EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings 2020 NFL schedule was announced Thursday evening, as the games are now set for the 60th season in franchise history.
Here are seven observations about the Vikings 2020 schedule:
1. Week 7 bye precedes crucial NFC North games
Players and coaches will tell you the first thing they look for when the schedule comes out is the bye week. They want to know when they get a breather between the grind and where it falls among opponents.
The Vikings bye week comes in Week 7, after an even split of home and road games in the first six contests.
But what's important to note is that Minnesota goes to Green Bay, hosts Detroit and then travels to Chicago in the three games immediately following the break.
That means Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer's squad will need to be rested for an important trio of games right after the bye.
View photos of the Vikings 2020 schedule in photos including all opponents for the regular season.
Week 1 | Sunday, Sept. 13 | 09.13 | NOON | Home vs. Green Bay Packers | U.S. Bank Stadium
Aaron Rodgers - Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished 2019, his 15th NFL season, with 4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
The Vikings have played the Packers to open a season six previous times but have never kicked off a campaign by hosting a Border Battle. Green Bay's only appearance in a Minnesota home opener was during Week 2 in 2016 when the Vikings prevailed 17-14 in U.S. Bank Stadium's inaugural game.
Week 2 | Sunday, Sept. 20 | 09.20 | NOON | Away @ Indianapolis Colts | Lucas Oil Stadium
Darius Leonard - Linebacker Darius Leonard hauled in an impressive five interceptions for the Colts in 2019 en route to his first career Pro Bowl.
Marlon Mack - Marlon Mack led the Colts ground attack in 2019, totaling 1,091 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 247 carries.
![Joe Kapp (Sept. 28, 1969) [7 passing touchdowns against Baltimore Colts] = Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp tied an NFL record in 1969 when he threw for an incredible seven touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts, who moved to Indianapolis in 1984.](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_new_photo_album_2x/t_lazy/f_auto/vikings/lupn6gwpo05hnkvylukp.jpg)
Joe Kapp (Sept. 28, 1969) [7 passing touchdowns against Baltimore Colts] = Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp tied an NFL record in 1969 when he threw for an incredible seven touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts, who moved to Indianapolis in 1984.
Week 3 | Sunday, Sept. 27 | 09.27 | NOON | Home vs. Tennessee Titans | U.S. Bank Stadium
Derrick Henry - Derrick Henry won the 2019 rushing title with 1,540 yards and tied for the league lead with 16 rushing touchdowns
Kevin Byard - Safety Kevin Byard recorded five interceptions in 2019, which tied for fourth in the league. He has picked off at least four passes in each of the past four seasons.
Eric Kendricks (Sept. 11, 2016) - Eric Kendricks had a 77-yard interception return for a score — his first NFL touchdown — in the most-recent meeting between the teams, back in Week 1 of the 2016 season.
Week 4 | Sunday, Oct. 4 | 10.04 | NOON | Away @ Houston Texans | NRG Stadium
Deshaun Watson - Deshaun Watson set a career-high with 33 total touchdowns in 15 games in 2019. He threw for 26 scores for the second straight season and added seven rushing touchdowns, which tied for second among quarterbacks.
J.J. Watt - J.J. Watt is tied for fourth among active players with 96 career sacks.
Marcus Sherels (Oct. 9, 2016) - Marcus Sherels returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown in the most-recent meeting between the teams. It was his fifth career punt return for a score and first in a home game.
Week 5 | Sunday, Oct. 11 | 10.11 | 7:20 PM | Away @ Seattle Seahawks | CenturyLink Field
Russell Wilson - Russell Wilson threw a career-low five interceptions in 516 attempts in 2019. Wilson also passed for 4,110 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Bobby Wagner - Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner led the NFL with 159 total tackles (league stats) in 2019.
Anthony Harris (Dec. 2, 2019) - Safety Anthony Harris had a 20-yard interception return for a score against the Seahawks in 2019. It was his first career touchdown.
Week 6 | Sunday, Oct. 18 | 10.18 | NOON | Home vs. Atlanta Falcons | U.S. Bank Stadium
Matt Ryan - Ryan, who is 109-80 as a starter, has recorded 38 game-winning drives and 30 come-from-behind victories.
Julio Jones - Julio Jones has seven Pro Bowls to his credit and a career average of 96.2 yards per game. In four games against Minnesota since 2014, however, Jones has averaged just 48.3 yards per game.
Kevin Williams (Sept. 9, 2007) - Defensive tackle Kevin Williams returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown to put the Vikings up by seven early in what became a 24-3 victory.
Week 7 | Sunday, Oct. 25 | 10.25 | BYE WEEK
Week 8 | Sunday, Nov. 1 | 11.01 | NOON | Away @ Green Bay Packers | Lambeau Field
Za'Darius Smith - OLB Za'Darius Smith started all 16 games for the first time in his career and totaled 13.5 sacks in his first season with Green Bay.
Taking NFC North title in 2015 - The Vikings closed the 2015 season by defeating the Packers 20-13 at Lambeau Field to win the NFC North.
Week 9 | Sunday, Nov. 8 | 11.08 | NOON | Home vs. Detroit Lions | U.S. Bank Stadium
Matthew Stafford - Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford started 136 straight regular-season games from 2011 to Nov 3, 2019. He missed the final eight games of last season.
Cris Carter's 1,000*th* catch - Receiver Cris Carter hauled in his 1,000th career catch, a four-yard TD pass from Daunte Culpepper, in the first quarter against the Lions on Nov. 30, 2000.
Week 10 | Monday, Nov. 16 | 11.16 | 7:15 PM | Away @ Chicago Bears | Soldier Field
Khalil Mack - Bears edge rusher Khalil Mack led Chicago with five forced fumbles in 2019.
Adrian Peterson (Oct. 14, 2007) - Adrian Peterson racked up 224 rushing yards and three touchdowns (67, 73 and 35 yards) in a 34-31 comeback victory at Soldier Field on Oct. 14, 2007.
Week 11 | Sunday, Nov. 22 | 11.22 | 3:25 PM | Home vs. Dallas Cowboys | U.S. Bank Stadium
Ezekiel Elliott - Ezekiel Elliott ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing yards last season, racking up 1,357 yards and 12 touchdowns on 301 carries.
Jaylon Smith - Linebacker Jaylon Smith started all 16 games for the Cowboys in 2019 and led the team with 142 tackles (league stats) en route to his first career Pro Bowl nod.
Eric Kendricks (Nov. 10, 2019) - Linebacker Eric Kendricks helped the Vikings wrangle the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 10 last season. Kendricks broke up a fourth-down pass that Dak Prescott intended for running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Week 12 | Sunday, Nov. 29 | 11.29 | NOON | Home vs. Carolina Panthers | U.S. Bank Stadium
Christian McCaffrey - Running back Christian McCaffrey led the NFL with 2,392 combined yards in 2019, joining Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk as the only three players in league history to have more than 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in one season.
Teddy Bridgewater - Former Viking Teddy Bridgewater is poised to make his first start against the Minnesota team that drafted him with the 32nd overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Adam Thielen (Nov. 30, 2014) - Adam Thielen blocked a punt and returned it 30 yards for his first career touchdown to help the Vikings defeat the Panthers 31-13 on Nov. 30, 2014, a 12-degree day (Wind Chill of minus-7) at the University of Minnesota.
Week 13 | Sunday, Dec. 6 | 12.06 | NOON | Home vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | U.S. Bank Stadium
Gardner Minshew II - Gardner Minshew II threw for 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 12 starts as a rookie last season.
Josh Allen - Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen, the seventh overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, led Jacksonville with 10.5 sacks.
Randall Cunningham (Dec. 20, 1998) - Randall Cunningham threw three touchdowns (13, 43 and 14 yards) to build a 23-point lead at the end of the third quarter in an eventual 50-10 Vikings victory, a big boost for Minnesota's season points total of 556.
Week 14 | Sunday, Dec. 13 | 12.13 | NOON | Away @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Raymond James Stadium
Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski - Tampa Bay added Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski this offseason. Brady is a six-time Super Bowl champion who ranks second all-time in passing yards (74,571) and passing touchdowns (541). Gronkowski has caught 78 career scores from Brady.
Shaquil Barrett - Shaquil Barrett set a Buccaneers franchise record — and led the NFL — with 19.5 sacks in 2019.
Anthony Barr (Oct. 26, 2014) - This will be Minnesota's first trip to Tampa Bay since 2014, when Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr forced and recovered a fumble before racing 27 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Week 15 | Sunday, Dec. 20 | 12.20 | NOON | Home vs. Chicago Bears | U.S. Bank Stadium A
Cordarrelle Patterson - Cordarrelle Patterson led the NFL with 825 kickoff return yards in 2019, including a 102-yard touchdown.
Danielle Hunter (Dec. 20, 2015) - This game is scheduled to occur five years to the date of Minnesota's 38-17 win over Chicago at the University of Minnesota. Danielle Hunter recorded 1.5 sacks that night for the first multi-sack game of his career.
Week 16 | Friday, Dec. 25 | 12.25 | 3:30 PM | Away @ New Orleans Saints | Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Cam Jordan - The son of Vikings Ring of Honor member Steve Jordan, Saints defensive end Cam Jordan racked up 15.5 sacks in 2019, which ranked third in the NFL behind Shaquil Barrett (19.5) and Chandler Jones (19.0).
Drew Brees - Entering his 20th NFL season (15th) with the Saints, quarterback Drew Brees has been named to 13 Pro Bowls.
Kyle Rudolph (Jan. 5, 2020) - Kyle Rudolph caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins for a 26-20 walk-off Vikings victory that stunned the Saints in overtime of the NFC Wild Card game in January.
Week 17 | Sunday, Jan. 3 | 01.03 | NOON | Away @ Detroit Lions | Ford Field D
Kenny Golladay - Lions receiver Kenny Golladay started all 16 games in 2019, recording 65 catches for a career-high 1,190 yards and a league-best 11 touchdowns.
Kirk Cousins (Oct. 20, 2019) - Kirk Cousins threw for a season-high 338 yards and four touchdowns to help Minnesota notch a 42-30 road win in Detroit last season.
2. 3 straight home games at key time
The Vikings have three consecutive home games for just the second time in the Zimmer era, the other coming in 2014.
Minnesota will be at U.S. Bank Stadium in Weeks 11-13 against Dallas, Carolina and Jacksonville, respectively.
Zimmer has said he usually doesn't like to look at league standings and statistics until Thanksgiving. Well, the Week 11 game against the Cowboys comes just days before the holiday, and could allow the Vikings to reel off a string of wins as the calendar turns to December.
A key stat: the Vikings are 23-9 (.719 win percentage) at U.S. Bank Stadium since the venue opened in 2016.
3. A historic opener against the Packers
Here's how many times the Vikings have opened a season at home against the Packers in team history: zero.
That will change in 2020 as Minnesota hosts Green Bay in Week 1. Kickoff on Sept. 13 is scheduled for noon (CT).
The Vikings were swept by the Packers in 2019 as Green Bay won the division, so the fireworks will be there right away between the annual division contenders.
The teams have combined to win 14 of the 18 division titles since the NFC North was formed in 2002, including four of the past five.
The Vikings are perfect in their past three season openers at home, getting wins over New Orleans, San Francisco and Atlanta.
The Vikings also won't have their common late-season matchup against the Packers. The teams will meet at Lambeau Field in Week 8 to finish off the 2020 chapter of their rivalry.
4. Christmas in New Orleans
The Vikings will play on Christmas Day for just the fourth time in franchise history, and the matchup will be one of the most anticipated conference games of the season.
The Vikings will travel to New Orleans for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff against the Saints in Week 16. Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year.
The Vikings and Saints are certainly not strangers, as Minnesota has knocked New Orleans out of the postseason in two of the past three years — both times in dramatic fashion. The most-recent instance came in overtime in a January Wild-Card game when Kirk Cousins found Kyle Rudolph for the walk-off score.
This will be the fifth meeting between the teams since the 2017 season opener. The Vikings are 3-1 in the previous four games.
5. Avoiding cold-weather games
The Vikings will play four road games in their final eight contests, beginning with Week 10 at Chicago (more on that below).
But the other three roadies are at Tampa Bay (Week 14), New Orleans (Week 16) and Detroit (Week 17), meaning the Week 10 clash against the Bears could be the worst weather the Vikings play in during the final two months of the season.
Tampa Bay in mid-December? Sign us up. And the road games against the Saints and Lions are indoors. The Vikings hardly have to worry about cold or inclement weather in 2020.
Even the Vikings (seemingly annual) trek to Seattle is in Week 5 (Oct. 11), where the weather should be warmer than the recent early-December road trips.
Overall, the Vikings play 10 of their 16 games under fixed roofs and two more in venues with retractable roofs (Colts and Texans).
That could bode well for someone like Dan Bailey. The Vikings kicker made all 29 of his extra points and was 16 of 17 (94.1 percent) in 2019 when playing indoors or at a stadium with a retractable roof.
6. Sunday at noon ... just how Zimmer likes it
The Vikings only play a pair of prime-time games, including Sunday Night Football in the Seattle game listed above. The other is Week 10 on Monday Night Football in Chicago where the Vikings will try to get a rare road win in a place they have recently struggled.
But the Vikings also play a dozen times on Sunday at noon, rare for a 2019 playoff team but something that will make Zimmer smile.
Those intertwined in the NFL are creatures of habit. During the season, players are used to having meetings and workouts on Mondays, a day off on Tuesday and then filling up Wednesday through Saturday with practices and meetings.
Sunday, of course, is usually game day, with most players and coaches are conditioned to be ready Sunday at noon. The more of those games, the better, for the Vikings.
Since the start of the 2015 season, the Vikings are 35-14-1 under Zimmer in games that begin at noon (CT).
7. Early and often vs. the AFC South means late heavy dose of NFC games
The Vikings will get an early dose of the AFC South in 2020.
After opening against Green Bay, Minnesota will then go to Indianapolis, host Tennessee and then travel down to Houston in Weeks 2-4. The Vikings play those teams once every four seasons, and went 3-1 against those opponents back in 2016.
The Vikings finish up their AFC South slate in Week 13 at home against Jacksonville in just the seventh meeting between the franchises. Houston (four previous games) is the only active opponent the Vikings have played less frequently.
After a bye in Week 7, nine of the Vikings final 10 games are against NFC foes, including five division games. The race for playoff spots — which includes seven teams in each conference — will be as heated as ever down the stretch.
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