Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings
U. S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
September 15, 2025 – 1:20 a.m. BST

Following a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback from the J. J. McCarthy-led Vikings at the Bears on Monday night, the team are back in Minneapolis this weekend for a game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikes’ first-year starter recovered from a third-quarter pick-six to score three touchdowns in the final period, securing a 27–24 win.

This weekend’s game will see McCarthy pitted against yet another quarterback taken in the first round of the 2024 draft – Michael Penix Jr. The second-year former Washington QB was also touted as the successor to Kirk Cousins, who ended up at the Falcons after being released by Minnesota last year, and ended up taking over from the former Vikings signal-caller just two weeks after Atlanta lost 42–21 in this corresponding fixture in December.

Penix is now settled under center for the Falcons, while McCarthy looks well on his way to the same status with the Vikings. Read on for all the keys to Sunday night’s game and how you can follow along with all the action from U.S. Bank Stadium.

How to watch Falcons vs. Vikings

• Falcons vs. Vikings date: Monday, September 15th
• Falcons vs. Vikings kickoff time: 1:20 a.m. BST
• Falcons vs. Vikings channel: Sky Sports NFL (Sky 408, Virgin Media 507, Now TV) / DAZN

This is the Sunday Night Football selection for week 2, which means it is available live and in full to stream via NFL Game Pass on DAZN. You can also catch the game live from 1:10 a.m. on Monday morning on Sky Sports NFL via Sky, Virgin Media and Now TV.

What uniforms are the Vikings wearing against the Falcons?

As the home team, the Vikings had first choice of uniforms and have elected to designate this as one of their alternate uniform games for 2025. They have opted to wear their classic purple jerseys and white pants, which means the Falcons will wear their road uniforms of white jerseys and black pants.

When is Jared Allen’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony?

This offseason, former Vikings defensive end Jared Allen became the franchise’s 21st former player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As the first regular season game since he received that historic honour, Sunday’s game against the Falcons will see Allen sound the Gjallarhorn before kickoff before receiving his Hall of Fame ring in a special halftime ceremony.

Keys to the game

One of the keys to this game on offense will be the one-two punch at running back of Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones Sr. An offseason acquisition from the San Francisco 49ers, Mason was brought in to take on some of the burden single-handedly shouldered by Jones in the run game last season. Despite the offensive line having some early issues, Mason managed 68 yards on 15 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per attempt. With a new option to carry the rock, both Mason and Jones should be able to stay fresher for longer, and with more attention on the run game, that’ll open up options for McCarthy’s targets downfield.

 

On defense, there’ll need to be a big improvement in the secondary if the Vikings are going to keep the Falcons contained, but the real key will be up front, where the visitors have real weapons in Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. New signing Javon Hargrave was a menace in the Bears backfield last week, with two tackles for loss on five total tackles as the Vikings held RB DeAndre Swift to an average of 3.1 yards per carry. If they can keep the Atlanta run game bottled up, the pass game should take care of itself.

Previous meetings

This will be the 33rd regular-season meeting between the Vikings and the Falcons, with Minnesota holding a 21–11 lead in the series. The Vikings have won six of the last seven clashes between the two, a run stretching back to 2014 with the sole loss coming at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2020. The Vikings are 13–5 in home games against the Falcons, including two postseason encounters (1–1).

Their most recent meeting came just last season and was touted as a homecoming for quarterback Kirk Cousins, who had spent the last six seasons in Minnesota before leaving at the end of the 2023 campaign. The Vikings were keen to show they’d moved on from their former quarterback, and ended up winning in a 42–21 rout headlined by a Jordan Addison hat-trick.

Perhaps the most famous clash between these two came in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, when the Vikings came within a missed field goal of reaching a fifth Super Bowl in franchise history. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson hadn’t missed a single field goal or extra point in the entire 1998 season going into the game, but with just over 2 minutes left and the opportunity to take a 10-point lead from 38 yards out, Anderson pulled his kick wide to the left. That allowed the Falcons to drive downfield and tie the game with a touchdown before securing the win in overtime.

Vikings injury report

The Vikings had an extensive injury report this week after a bruising NFC North encounter with the Chicago Bears that landed LB Blake Cashman (hamstring) and RB Ty Chandler (knee) on injured reserve. OLB Andrew Van Ginkel and CB Jeff Okudah were ruled out on Friday after spending the week in the concussion protocol. C Ryan Kelly (toe) and TE Josh Oliver (ankle) also did not participate in practice, but haven’t yet been ruled out – they’ll be gametime decisions.

After being a full participant in Wednesday’s walkthrough, T Christian Darrisaw was again limited in practice on Thursday, and on Friday he was ruled out of the game. Veteran safety Harrison Smith (illness) was limited all week and is the only other player to have an injury designation – he’s officially questionable for the game. QB J. J. McCarthy was excused from Thursday’s practice to attend the birth of his first child after his fiancée went into labour, but returned on Friday ahead of his much-anticipated home debut.

Falcons injury report

The Falcons will be feeling a sense of relief after wide receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney were deemed fit to play in Sunday’s game despite being limited in practice with shoulder injuries; Mooney’s been out since training camp, while London picked up his knock at the tail end of last week’s game against the Buccaneers. Fellow receivers Casey Washington (concussion) and Jamal Agnew (groin) weren’t so lucky, though, and will miss Sunday’s contest in Minneapolis.

S Jordan Fuller (knee) was placed on injured reserve ahead of the game, and OL Jack Nelson (calf) was also ruled out for Sunday night. Meanwhile, S DeMarcco Hellams (hamstring) and OLB James Pearce Jr. (groin) were designated as questionable, along with starting nickel corner Billy Bowman Jr. (shoulder), who was added to the injury report as a limited participant on Thursday.

Kicker Younghoe Koo, whose late missed kick saw the Falcons fall 23–20 at home to the Buccaneers last week, was ruled out on Saturday. The Falcons said his deactivation for the game was not injury-related. In his place, they activated former Vikings kicker Parker Romo from the practice squad, having signed him earlier this week following a multi-kicker workout.

Score predictions

• Reece: Falcons 28, Vikings 31
• John: Falcons 12, Vikings 31
• TPJ: Falcons 23, Vikings 30

Let us know your score predictions. Send us an email at UKVikingsFanClub@gmail.com or get in touch via any of our social media channels.