The Minnesota Vikings came into Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks with a renewed sense of optimism. After J.J. McCarthy suffered a concussion in the previous game against the Green Bay Packers, Max Brosmer was making his first career start.
The weeks leading up to Brosmer’s official NFL debut were clouded in mystery. Some labeled him “Purple Purdy.” ESPN’s Adam Schefter went as far as to say that Brosmer was Minnesota’s “secret,” with others suggesting coaches had wanted to see what the former Golden Gopher could do.
Three hours later, we all learned that Brosmer was not Brock Purdy. He threw four interceptions, including a mind-numbing pick-six to Ernest Jones in the second quarter. He was the front man for Minnesota’s worst performance in franchise history, per DVOA, according to ESPN’s Aaron Schatz.
Brosmer has since become a meme and joins a heralded cast of backups, including Jaren Hall and Spergon Wynn. But pinning all the blame on Brosmer wouldn’t be fair. He’s part of a Vikings infrastructure that has shattered this season.
If you think back one year ago, it was a good time to be a Viking. Kevin O’Connell’s post-game speeches were like catnip to a championship-starved fanbase. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was cooking at every turn, and Sam Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-win season.
Everyone knew an important offseason was looming. When Darnold left for the Seahawks, the Vikings had to make a critical decision. Unfortunately, this was the turning point for Minnesota’s 2025 season, and there are plenty of people not named “McCarthy” or “Brosmer” to share the blame.
McCarthy was the most popular option, thanks to what transpired the year before. The highest-drafted quarterback in Vikings history, McCarthy turned in an impressive preseason debut before suffering a season-ending injury at some point during that game. After spending the entire 2024 season rehabbing, O’Connell had to make a decision.
Darnold and Daniel Jones walked out the door, and O’Connell turned down Aaron Rodgers’ overtures to see what he had in McCarthy. While O’Connell may not have given Rodgers a definitive no, he deemed McCarthy ready to play during training camp before turning him loose during the regular season.
Some things have happened that are out of O’Connell’s control, such as McCarthy’s ankle injury, which may have derailed his first season as a starter. But O’Connell has also shown a shocking failure to adjust.
Whether defenses had successfully adapted to “The Illusion of Complexity” or O’Connell has turned into an offensive Mike Zimmer, the vibes have turned in the opposite direction. His fourth-and-1 play call on Sunday that led to Brosmer’s game-changing interception was another case of refusing to put his quarterback in a position to succeed.
O’Connell isn’t the only person to blame. If O’Connell is the head chef, Adofo-Mensah was responsible for the groceries.
Adofo-Mensah pulled off this trick successfully a year ago, navigating Kirk Cousins‘s departure and using the money saved to sign key free agents Aaron Jones, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman. But he had also been charging a credit card that was about to be maxed out.
Minnesota’s lack of success in the draft left the team devoid of immediate impact talent and without the depth to avoid disaster. The Vikings cheated football death with an incredible run of health in 2024. However, now the injuries have piled up, consigning most of Adofo-Mensah’s draft picks to struggle on the field.
Adofo-Mensah also couldn’t find the same touch he displayed in free agency a year ago. An overhaul of the offensive and defensive lines was the main headline. Still, neither has lived up to the hype. Ryan Kelly can’t stay healthy, Will Fries didn’t turn out to be Steve Hutchinson, and Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave were name-brand signings who haven’t panned out.
These signings left Vikings fans as sick as someone who ate sushi from a gas station. Still, the Wilfs’ desire to field a competitive team every year myay be the biggest issue.
The Wilfs have done a tremendous job as owners, spending the money necessary to field a championship-level team. For a franchise that once stumbled through the Red McCombs era, it’s an accomplishment to be rated as one of the best ownership groups in the NFL, according to the players’ association report cards that have come out in the past two seasons.
Unfortunately, patience is not their strong suit. An insatiable desire to remain in the hunt at all times has occasionally handcuffed the Vikings. While it’s rooted in a good place, it denies the reality that this is not a team that is built to win now.
Minnesota has no developed talent and one of the oldest rosters in the NFL. After finally getting some cap space after moving on from Cousins’ contract, the Vikings dove in and bought all the lemons they could find on the free-agent market. The Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears have all improved their future outlook. As they have for much of the Wilfs’ tenure, the Vikings are spinning their wheels, praying for a breakout season.
That trick worked in 2009, 2017, and 2024, but it’s not a model for long-term success. While the Wilfs will take pride in being in the hunt, they also have a fanbase that wants the Vikings to be more than the NFL’s equivalent of “Six Seven” (or in this case, 9-8).
But at this point, the Vikings aren’t even that. They’re being mocked for passing on quarterbacks who could have helped them. They’re talk-show fodder in segments usually reserved for the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. Their most likely outcome is signing Rodgers next offseason like Billy Mays slapping FlexSeal on a cracked aquarium or trading for Modern Warfare veteran Kyler Murray for some level of relevancy.
It left Brosmer to take the fall on Sunday afternoon, quarterbacking a team that looked like it wouldn’t make the College Football Playoff, let alone the NFL version. He looked like a UDFA quarterback making his first career start, and the second quarterback that had played at a historically bad level this season.
This is not meant to take the heat off Brosmer, who didn’t play well. But it is a sign of a broken team that needs to be fixed one way or the other this offseason.
