KFAN Preview: Vikings vs. Commanders Week 14 at Noon

The Minnesota Vikings will seek to break their four-game losing streak at noon Sunday when they face the Washington Commanders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Fans unable to make it can tune in to the game live on KFAN 100.3-FM with play-by-play by Paul Allen, analysis by Pete Bercich and sideline reporting by Ben Leber, preceded by the pregame show at 10 a.m.

The purple and gold have weathered a tumultuous stretch of games, the most difficult of which being last Sunday’s shutout loss 26-0 to the Seahawks in Seattle. A Week 12 concussion protocol placement for quarterback J.J. McCarthy caused rookie quarterback Max Brosmer to lead an offensive effort that head coach Kevin O’Connell said was not “ever going to be acceptable” for the organization.

“It’s not about any one particular player or position,” O’Connell said in a post-game interview. “It’s a collective group thing right now where we just are not good enough to overcome some of the things that we’re doing.”

McCarthy was announced on Wednesday to be returning from concussion protocol and on track to start against the Commanders, in addition to tackle Christian Darrisaw, who missed out on playing Week 13 due to a knee injury.

In a Tuesday interview with Paul Allen as part of a Toys for Tots drive at Scheels Eden Prairie in partnership with KFAN, the Vikings and UNRL, O’Connell stressed the need to develop consistency in creating explosive plays on offense.

“Those plays are just something that we’ve lacked and haven’t had enough of this year, and the continued growth and development of J.J. coming back, hopefully with a full week of practice this week, will be a real positive,” O’Connell said.

The team announced Monday that it would be waiving veteran receiver Adam Thielen, who signed on to compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the remainder of his final NFL season.

In a conversation with the Power Trip Morning Show at the Scheels Toys for Tots drive, wide receiver Jalen Nailor shared what he learned from his time with Thielen.

“There’s just little tidbits with what he sees in my game that could help me out,” Nailor said. “I try to put that into consideration when I’m out there taking my next reps, so just having him as a role model and as a leader in our receiver room has been amazing.”

The Commanders’ best efforts and the return of wide receiver Terry McLaurin weren’t enough to stop them from adding a seventh game to their losing streak against the Broncos 27-26 in Week 13.

Washington, who the Vikings defeated 20-17 in 2022 the last time they faced off, have been facing quarterback woes as well, with quarterback Jayden Daniels being listed for limited practice in the Commanders’ injury report Wednesday.

O’Connell called McLaurin “a heck of a player” in his Wednesday press conference and acknowledged the teams’ similar battles with injuries and repeat losses, issues which he said Sunday’s game provides the team with an opportunity to move past.

“You’ve got to find a way to navigate what is a thing in totality that is very easy to look at and say ‘This is what happened; this has happened; this needs to stop happening,’” O’Connell said. “All of those things lead you right back to 12 o’clock on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, where we get an opportunity to coach the things that are required to go win the game, make sure we don’t do the things that lose football games that we’ve learned in a very, very difficult way this year.”

Sunday’s matchup can be listened to live at KFAN (100.3) at noon on Sunday, Dec. 7, preceded by Packer Preview at 8 a.m. and Vikings Football Sunday pregame at 10 a.m.