2022 Minnesota Vikings season | |
---|---|
Owner | Zygi Wilf |
General manager | Kwesi Adofo-Mensah |
Head coach | Kevin O'Connell |
Home field | U.S. Bank Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 13–4 |
Division place | 1st NFC North |
Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Giants) 24–31 |
Pro Bowlers | 7
|
AP All-Pros | 3
|
Uniform | |
The 2022 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 62nd in the National Football League (NFL), their seventh playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their first under new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and new head coach Kevin O'Connell, following the firings of Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer at the end of the 2021 season.
The Vikings started 8–1 for the first time since 2009. They improved upon their 8–9 record from 2021 and clinched the NFC North for the first time since 2017, finishing with a 13–4 record. However, the Vikings were eliminated in the Wild Card round of the playoffs after losing 31–24, their first and only one-score loss of the season, to the New York Giants.
Despite Minnesota's strong record, fans, and players, analysts did not view the Vikings as legitimate championship contenders due to most of their wins being within one score (11 of 13 wins) and three of their four losses being blowouts. The Vikings ranked 31st in total yards allowed (6,608) and finished the season with a negative point differential (−3), the first time this had been done by a team with at least 12 wins.[1] Some of those claims subsided after the win over the Colts, in which the Vikings completed the largest comeback in NFL history; having trailed 33–0 at halftime, they rallied to win 39–36 in overtime.[2]