EAGAN, Minn. — Max Brosmer will substitute for first-year starter and second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy in Week 13 and etch his name in stone as the eighth QB since 2023 to start for the Vikings.

It's an intimidating first test. Seattle (8-3) has won three of four since returning from its bye and is +107 in point differential in 2025. Its defense is giving offenses fits, and Sam Darnold is quarterbacking the sea birds in a comparable fashion as last season, when he changed the trajectory of his career in Minnesota.

There's widespread belief in Brosmer, which is keeping spirits high as the club navigates another injury.

"I know the guys have a lot of confidence in him," Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said. "I'm very excited to see him play based on the work he's put in and just how important I know this opportunity is to him."

The coach added: "I don't need to see Max do a lot of the things that he did in practice to have confidence in him. Like I said, this has been something that really dates back to training camp and just watching the way he was able to efficiently run our offense no matter who he was in the huddle with. And I think our veteran guys, the guys in that first huddle, have seen it over and over again. But then to have him command the huddle the way he did this week. [I'm] not sure if the ball hit the ground today (Friday) just with the efficiency at which we were operating and throwing, and guys were flying around."

O'Connell ruled out McCarthy, who practiced this week in a limited capacity but didn't clear concussion protocol, and left guard Donovan Jackson (ankle). Additionally, the following five players will enter the game at Seattle with a questionable designation: LT Christian Darrisaw, OLB Jonathan Greenard, DL Jalen Redmond, S Theo Jackson and S Joshua Metellus.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT.

Vikings Uniform

Minnesota will wear its normal road uniform set of white jerseys and purple pants.

3 Vikings Storylines

1. Max Brosmer's first start

Forty-five quarterbacks have done what Brosmer is about to do, but no one has walked in his shoes.

The 24-year-old is set to become the first undrafted rookie QB to start for the Purple and the 46^th player overall in 65 seasons. The list includes 1^st overall picks in sundry career stages, such as Sam Bradford (2016-17) and Jeff George (1999), a middle-career Pro Bowler à la Kirk Cousins (2018-23), Hall of Famers Fran Tarkenton (1961-66; 1972-78) and Brett Favre (2009-10), and flashes in the pan, like Joe Webb (2010), who accrued more seasons as a wide receiver than quarterback, and Joe Kapp (1967-69), who finished 2^nd in 1969 MVP voting and led Minnesota to Super Bowl IV but wasn't retained due to a contract dispute.

Brosmer's unique path to starting snaps for the Vikings involved two awesome varsity seasons at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, and an excellent stint at Division I FCS New Hampshire (2019-23) before he bet on himself, jumped levels and pinged NFL radars at the University of Minnesota.

The next chapter of his football journey continues against a second-year NFL head coach in Mike Macdonald who unbelievably attended the same high school, graduating 13 years before Brosmer did.

Macdonald was the defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2021 when McCarthy was a freshman. He called the Ravens defense for two seasons before he succeeded Pete Carroll in the Pacific Northwest.

Brosmer will be the fourth QB to make his first start against a defense coached by Macdonald. The first three – C.J. Stroud, Bo Nix and Dorian Thompson-Robinson – lost and combined for a 52.0 passer rating.

2. Blake Cashman's tackle streak

The Vikings "Green Dot" LB is stuffing the stat sheet like a Thanksgiving turkey.

In a six-game span since he returned from Injured Reserve in Week 7, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native, and lead communicator on defense – the quarterback of that unit, if you will – has 71 tackles.

His GPS for the ball has pinned efforts of 16, 15 and 14 tackles in November alone. The former tally, which he manufactured last Sunday at Lambeau Field, reset his highwater mark in 21 games as a Viking.

On Tuesday this week, Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores recognized Cashman has done a "fantastic" job dispensing calls, setting up fronts and leading the defense overall. Flores said, "He's obviously playing at a very good level (but) there's still plays there, that we're sitting there going, 'Hey, you can make this one, this one and this one,' so there's still [room for] improvement there. … But that's for me, as well.

"I'm glad we have him. He does a lot of really good things for us," Flores added. "He creates some problems for [offenses] with his ability to blitz and play in coverage and tackle. I love that we have him."

Cashman led Minnesota in 2024 with 112 tackles despite missing three games due to injury. And although he was sidelined four games early this year, he's currently tied for the 2025 team lead with 74.

His five games in a row with 10-plus tackles is the longest active streak in the NFL and tied with Eric Kendricks, who managed the same over parts of two seasons, for the top run by a Viking since at least 1994, per Pro Football Reference (when teams started unofficially, but consistently recording tackles).

The only other NFL players with such a streak this season are 10-time Pro Bowl LB Bobby Wagner of the Commanders and second-year 49ers LB Tatum Bethune. Gold Jackets Zach Thomas and Ray Lewis are two of four players tied atop the leaderboard with eight-game streaks of double-digit tackles, by the way.

3. Justin Jefferson's breakout?

Based on history, Justin Jefferson is due.

Jefferson is pedaling through a drought of 100-yard games. The count is up to six – he hasn't touched 80 since crushing Cleveland in London, with 123, on Oct. 5 – a career-worst stretch. He has averaged 5.2 catches and 57.7 yards during the past six games.

It's not for a lack of trying. … Jefferson has been thrown to 9.5 times per game during his dry spell, which is on par with his weekly average entering 2025 and up from the 8.4 he averaged in Games 1-5.

Surely, some blame falls on Minnesota's uneven quarterback play and its inconsistent protection up front, which has been exacerbated by injuries. That said, the failure to launch is an all-11 reflection, and Jefferson has put forth several performances this year that don't align with his nonpareil superstardom.

The receiver's catch rate (60.6%) is a career low and is the ninth-lowest among 10 players targeted at least 95 times; the lowest is Panthers first-round rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan, who has corralled 58.3%.

McCarthy and "Jets" are one of 82 QB-WR duos with 40 targets (h/t Next Gen Stats). Here's how they rank in …

• Interceptions – 6 (82^nd)
• Passer rating – 47.4 (82^nd)
• Total EPA – minus-31 (82^nd)
• Completion percentage – 53.1% (76^th)

Anyhow, we firmly believe he's due for a breakthrough, and the switch to Brosmer might facilitate one.

2 Things 'Bout the Seahawks

1. Slingin' Sam Darnold version 2.0

Minnesota's reclamation project and Pro Bowl QB a season ago is performing unconsciously out west. His completion rate is 3.3 points higher (69.5 percent) than last season; his touchdown rate is just as great and No. 5 in the NFL at 6.4 percent; his passer rating has jumped from 102.5 to 106.2 and his QBR is up from 57.3 to 69.2; and he paces all qualifiers with 9.3 yards per attempt and 13.5 per completion.

Most stunning of all, his sack percentage is 3.56 – a career low and absolute reversal from his phenomenal year with a heartbreaking ending in Minnesota, when it was 8.09 and critical sacks stained his finish.

Darnold has been sacked 11 times in 11 games, which is the fewest for someone with 250 pass attempts over any equal-game stretch in his first year with a franchise since Philip Rivers weathered 10 in his first 11 for the Colts in 2020. FWIW: the best mark since 2003 belongs to local hero Case Keenum in 2017 (9).

It's not all rainbows and butterflies, is it?

No. Don't fret. As Vikings fans occasionally witnessed in 2024, Darnold can be prone to mistakes.

The 28-year-old in his eighth season on his fifth team still operates with a gunslinger mindset, which sometimes precipitates giveaways. Darnold's 10 interceptions are tied for fourth most this season and his 3.4 INT% is near the bottom, behind Geno Smith (3.7%), Tua Tagovailoa (4.2%) and McCarthy (6.3%).

Two weeks ago at the Rams, Darnold tossed four picks without a touchdown. Although Los Angeles didn't sack him, it cooked up 13 pressures and demonstratively affected his processing; NGS tracked Darnold's average time to throw at 3.27 seconds – 0.33 longer than his second-slowest TTT this season.

2. An under-the-radar defense

Thirty-six sacks, 77 QB hits and 193 QB pressures.

That's what Minnesota's scrambled-egg offensive line is up against this weekend.

Seattle's defense ranks first in the latter category, according to the NGS database, and is pressuring passers at the third-highest rate (40.1%). Two of the unit's top pressure beasts are defensive linemen Byron Murphy II (37) and Leonard Williams (31). Both have 6.0 sacks, accounting for one-third of the group's total – 36 is the most by a Seahawks defense through 11 games since posting that many in 2006.

In addition to disrupting pass plans, Seattle has defended run games as well as virtually anyone.

Only four teams have eclipsed 89 rush yards: San Francisco (119), Washington (157), Arizona (129) and the Rams (119). It took monster volume to reach those totals, though; the 49ers dialed 36 runs (3.3 avg.) and went backwards on six; the Commanders ran it 36 times, too, and were shellacked 38-14; the Cardinals were semi-efficient and averaged 5.6 yards on 23 attempts, but suffered six negative runs in a 44-22 loss; and L.A. leaned on a near 50-50 split between passes (28) and runs (22) for 5.4 yards a pop.

Overall, the Seahawks have surrendered 4.6 yards per play (4^th best) and 19.7 points per game (7^th).

1 Key Matchup

Vikings secondary vs. Seahawks pass game

We purposely saved mention of Jaxon Smith-Njigba for this section.

The third-year pro is on pace for an NFL record 2,029 receiving yards. He has hauled in 74.8 percent of his 107 targets, good for 80 catches, 1,313 yards and seven TDs in 11 games. He has been unguardable.

Amazingly, his all-time pace is happening while Seattle passes the football at the lowest clip in the league. The Seahawks have a 48.9% pass rate but present a wildly successful pass offense.

Smith-Njigba, a.k.a. JSN, is the third player in history with 75-plus receiving yards in at least 11 consecutive games within a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame WR Marvin Harrison in 2002 (14 games) and Cooper Kupp in 2021 (13), and the first to accomplish such a run from the outset of one.

A great amount of Smith-Njigba's success can be attributed to Darnold's precision on deep passes. His 58.8% completion rate on balls that travel in the air at least 20 yards is tops in the NFL, according to NGS. Conversely, the Vikings 139.2 opponent passer rating allowed on deep passes is the worst mark in 2025.

After predominantly aligning in the slot his first two years, Smith-Njigba has kicked to the perimeter with DK Metcalf out of the picture, and JSN is lining up outside on nearly 80% of his snaps, per Pro Football Focus.

The only defense with fewer interceptions than the three by the Vikings through the first 12 weeks is the Jets (0).

Top Quotes of Week 13

Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips on Aaron Jones, Sr., closing in on 10,000 career scrimmage yards

"Aaron's a great football player. A great human being. Just a pleasure to have in this building. He does it all. The vision. His ability to tell you exactly what happened on a run play – 'I felt the Will (LB) play over the top' – like he sees the field so well he can come off directly and tell you exactly what happened on a run. Pass-game ability, his hands. He's just a complete football player. And then for a guy who's not as big as some backs, [he] is an excellent pass protector. You see him close [the] space on linebackers and get up into the line and just reckless abandon really with his body to go in there and do everything he can for the team. And then the culture aspect of having a guy like Aaron Jones is hard to put a value on, as well."

Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels on what's helping Will Reichard drill FGs on slick surfaces

"I really commended Will … when we were watching the tape, on how great he's been with this plant foot not being too tight to the football. And when you've really got a good plant foot and, really, when you have a great plant and you're really driving up and through the ball, a lot of the times you're going to like the result of it. And Will has been really intentional about that. And as a result, you kind of – that's what you get. I think this guy is an All-Pro kicker in my mind, you know, when you really look at the résumé that this guy has – 62 long … four 59-plus yard field goals, first ever in NFL history (in one season). And so he continues to build on an incredible résumé [in] his second year. This guy is a weapon for us that hopefully continues to excel, which I expect, fully, for him to do."

From the Inbox | by Craig Peters

It's been a trying season for me and a lot of true Viking fans (you know, the fans who support the team (good or bad). I get a little angry at the national media and fans jumping all over McCarthy like he's the worst thing that ever happened to the league. I want with every fiber of my being that J.J. succeeds, but it's getting harder to see how this is going to play out. That is why I have the utmost confidence in the coaches. I can see K.O.'s reasoning for letting J.J. take his lumps. Other teams will start switching QBs, and that's just a panic move hoping their backups play better. You can't do that to a guy you believe in. I'm hoping Brosmer plays lights out and Vikings win handily. What I don't want is the media and fans clamoring to start Brosmer and ditch McCarthy after the game. It's inevitable that's what would happen. In any case, I just want the team to win. Here's hoping for a victory Monday. Happy Thanksgiving to you and the rest of your colleagues.

— Al Lindberg in Denmark, Wisconsin

Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. From all of us at the Vikings to all of you, we hope that you enjoyed Thanksgiving, and that the holiday weekend continues to be great.

It's always tough when the results don't meet lofty expectations. I haven't paid too much attention to national media sports talk shows for several years, so I don't really have a specific comparison for how the rage factories talked about Darnold during his struggles with the Jets vs. how they do now that he's been soaring for the past two seasons. I've paid a little bit closer attention with McCarthy becoming a source that personalities lean on heavily to fill cavernous hours of programing.

Most folks meet McCarthy for five minutes, they want good things to happen for him. Brosmer is the same, and Darnold also was the same. I think that's why I've been so grateful to work directly for a team. I want people who work diligently and play hard to succeed. While it's always been important to be sincere when we relay what's going on with your favorite football team, and we try to pass along why something doesn't work as intended, we don't pull for people to struggle or take delight in that.

Brosmer has prepared really well and he showed some nice things during the preseason. It will be important for the other 10 on the field to play well, which hasn't been the case (whether it was McCarthy or Carson Wentz) on enough plays this Vikings season.

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