On Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings improved to 3-2 on the young 2025 NFL season with a win over the Cleveland Browns in London by a score of 21-17. It was another start for Carson Wentz in place of the injured JJ McCarthy, and although Wentz himself was injured at one point in the game, he was able to return and orchestrate a game-winning drive for his team.
That drive was capped off by three straight receptions from wide receiver Jordan Addison, including the game-winning touchdown with under 30 seconds remaining. Making matters even more noteworthy was the fact that Addison had been benched for the first quarter of this one, seemingly without warning.
However, after the game, head coach Kevin O'Connell revealed the reasoning for this benching.
“Kevin O’Connell said Jordan Addison missed a walk-through this week, and was held out for the first quarter because of it,” reported Ben Goessling on X, formerly Twitter.
“Those kinds of things aren't up to our standards, and he knows that,” O’Connell said.
However, it certainly shows something about Addison's resiliency that he was able to bounce back and still complete the game-winning touchdown drive.
A big win for the Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have been on a roller coaster through five weeks of the young NFL season, at times looking like the juggernaut they were during the regular season last year, and at other times seeming to be stuck in the mud.
There was some of both of those versions on Sunday in London against the Browns, but ultimately, Minnesota was able to do just enough in the end to hold on and secure a big win.
At this point, it's unclear whether Wentz has done enough to establish a quarterback competition once McCarthy is back and healthy. However, the Vikings are now 2-1 in the games he's started, and McCarthy has struggled in seven of the eight quarters he's played as an NFL starter thus far.
The Vikings are also slowly but surely starting to get back some key injured pieces on the defensive side of the ball, which will bode well for them moving forward.
Minnesota will now enjoy a much-needed bye week.
