The Minnesota Vikings‘ 2025 schedule is officially out, and now, the fun of anticipating those games begins. Some highlights of the schedule include a Christmas Day game at home against the Detroit Lions and a Monday Night Football season opener on September 8 against the Chicago Bears on the road.

While the Vikings had a successful season in 2024, rounding things out with a 14-3 record even with quarterback J.J. McCarthy being out for the full season, they certainly had areas upon which they needed to improve. But, the good news is that the Vikings have done some hard work during the offseason and made significant moves to beef up their squad. NFL experts and analysts are taking note and giving the team much-deserved props for what they are doing with their defense.

Expert Ranks Minnesota Vikings Among Top Defenses in the League

In a May 6 feature for Bleacher Report, Gary Davenport lays out the strongest, and weakest, defenses in the NFL. The Bills are in a choice spot on this tally. In the feature, Davenport states that “defense still wins championships,” which is true, although having a great offense certainly doesn’t hurt. He adds, “Just ask Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is still having nightmares about the pounding he took from the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.”

Then, Davenport continues, stating “We live in an age when the NFL is more heavily tilted toward the offense than ever before. Each year, the rules change in an effort to boost offensive production that much more.”

So, let’s get to the Minnesota Vikings. He has their defense at a very strong No. 7 out of the entire roster of NFL teams. In general, Davenport says that the Vikings have made some major moves this offseason to strengthen their defense, and he’s impressed.

“That pass rush should be all the more frightening this year after the team shelled out big bucks in free agency to retool the defensive tackles, bringing in a pair of big names in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave,” the NFL expert notes in the piece.

He adds, “For all those picks, the Vikings weren’t a difficult team to throw on in 2024—they surrendered the fifth-most passing yards per game in the league. They retained cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., but little else was done to upgrade that position.”

All in all, Davenport says that if the Vikings improve on their pass defense, they could have one of the finest in the league. “But if the back end falters again this year, the season will again end in disappointment.”

The NFL’s Best Defense Revealed

In the same piece, Davenport names the Denver Broncos the No. 1 best defense in the NFL. No. 2 are reigning Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles.

“The Broncos are absolutely loaded defensively,” Davenport stated in the feature. “Zach Allen has quietly become one of the NFL’’ better interior pass-rushers. Edge-rushers Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper combined for 24 of Denver’s league-leading 63 sacks last year.” He also stated, “If the Broncos defense plays up to its potential, the Orange Crush will be back.”