Four games are on Friday’s National Football League preseason schedule beginning with a 4:30 p.m. (Pacific Time) contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets. Tomorrow, the NFL will complete their preseason schedule with ten games, and most teams will have two weeks to prepare for their regular season openers on September 7th.
One of the games tonight, with a scheduled kickoff time of 5:00 p.m., matches a pair of teams that had very different 2024 campaigns. The Minnesota Vikings were a surprise success in last year’s regular season while earning 14 wins, seven more than they compiled in 2023. The Vikings did it after their projected starting quarterback, rookie J.J. McCarthy, was injured in the preseason and lost for the year. His replacement, signed as a potential backup to the first round 2024 Vikings draft choice was Sam Darnold.
Darnold was also a first-round choice. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets. But, after failing to live up to his perceived potential in New York, he spent time with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers before his breakthrough campaign last year with the Vikings.
Still, the Vikings long term plans did not include the signal caller that garnered the second most regular season wins in team history. In 1998, the Vikings won 15 games in a year Randall Cunningham led an offense that included 17 touchdown passes to Randy Moss. During the off-season Darnold was shipped to Seattle and the path was clear for McCarthy to move into the starting role.
He started the Vikings opening preseason game and completed four of seven passes for 30 yards. Not Hall of Fame statistics, but enough for head coach Kevin O’Connell to determine his starting quarterback is recovered from his injury and ready for prime time in the NFL. He didn’t play in the Vikings second preseason skirmish and is not listed for action tonight.
While the Vikings were enjoying a great regular season last year, the Tennessee Titans were struggling. They flipped the Vikings results while compiling a 3 and 14 won/loss record and didn’t even get an edge when the point spreads were factored into their season. The Titans had the worst point spread record in the NFL last season, 2-14-1.
So, tonight we get to see the team that had one of the best records in the league last season against the team with the worst. Who do you think is favored?
Welcome to the preseason where team strength takes a backseat to other more common reasons for teams to do well, or not, in August.
The Vikings are confident that when the bell rings on the 2025 regular season and they have McCarthy behind center and one of the best defenses in football all will go well. They don’t need to prove anything in this last exhibition game.
The Titans are looking to erase the stench of their dismal campaign last year and build some confidence in a team looking to rise from the league's basement. They are looking for a revival this season with the first overall selection in last April’s draft, Cam Ward. The quarterback out of Miami will see action tonight and you know that as long as he is on the field the Titans will also keep their best offensive line players in the game to protect him.
The Vikings with nothing to prove on the road and the Titans at home looking to notch a satisfying win over a team that advanced to the playoffs last year. Looks to me to be misaligned objectives that strongly favor the home team.
Qoxhi Picks: Tennessee Titans (-4½) over the Minnesota Vikings