would have been beneficial to challenge the spot with the red flag or take a timeout.

The play was designed to be a play-action (fake handoff) with a roll out to the right and the ability to read have the field with a layered combo of routes, but the defense got to Brosmer too quick for him to execute the play.

One position has destroyed the season. We need a quarterback.

— Jamie from Dallas, Georgia

While the lack of continuity and steady production from the position has been a major detriment, I'm not sure there's been enough of what's needed at other parts of the roster.

My question is about player development of our draft picks that have been made under Kwesi and K.O. I am not sold on our draft picks, although Dallas Turner has made a few plays recently which allow me to hold out hope. If we look into the draft choices that have been made by these two, I am not seeing much in the way of a future with our player development as it stands now. Our best players are either FA pickups or players that have been claimed off waivers and are playing for a contract. Eric Wilson is a good example of this. Do you think it is just "misses" in draft, or is it something bigger (scouting)? By not developing the draft choices we get or missing on them, it really puts us behind in the salary cap game and not able to make moves that are needed to get a better roster. You need to have the cheap rookie contracts help. Am I wrong in my thinking?

— Paul in Nebraska

Turner deserves some roses for the way he's continued to progress. People were pretty critical of him last year and earlier this year, but he's really starting to come into his own, advancing Sunday to the team lead with 5.5 sacks.

He forced fumbles on each of his two sacks Sunday, recording his first game with multiple sacks.

Wilson has played tremendously this season and has been one of the positives. He led Minnesota with 11 tackles and recorded a sack Sunday, pushing his season total to a career-best 4.5.

Drafting and developing is the cost-effective method for roster depth. Aligning the scouting department and coaches is important to maximize those selections.

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