What We Learned About the MN Vikings in Sloppy Preseason Showing vs Patriots

By    |  
Updated:
Follow Us
Sam Howell - New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings came into their second preseason game of 2025 without a lot of expectations. After two heated joint practice sessions against the New England Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday, Saturday’s exhibition matchup vs the Pats was about those fighting for depth roles and 53-man roster spots.

JJ McCarthy was in street clothes, as was Jonathan Greenard, Jordan Addison and just about every other player casual fans would be able to pick out of a lineup. Of course, for MN Vikings fans watching this weekend, all eyes were on the backup quarterback battle between Sam Howell, Brett Rypien and Max Brosmer.

What We Learned – Minnesota Vikings vs New England Patriots (Preseason)

The Vikings — who eventually fell 20-12 to the Patriots — played okay on both sides of the ball Saturday, at least periodically. But today’s loss was very more so due to preseason sloppiness, than anything else.

NFL: New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Minnesota filled up their box score with drops on offense and missed tackles on defense that cost them both drives and points. Even worse may have been the constant penalty flags that were being thrown. So, let’s get after what we learned during the MN Vikings week two preseason game against the NE Patriots.

Minnesota Vikings 2nd Team mostly holds its own vs Patriots starters

Because head coach Kevin O’Connell decided early in the week (probably much sooner) that Minnesota’s starters were not going to play today, it was a bit surprising when noon rolled around and New England had all of their starters dressed in full pads.

They weren’t in uniform for show, either. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel actually rolled out his starters on both sides of the football, for two drives.

That included second year quarterback Drake Maye and just about every offensive starter, not named Stefon Diggs. New England even started one of the most expensive non-quarterbacks in football, defensive tackle Milton Williams, who’s making $32 million in cash this season.

Still, the Minnesota Vikings’ second team defense mostly held its own, limiting Drake Maye to 4-of-7 for 46 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and 77.1 QB rating.

They were better on drive one, forcing a six-and-out, but did spring a leak on the second drive, allowing Drake Maye & Co drive 52 yards on 9 plays that ended on a TreVon Henderson 8-yard touchdown run.

Sam Howell just ain’t it…

At this point, I think it is only a matter of time before the Minnesota Vikings put an end to the Sam Howell experiment. Out of the three quarterbacks who played on Saturday afternoon, Howell was by far the worst.

Yes, he was playing against the Patriots’ 1st team defense, but that is no excuse for how poorly his only two drives of the game played out. Howell ended his second preseason game as a Viking 1-of-5 for 13 yards and one of the worst preseason interceptions in league history.

Related: Latest Vikings News Could Connect Them with a Pro Bowl WR

During Minnesota’s first preseason game vs Houston, Howell looked good, flipping the script on a conversation that mostly had him trending toward a training camp cut candidate. Unfortunately, his second exhibition opportunity went the opposite.

Meanwhile, Brett Rypien went 7-of-11, while looking calm, cool and collected in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. When his one quarter of work was done, Rypien had accumulated 83 yards through the air, 0 interceptions and an 86.6 QB Rating.

If the MN Vikings do not go out and get a veteran QB2 who can hold water behind JJ McCarthy, it’s become quite clear that Sam Howell is not as good of an option as Brett Rypien, or even the undrafted free agent rookie behind him on the depth chart, who impressed again on Saturday.

Max Brosmer impresses for MN Vikings again…

Max Brosmer had another damn good day this afternoon, even if his boxscore doesn’t necessarily show it. Sam Howell got the first quarter of Saturday’s preseason game, and Brett Rypien the second.

That left the third and fourth quarters for former one-and-done Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Max Brosmer. Once again, the 24 year-old quarterback who played most of his five years of college football at New Hampshire looked in full control of Kevin O’Connell’s NFL offense.

When the dust settled on his extensive day of work, Max Brosmer finished his extensive work Saturday 15-of-27 for 156 hards, 0 TDs and 1 interception that came on the last play of the game.

Related: MN Vikings QB Battle Heating Up – Max Brosmer Uncuttable, Sam Howell in Trouble…?

Before that game-sealing INT in the endzone, however, the former Gopher made multiple beautiful throws to give the Vikings a chance to push a game into overtime that never should have been that close. 0 INTs. He was sacked 4 times.

While he was far from perfect, most of the offensive inefficiencies during the second half were caused by bad penalties and constant pressure. And the pressure wasn’t all on the Minnesota Vikings offensive line, necessarily, either.

Unlike what we normally see out of NFL defenses during the preseason, New England’s defense was bringing extra pass rushers during just about every passing situation Brosmer and the Vikings offense got into.

That made many of his dropbacks messy. But again, even when the outcome isn’t positive, Max is almost always in the right spot. And when he gets time, there is little doubt in his accuracy.

Too many missed tackles, drops and penalties

In the end, the Minnesota Vikings fell 20-12 against the New England Patriots on Saturday, in their second of three 2025 preseason games, and it wasn’t because the Pats played their starters and the Vikes didn’t.

It happened because they had way too many missed tackles on defense, dropped passes on offense and penalties on both sides of the ball. Lucky Jackson, who has been a training camp success story for multiple years now, had two crucial drops early and there were missed tackles on both of New England’s touchdowns.

Related: Harrison Smith MIA from MN Vikings Camp

But even worse than the drops and missed tackles were the penalties. Whether it was the a defensive lineman lining up in the neutral zone or an offensive lineman jumping early, the 10 total penalties committed by the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday ended up costing them a game that came down to the very last play.

Obviously, it was the second, third and fourth teammers drawing the flags, but nonetheless, committing that many procedure penalties just is not acceptable.

Mentioned in this article:

More About:
0What do you think?Post a comment.