The 2016 Vikings schedule was **released Thursday**, and the Vikings have a handful of interesting games, including **four matchups scheduled for prime time**. Of the 16 games slated for Minnesota, which will be the most challenging? The Star Tribune's Matt Vensel weighed in on which **five he expects to be the toughest**.
NFC North rival Green Bay took up two of the five spots on Vensel's list. In 2015, the Vikings split the series with Green Bay, defeating the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 17 to take the division title. Vensel predicted Minnesota's home opener to be the fifth-most challenging game.
I was tempted to put the season opener against the Titans on this list because of that Bay Area beatdown the 49ers gave them last year. One big issue in that loss, besides the long flight out west, was that some players were too hyped up for it, which will more likely be the case in Week 2 when the Vikings play their first real game at U.S. Bank Stadium against their biggest challengers in the North.
Vensel penciled the Thanksgiving game at Detroit as No. 4, citing home-field advantage for the Lions in addition to a short week for the Vikings. Arizona at Minnesota in Week 11 came in as third-toughest for Vensel, although he likes the Vikings chances at home better.
On paper, before the draft and training camp and the preseason, the Cardinals look to again be one of the top contenders in the NFC. Quarterback Carson Palmer still has a ton of weapons, and their defense is tough, too. The shorthanded Vikings put up a pretty good fight against the Cardinals on the road last season but came up short. This year, the matchup will be played in Minneapolis, which helps.
Super Bowl 50 contender Carolina came in as a runner-up for Vensel, with the Vikings Christmas Eve road game against Green Bay topping the list.
For the second straight season, the NFC North title could come down to a late-season showdown between these two rivals. The Vikings stormed into Lambeau Field to steal the division last season. It was their first win there since 2009. Can they go in there and take out Aaron Rodgers and the Packers again? It will be a pretty tough task, but the Lambeau mystique is now shattered for this young group.
View images of the Vikings opponents after the 2016 schedule was released on Thursday.
Marcus Mariota threw 19 touchdowns for the Titans in 12 games played as a rookie in 2015.
Tennessee's defensive unit ranked 12th in the NFL with 39.0 sacks last season.
The Titans hired former Vikings tight end Mike Mularkey as the team's head coach in January of the offseason.
Clay Matthews recorded 6.5 sacks and one interception in 2015.
Eddie Lacy ran for 100 yards on 22 carries against the Vikings in Minnesota last year.
Mike McCarthy is 49 games over .500 (104-55-1) in 10 seasons as an NFL head coach.
Josh Norman had four interceptions and three forced fumbles in 2015.
Cam Newton won his first NFL MVP award in 2015 and threw for 35 touchdowns and 3,837 yards.
Ron Rivera has led the Panthers to a 47-32-1 record in five seasons as Carolina's head coach.
Eli Manning threw for a career-high 35 touchdowns in 2015.
The Giants defense ranked last in the NFL, allowing a total of 6,725 yards to opponents.
Ben McAdoo was hired as the Giants 17th head coach in January after working as the team's offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
J.J. Watt has won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year honor three of the past four seasons.
DeAndre Hopkins was third in the NFL in receiving yards last season (1,521), trailing Antonio Brown and Julio Jones.
Bill O'Brien has led Houston to two 9-7 seasons since taking over as head coach in 2014.
Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Malcolm Jenkins led Philadelphia with 109 tackles (90 solo), according to NFL.com.
Doug Pederson enters his first season as the head coach of the Eagles. Pederson spent two stints with Green Bay (1996-98 and 2001-04) as a backup to Brett Favre.
Pernell McPhee had 53 tackles, 6.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception last season.
Alshon Jeffery had four receiving touchdowns in 2015 after compiling 17 collectively in the previous two seasons.
The Vikings won at Soldier Field for the first time since 2007 last season.
Matt Stafford had a career-high 67.2 completion percentage in 2015.
Detroit's scoring defense ranked 23rd in the NFL last season, allowing 400 total points to opponents.
Jim Caldwell holds an 18-14 overall record as the Lions head coach.
Kirk Cousins compiled a 101.6 passer rating and threw for 4,166 yards in his first full season as a starter for the Redskins.
Jay Gruden led Washington to the playoffs with a 9-7 record in his second season as head coach.
DeAngelo Hall enters his 13 season in the NFL and his eighth year with the Redskins as the league's active leader with 43 career interceptions.
Tyrann Mathieu returns for his fourth season with the Cardinals after tearing his right ACL in December.
Carson Palmer is 16th on the all-time passing touchdown list (259).
Bruce Arians holds a 34-14 regular season record in three seasons as the head coach of Arizona.
Theo Riddick had five receptions for 41 yards against the Vikings in September.
Golden Tate led the Lions with 90 receptions last season. He totaled 813 yards and six receiving touchdowns.
The Vikings came back from a 14-3 deficit to win 28-19 at Ford Field last season.
The Cowboys defense finished last in the NFL in turnover margin last season (minus-22) with 11 takeaways against 33 giveaways by the offense.
Jason Garrett led Dallas to a 12-4 record in 2014, followed by a 4-12 record last season.
Dez Bryant had 16 touchdowns and 1,320 receiving yards in his last full season played in 2014.
Allen Hurns caught 10 touchdowns and had 1,031 receiving yards in his second season with the Jaguars.
The Jaguars defense placed 31st in the NFL, allowing 28.0 points per game by opponents in 2015.
Gus Bradley is 12-36 in three seasons as the Jaguars head coach.
Andrew Luck battled injuries in 2015 and started seven games for the Colts.
Chuck Pagano was 11-5 in his first three years as the head coach of Indianapolis. Last year he led the Colts to an 8-8 record.
The Indianapolis scoring defense was 25th in the NFL in 2015, allowing 25.5 points per game.
Aaron Rodgers had a career-high 572 attempts in 2015, throwing for 3,821 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Julius Peppers is the active leader with 136.0 sacks in the NFL.
The last time the Vikings played at Lambeau Field, Minnesota was crowned as the 2015 NFC North champion.
Jay Cutler compiled the best passer rating (92.3) of his career in 2015.
Tracy Porter had an interception and a forced fumble in the Bears secondary last season.
John Fox enters his second season as the Bears head coach.
How the Rams-Titans Draft trade could affect the Vikings
The 2016 NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away. Last week, the Titans and Rams pulled off a blockbuster trade in which Tennessee gave up the No. 1 overall pick for a slew of picks in the first three rounds. While the Vikings were not involved in the transaction, John Holler of Viking Update explained that the **trade could still affect Minnesota** come draft night.
As Holler pointed out, with the Rams and Browns now having the first two picks, analysts' mock drafts up to this point have been disrupted.
The conventional wisdom was that top WR prospect Laquon Treadwell would have to drop past a minefield of potential suitors before the Vikings would be on the clock. One of the most often discussed landing spots was the Rams at No. 15. Now that option is off the table.
Holler also said the move could mean that three quarterbacks – Carson Wentz, Jared Goff and Paxton Lynch – will be off the board before the Vikings make their selection at No. 23.
Seeing as the Vikings aren't in the market for a quarterback in the first round, as many picks that can be made at positions the Vikings aren't considering is a benefit for them.
It's always hard to predict how the chips will fall when players start coming off the board, but it seems the shakeup with Tennessee and Los Angeles may not be a bad thing for Minnesota.
2016 could be big year for Jerick McKinnon
With the Vikings voluntary offseason program kicking off today, ESPN's Ben Goessling focused in on where the **team stands in a few areas**. Goessling called running back Jerick McKinnon a "player on the rise" headed into 2016:
[McKinnon] looked like he was ready to become a multi-faceted weapon in the Vikings' offense at the end of last season, and as he heads into his third season it stands to reason the Vikings will try to carve out an even bigger role for him in their offense. McKinnon averaged 8.55 yards per touch in the final three weeks of the regular season, getting the ball on handoffs, jet sweeps and passes as a slot receiver.
