Cousins, Rodgers, London: What we know about Vikings' 2024 schedule
The NFL will release its 2024 regular-season schedule Wednesday night, assigning dates, times and TV networks to the slate of Vikings opponents we've known for months. When the league unveils the schedule, the Vikings will get the full arrangement of games that will have them traveling more than most teams in the league this season.
According to Bookies.com, the Vikings will cover 22,389 air miles this season, the eighth most in the NFL. They will return to London for the fourth time, giving up one of their nine home games for a trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium two years after they won there in 2022. They also will make a combined four trips to the two coasts in the U.S., including two West Coast trips to face NFC opponents.
The Vikings' 2024 schedule is tied for the 16th toughest in the NFL, with the team's 17 opponents holding a collective record of 145-144 last season. The slate includes five 2023 playoff teams: the Lions, Packers, Texans, 49ers and Rams. But many of the teams the Vikings face, of course, will look markedly different than they did last year. The Vikings will, too, which could create some of the more intriguing story lines on the schedule.
Here is a refresher on the Vikings' schedule, based on what we already know about it before the full slate is released Wednesday evening.
2024 home opponents: Bears, Lions, Packers, Cardinals, 49ers, Texans, Colts, Falcons, Jets
2024 road opponents: Bears, Lions, Packers, Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars, Titans, Giants
Cousins returns to U.S. Bank Stadium as a visitor
The Vikings' home schedule includes, of course, their three games against NFC North rivals, which could be particularly interesting this year given the Lions' rise, the Packers' resurgence and the start of the Caleb Williams era in Chicago. But outside of the division matchups, no matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium will bring more juice than the one against the Atlanta Falcons. A month and a half after Kirk Cousins left the Vikings for a four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta, the Falcons delivered the stunner of the draft by taking Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. It means Cousins is starting with his successor already in the building — the exact scenario he hoped to avoid by leaving Minnesota — and puts him on the clock sooner than he expected to be. Netflix's "Quarterback" series highlighted Cousins' emotional win in his return to Washington in 2022; while his return to Minnesota won't be the subject of a TV series, it'll come with as much intrigue as any game on the Vikings' 2024 schedule.
London calling … again
In 2022, the Vikings became the first team to win in all three of London's NFL venues, adding a victory over the Saints at Tottenham to their 2013 win over the Steelers at Wembley Stadium and 2017 win over the Browns at Twickenham Stadium. They'll try to improve to 4-0 in the UK this fall, going to London as the home team for the second time. The trip adds to the Vikings' West Coast games to make up a grueling travel schedule this year. While the Vikings played a home game against the Bears the weekend after their last trip to London, the fact they'll be the home team this time could mean they take their bye week after the London game, rather than technically getting a second consecutive home game the weekend after their trip overseas.
O'Connell faces his former boss for the first time
The last time Kevin O'Connell coached a game at SoFi Stadium, he walked off the field covered in confetti after the Rams beat the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. Days after the game, the Rams offensive coordinator was introduced as the Vikings' 10th head coach. He will face Rams coach Sean McVay, his mentor and former boss, for the first time. For the Vikings, it will be their second trip to SoFi Stadium, but their first against the Rams, after beating the Chargers there in 2021.
Old nemesis returns to the schedule
Remember Aaron Rodgers? Certainly you do, and it's unlikely he'd have it any other way. The last time Rodgers was in the news for playing a football game, though, was in Week 1 of the 2023 season, when he tore his left Achilles tendon only four plays into his time with the Jets after an offseason trade from the Packers. The Jets are the Vikings' opponent for the AFC/NFC crossover game that takes up the 17th spot on each team's schedule, which means the Vikings have another home game against the future Hall of Famer. Pity the poor Vikings fans who might miss out on a final chance to hurl invective at their old foe if the NFL moves this game to London.
AFC South slate means rare destinations
The Vikings will play the Titans and Jaguars on the road for the first time since 2016, when they won their season opener in Nashville with Shaun Hill starting at QB and beat the Jaguars in December after Mike Zimmer returned from emergency eye surgery that caused him to miss the team's previous game. This year's game in Nashville could be the Vikings' final trip to Nissan Stadium; the Titans are building a 60,000-seat domed stadium, adjacent to their current home and scheduled to open in 2027.
