The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview book. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2025 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the Minnesota Vikings performed from a penalty perspective in 2024 and where they can improve in 2025.
How Did Penalties Impact the Minnesota Vikings?
The Good
- The Vikings offense was the No. 1 beneficiary of automatic first downs via penalty. The Vikings have ranked in the top 10 of this category every year of the Kevin O’Connell era, regardless of the quarterback under center.
- Justin Jefferson was the No. 1 beneficiary of defensive pass interference penalties in 2024.
- The offense was a top-three beneficiary of defensive pass interference, registering an above average gain of 21.8 yards per penalty. A disproportionate 67% of these beneficial penalties were awarded at U.S. Bank Stadium.
- The Vikings defense generated a high volume of pre-snap infractions on opposing offenses. No team generated more via the trio of false starts, delay of game, and illegal formation penalties on opposing offenses than the Minnesota Vikings did in 2024.
The Bad
- The Vikings defense surrendered an above average 52% of their automatic first downs via penalty on third down plays.
- The Vikings were a top 10 penalized team for pre-snap penalties, recording their highest per game average in over a decade in this category.
Grade: A+
The Vikings should be considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender, fortifying their offensive and defensive lines in the offseason and constructing one of the most complete rosters in the NFL.
The wild card in all of this is quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who the Vikings are banking on paying immediate dividends, albeit a year after drafting him.
Playing in an advantageous situation places additional pressure on McCarthy, whose performance will be constantly judged against last season's Sam Darnold-led Vikings.
There has to be some concern on the part of the Vikings, placing a Super Bowl caliber roster in the hands of a quarterback entering his de facto rookie season.
In any event, there is no turning back. It's McCarthy’s team now, and the storylines around the Vikings make them one of the most compelling teams entering the 2025 NFL season.
This analysis continues in the 2025 Football Preview
Order Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview to get penalty analysis for all 32 NFL teams.
Warren Sharp’s 550+ page full-color PDF, the 2025 Football Preview, is unlike anything you have previously read. Stunning visualizations, including new heat maps, are built with the reader in mind. Innovative, next-level thought process abounds in every team chapter and article.
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Warren Sharp's book shares insights into the players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal: to prepare you for the 2025 NFL season with the smartest information delivered in the fastest, most direct way possible for optimal reviewing and retention.
- Team Chapters previews are in-depth, data driven & full of actionable info
- Fantasy Football player profiles, predictions, and ranks
- Vegas Odds forecast team wins, division rankings, lines for all 2025 games
- Coaching strategic advice for teams, play calling analysis & team tendencies
- Front Office Analysis positional spending, roster construction & cap analysis
- Reasons to bet over/under win totals & analysis of futures betting market
- Rookie draft class deep dive into impact for every team
- Rankings for every positional unit on every team with analysis
