The Vikings had some truly awful offensive performances during the 2025 season. They were held below 200 total yards five different times in games started by J.J. McCarthy or Max Brosmer. Three of those are the disaster at Lambeau Field, the shutout in Seattle, and the Christmas Day game against the Lions that they somehow won.
What they did on Monday night was worse than anything that happened last year.
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The Vikings came into this game — a primetime battle of 6-1 teams — with veteran Carson Wentz at quarterback against a Buffalo Bills defense that was 30th in passing yards allowed per game. Buffalo had been getting gashed all season. And the Vikings were so utterly incompetent, in a 23-6 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium, that they made the Bills look like the ’85 Bears.
Wentz put together a stunningly horrific quarterback performance. He completed 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards, with two interceptions and a lost fumble before being benched for Max Brosmer in garbage time. His passer rating was 8.9. That is the second-worst mark in Vikings history (minimum 20 attempts), ahead of only a 1984 game by Tommy Kramer.
The Vikings wound up with 178 yards, over 100 of which came on the final drive of the first half and a Brosmer drive in garbage time. They went 0 for 8 on third down. It’s just the fourth time in Vikings history, and the first since 2013, that they did not convert a single third down.
It was an utter mess from start to finish. It’s just the latest disaster for a Vikings offense that has barely been functional since the end of the 2024 season, regardless of who has been playing quarterback. With the trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon, the Vikings have to be considering some drastic measures to try to save their season at 6-2.
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The offense completely wasted what was an excellent performance from the Vikings’ defense, numbers be damned. Brian Flores’ group made life difficult on MVP favorite Josh Allen for much of the day. The Bills had four punts, an interception, and a field goal on their first six possessions.
But eventually, for the second straight week, the defense understandably wore down against an elite offense that just kept getting opportunities to run plays. The Bills won the time of possession battle 42:32 to 17:28. They ran 79 plays to Minnesota’s 46. Any defense would tire in those circumstances, especially against the NFL’s best offense.
The Bills led 10-6 at halftime after scoring the game’s first touchdown in the final minute of the second quarter. They were up 13-6 after a third quarter where the Vikings didn’t complete a pass and threw two interceptions. And they pulled away in the fourth quarter, even if they didn’t really need to.
The Vikings have a lot of questions to answer ahead of next week’s trip to Green Bay.
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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Nov 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Vikings section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
