The Minnesota Vikings are going to line up against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in a matchup that, at least in the standings, doesn’t look incredibly tough. The Ravens are 3-5 on the year. While they did just get three-time MVP Lamar Jackson back after a month-long absence, they’re still only 2-3 with him at quarterback.
On the surface, the challenge is going to be containing Jackson, who is the league’s premier dual-threat quarterback with a 14-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio. And if not Jackson, there’s Derrick Henry to worry about, who, even at 31, is still fifth in the NFL in rushing yards per game.
But beyond the X’s and O’s, the biggest hurdle for the Vikings is getting into a slugfest with… themselves. The 2025 Ravens are the AFC doppelganger for the 2025 Vikings. And, no, it’s not just because they’re the only two teams that wear purple.
It’s crazy how many parallels you can draw between these two squads. Both were incredibly successful teams that entered the playoffs as Super Bowl contenders: Minnesota went 14-3, and the Ravens went 12-5. Both were expected to build on their success, but both got off to slow starts. The Vikings would have started 0-2 had it not been for a miracle comeback from J.J. McCarthy in Week 1, and Baltimore started 1-3, albeit against a murderer’s row of opponents.
Quarterback injuries then pushed their respective seasons to the brink. Vikings fans know all about the Carson Wentz saga, and the Ravens arguably had it worse. They dropped their first two games with Cooper Rush at the helm, only to claw back to 2-5 with Tyler Huntley after the bye.
These quarterback issues were compounded by the defense — the foundation of their respective teams — being much less sturdy than in years past. Both teams went from top units to the bottom half of the league overnight. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of this slippage:
Injuries hit both teams — Blake Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel on Minnesota’s side, and Nnamdi Madubuike for Baltimore being the most notable examples — but the trends are still concerning. It’s difficult to say where either team excels on that side of the ball, and that decline has punished them in multiple losses this year.
Heading into Week 9, both teams were on track from being contenders to having a lost season, but they also got their starting QBs back, and, with them, a huge injection of hope.
The Miami Dolphins suck, so it’s no surprise that the Ravens were able to roll them in a 28-6 win, but Baltimore’s playoff hopes got boosted from more than the final result. Jackson was stellar, tossing four touchdowns and no picks, and didn’t even need to use his legs much to be his MVP self. Somehow, the Ravens still hold their playoff destiny in their hands, just two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers with two head-to-head matchups looming.
Meanwhile, the Vikings had J.J. McCarthy looking like a real NFL quarterback as he took down the mighty Detroit Lions to bring Minnesota to an improbable 4-4 record. Their remaining schedule is tough, but just 1.5 games behind the Green Bay Packers, and two head-to-heads on the horizon mean that they also technically control their playoff destinies.
That control is extremely tenuous, though, and both teams will be desperate.
The 2023 Packers may have made the playoffs after a 3-6 start, but that sort of rally is incredibly rare throughout NFL history. Baltimore’s following three games may be against the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Cincinnati Bengals, who have a combined 6-19 record. Still, they’d much rather come out of that stretch 7-5 than 6-6.
As for Minnesota, their 4-4 record has them in last place in the NFC North. If they want to use their 2-0 record against the NFC North, they’ll have to leapfrog the Packers, Lions, and Bears. If they want a Wild Card spot, they’ll have to nudge ahead of the Carolina Panthers and Bears, and then dislodge one of the Lions, San Francisco 49ers, or Los Angeles Rams. In either case, they can’t afford to drop one of the more winnable games left on their schedule.
It’s truly going to be Spiderman-pointing-at-Spiderman at US Bank Stadium on Sunday. Can the Vikings outmatch their AFC counterpart, or will the Ravens crush Minnesota’s season as they return to contention? The two sides couldn’t be more similar, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.