12 Snap Reactions to Vikings at Chargers
Oct 23, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II (86) catches a touchdown pass against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
On Thursday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings just didn’t have it, playing sloppily on all sides of the ball and losing to the Los Angeles Chargers 37-10 in what was probably the final game with Carson Wentz as the starting quarterback.
The Vikings couldn’t handle the heat in Los Angeles, losing to the Chargers in a game that felt like a must-win for postseason hopes.
Minnesota has encountered worse losses throughout franchise history, rest assured, but this one was pretty nasty.
Kneejerk Reactions to Vikings Loss in Los Angeles
What a brutal showing under the lights of primetime.
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reacted on Oct. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, California, during second-half action against the Minnesota Vikings at SoFi Stadium. The fiery coach displayed his trademark intensity from the sideline as the Chargers battled to maintain momentum in a tense prime-time matchup that tested both teams’ composure. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.
1. Minnesota has now lost eight straight road games on Thursday nights. When you see an away game with Thursday Night Football attached to the description, just know that virtually no iteration of VIkings in the last 50 years can figure it out. They always lose.
2. That will probably be the final time fans see Carson Wentz under center in purple and gold, and if you know someone disappointed about that, you’ve found a rare breed. The guy cannot see open receivers, and he’s so bad that he makes the head coach’s playcalling look poor — and Kevin O’Connell’s plays have actually schemed open receivers. Good riddance to the Wentz experiment.
3. With an unknown return date, Minnesota’s defense has died. It is not the same as last year or even from earlier this season. The unit looks like the 2022 defense that resulted in Ed Donatell’s termination. The Chargers’ offensive line was banged up and bad, in general, but the Vikings still couldn’t capitalize.
4. There’s a decent chance that this Minnesota team is just flat-out not good, but instead, a weirdly easy schedule propped up some wins in the season’s first five weeks.
5. After a week off, the Vikings’ penalties returned, and you can just know that the afternoon or evening is going to feel long with flags littering the field. In each game with ample penalties, nothing ever goes right.
6. The moment Isaiah Rodgers’ interception was returned for a touchdown, but the referees overturned the ruling, the momentum changed, and the Vikings never regained it. That’s not an excuse for losing — they would’ve lost anyway after what we saw in the next 2.5 hours — but it marked the second consecutive game where the team was jobbed by a reversed touchdown call. You can’t make it up.
Minnesota running back Aaron Jones Sr. (33) carried the ball on Oct. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, California, during second-half play against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. The veteran back powered through defenders as Minnesota leaned on its rushing attack to sustain drives late in the contest under the lights. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images.
7. Los Angeles nearly doubled Minnesota in time of possession, and that’s pretty comical. Time of possession is one facet of the game that Kevin O’Connell just can’t quite figure out. So long as the Vikings cannot run the ball consistently — they cannot right now — they won’t be a serious contender for the playoffs, and you can forget about the Super Bowl.
8. The Vikings need an injection of J.J. McCarthy — the good version and one the team scouted from the University of Michigan, not the Week 2 McCarthy — to spark the whole enterprise. Right now, everything feels lost, lousy, and irreversible.
9. Myles Price will break a return touchdown before too long. It’s just a matter of time. Book it. After a primetime spanking, declarations like that, however, feel a little silly.
10. Minnesota can either bottom out tonight and find rejuvenation before embarking on an eventual win streak. Or — they’re just a stinky team that is on a collision course with a Top 10 draft pick. The latter feels more likely, although it wouldn’t be insane for the McCarthy jolt to truly mean something.
Minnesota safety Joshua Metellus (44) intercepted a pass on Oct. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, California, during the second half of the matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. The defensive play flipped momentum in Minnesota’s favor, showcasing Metellus’s awareness and steady presence in the secondary during a pivotal sequence of the road contest. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.
11. All eyes — stop us if you’ve heard this before — turn to the injury report in Week 9. Can the Vikings get their offensive tackles back in time for the showdown with the Detroit Lions? That means everything.
12. Max Brosmer must be woefully unprepared for the regular season if O’Connell wouldn’t consider giving him a sniff in the middle of the game. Wentz was a disasterclass and a trainwreck. The only silver lining is that there is no controversy. The job is McCarthy’s.
