The Minnesota Vikings 2013 schedule was released by the NFL Thursday night.
Minnesota plays three games on prime-time television: Week 7 against the Giants on Monday Night Football; Week 8 against the Packers on Sunday Night Football; Week 10 against the Redskins on Thursday Night Football.
Week 1: at Detroit – Sunday, September 8, 12:00 p.m.
Week 2: at Chicago – Sunday, September 15, 12:00 p.m.
Week 3: vs Cleveland – Sunday, September 22, 12:00 p.m.
Week 4: vs Pittsburgh – Sunday, September 29, 12:00 p.m. (London)
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: vs Carolina – Sunday, October 13, 12:00 p.m.
Week 7: at NY Giants – Monday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.
Week 8: vs Green Bay – Sunday, October 27, 7:20 p.m.
Week 9: at Dallas – Sunday, November 3, 12:00 p.m.
Week 10: vs Washington – Thursday, November 7, 7:25 p.m.
Week 11: at Seattle – Sunday, November 17, 3:25 p.m.
Week 12: at Green Bay – Sunday, November 24, 12:00 p.m.
Week 13: vs Chicago – Sunday, December 1, 12:00 p.m.
Week 14: at Baltimore – Sunday, December 8, 12:00 p.m.
Week 15: vs Philadelphia – Sunday, December 15, 12:00 p.m.
Week 16: at Cincinnati – Sunday, December 22, 12:00 p.m.
Week 17: vs Detroit – Sunday, December 29, 12:00 p.m.
A.J. Mansour of KFAN.com has an outstanding week-by-week breakdown of the schedule.
The Star Tribune, in its week-by-week analysis, calls the schedule tough, especially from Week 7 to Week 14.
Kevin Seifert, who writes the NFC North Blog for ESPN, says Minnesota will have to work hard to avoid going into its Week 5 bye with a non-losing record.
Fox Sports North’s Brian Hall looked at the lineup, and while he expects the Vikings to start and finish strong, he sees the Purple finishing at 8-8 this year.
Vikings radio play-by-play guy Paul Allen thinks the Vikings can go 11-5. He also predicts that Adrian Peterson will rush for 2,400 yards.
As for opinions on the Twitterverse:
Excited to see us playing on Monday night again this year!
— Christian Ponder (@cponder7) April 19, 2013
Vikings don't play a game against a 2012 playoff team until Oct. 27.
— Access Vikings (@AccessVikings) April 19, 2013
