The 2021 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 61st in the National Football League (NFL), their sixth playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their eighth and final under head coach Mike Zimmer. They were eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight season following a Week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The day after the team's last game of the season, the Vikings fired Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
Draft
The Vikings entered the 2021 NFL draft with no second-round pick, having traded it to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for DE Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season; however, they picked up an extra third-round selection when they traded Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens a few weeks later. They also received an additional fifth-round selection from the Ravens as part of a multi-pick trade during the 2020 draft, as well as additional fourth-round selections from the Chicago Bears (as part of a multi-pick trade) and the Buffalo Bills (as part of the trade that sent Stefon Diggs to the Bills ahead of the 2020 season). The Vikings were also awarded two compensatory selections at the NFL's annual spring owners' meetings; they received one additional pick in the fourth round and one in the sixth round, compensating for the losses of Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse, Andrew Sendejo, Trae Waynes and Stephen Weatherly. On March 19, 2021, the Vikings were forced to forfeit a seventh-round selection due to a salary cap violation relating to a practice squad player during the 2019 season.
On the first day of the draft, the Vikings traded their first-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for the first-round pick the Jets had received from the Seattle Seahawks (23rd overall) and two additional third-round picks. With their new first-round pick, the Vikings selected offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw, the first player at the position to be taken in the first round by the Vikings since Matt Kalil with the fourth overall pick in 2012. With no second-round pick, the Vikings' draft resumed in the third round with the picks they received from the Jets the previous day and the one they received from Baltimore in exchange for Yannick Ngakoue, in addition to their original third-round pick. With these, they picked quarterback Kellen Mond, linebacker Chazz Surratt, guard Wyatt Davis and defensive end Patrick Jones II. In the fourth round, the Vikings took running back Kene Nwangwu, cornerback Camryn Bynum and defensive end Janarius Robinson, followed by wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette and tight end/punter Zach Davidson in the fifth. The Vikings' final pick of the draft came in the sixth round, when they selected defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman with the 199th overall pick.
+ 2021 Minnesota Vikings draft selections Round Selection Player name Position College Notes 1 14 Traded to the New York Jets 23 Christian Darrisaw OT Virginia Tech From Seahawks via Jets 2 45 Traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars 3 66 Kellen Mond QB Texas A&M From Jets 78 Chazz Surratt LB North Carolina 86 Wyatt Davis G Ohio State From Jets 90 Patrick Jones II DE Pittsburgh From Ravens 4 119 Kene Nwangwu RB Iowa State 125 Camryn Bynum CB California From Bears 134 Janarius Robinson DE Florida State From Bills 143 Traded to the New York Jets Compensatory selection 5 157 Ihmir Smith-Marsette WR Iowa 168 Zach Davidson TE Central Missouri From Steelers via Ravens 6 199 Jaylen Twyman DT Pittsburgh 223 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals Compensatory selection 7 — Selection forfeited
Draft trades
+ 2021 Minnesota Vikings undrafted free agents Name Position College Ref. Turner Bernard LS San Diego State Tuf Borland LB Ohio State Christian Elliss LB Idaho Zeandae Johnson DT California Myron Mitchell WR UAB Riley Patterson K Memphis Whop Philyor WR Indiana Blake Proehl WR East Carolina A. J. Rose RB Kentucky Jordon Scott NT Oregon Zach Von Rosenberg P LSU
Staff
Final roster
Preseason Schedule The Vikings' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on May 12. The exact dates and times were finalized on June 3.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 Denver Broncos L 6–33 0–1 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,028 Recap 2 Indianapolis Colts L 10–12 0–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,022 Recap 3 at Kansas City Chiefs L 25–28 0–3 Arrowhead Stadium 72,680 Recap
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 2: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Week 3: at Kansas City Chiefs
Regular season Schedule In addition to their usual six games home and away against their NFC North rivals, the Vikings would also play games against each of the teams from the NFC West and the AFC North, as well as the two teams that, like the Vikings, finished in third place in their divisions in the NFC East and NFC South in 2020: the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers. Following an agreement between the league and the National Football League Players Association to expand the regular season schedule to 17 games, the Vikings also played against the Los Angeles Chargers, one of the third-placed teams from the American Football Conference (AFC) whom they were not originally scheduled to play in 2021. The Vikings' 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 12 at Cincinnati Bengals L 24−27 ( 0−1 Paul Brown Stadium 56,525 Recap 2 September 19 at Arizona Cardinals L 33−34 0–2 State Farm Stadium 60,115 Recap 3 September 26 Seattle Seahawks W 30–17 1–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,729 Recap 4 October 3 Cleveland Browns L 7–14 1–3 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,703 Recap 5 October 10 Detroit Lions W 19–17 2–3 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,538 Recap 6 October 17 at Carolina Panthers W 34–28 3–3 Bank of America Stadium 72,104 Recap 7 Bye 8 October 31 Dallas Cowboys L 16–20 3–4 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,633 Recap 9 November 7 at Baltimore Ravens L 31–34 3–5 M&T Bank Stadium 70,599 Recap 10 November 14 at Los Angeles Chargers W 27–20 4–5 SoFi Stadium 70,240 Recap 11 November 21 Green Bay Packers W 34–31 5–5 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,959 Recap 12 November 28 at San Francisco 49ers L 26–34 5–6 Levi's Stadium 71,493 Recap 13 December 5 at Detroit Lions L 27–29 5–7 Ford Field 45,691 Recap 14 Pittsburgh Steelers W 36–28 6–7 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,718 Recap 15 at Chicago Bears W 17–9 7–7 Soldier Field 60,082 Recap 16 December 26 Los Angeles Rams L 23–30 7–8 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,708 Recap 17 January 2 at Green Bay Packers L 10–37 7–9 Lambeau Field 77,832 Recap 18 January 9 Chicago Bears W 31–17 8–9 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,625 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals
This was head coach Mike Zimmer's first return to Cincinnati since 2013, his last season with the Bengals before departing to become the Vikings head coach. Zimmer served as defensive coordinator for the Bengals under then-head coach Marvin Lewis from 2008 to 2013.
Week 2: at Arizona Cardinals
Week 3: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 5: vs. Detroit Lions
Week 6: at Carolina Panthers
Week 8: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 9: at Baltimore Ravens
Week 10: at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 11: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 12: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 13: at Detroit Lions
Week 14: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 15: at Chicago Bears
Week 16: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Week 17: at Green Bay Packers
Week 18: vs. Chicago Bears
Standings Division
Conference
Statistics Team leaders Category Player(s)Total Passing yards Kirk Cousins 4,221 Passing touchdowns Kirk Cousins 33 Rushing yards Dalvin Cook 1,159 Rushing touchdowns Dalvin Cook 6 Receptions Justin Jefferson 108 Receiving yards Justin Jefferson 1,616 Receiving touchdowns Justin JeffersonAdam Thielen 10 Points Greg Joseph 135 Kickoff return yards Kene Nwangwu 579 Punt return yards Dede Westbrook 183 Tackles Eric Kendricks 143 Sacks D. J. Wonnum 8.0 Interceptions Anthony BarrXavier Woods 3 Forced fumbles Bashaud BreelandArmon WattsXavier Woods 2 Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank Passing offense 4,238 249.3 11th Rushing offense 1,930 113.5 17th Total offense 6,168 362.8 12th Passing defense 4,300 252.9 28th Rushing defense 2,222 130.7 26th Total defense 6,522 383.6 30th Source: ProFootballReference.com
Pro Bowl Three Vikings players were named to the 2022 Pro Bowl when the rosters were announced on December 20, 2021. On offense, Dalvin Cook led the voting among NFC running backs to reach his third straight Pro Bowl, while WR Justin Jefferson made it two in a row; on defense, Harrison Smith received the most fan votes among NFC safeties to go to his sixth Pro Bowl. Those three were joined by T Brian O'Neill on January 26, 2022, after Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackle Tristan Wirfs was ruled out due to injury. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was added to the NFC roster on January 31 following the withdrawal of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers due to injury.
References
External links