(Yes, the AI intro pictures are gone.)
Fresh off back-to-back divisional victories to start a season for the first time since 2003, the Minnesota Vikings will start their tour of the NFC South for the 2026 season as they head to balmy central Florida to face off against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that may find themselves in desperation mode after their first two games of the season.
The weather is going to be quite a change from what the Vikings saw last week in Chicago. After playing in wet, windy, sloppy conditions at Soldier Field last week, the forecast for the Tampa area this week is calling for temperatures in the mid-80s at kickoff and no precipitation in the forecast. After last week, both teams will be happy to see that.
The Buccaneers, who fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, hosted the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. Trailing late in the game, the Bucs pushed into Cleveland territory at the two-minute warning. Suddenly, the game came to a halt, and there was a delay that stretched for over two hours because of thunderstorms in the Tampa area. When the two teams got back on the field, the Bucs lost whatever momentum they may have had, and couldn’t get the ball into the end zone, turning the ball over on downs to seal a 23-19 loss to the Browns to drop their record to 0-2.
The Vikings, as we’ve mentioned, have won their first two games of the season, mostly behind backup quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz entered the season opener against the Green Bay Packers in the first quarter after Kyler Murray went out with a concussion and helped rally the team to a 39-22 victory. Last week in Chicago, the offense had its issues again, but the defense more than carried the load and ensured that three field goals from Will Reichard were enough to hold up as the Vikings got their seventh straight win in Chicago and their seventh straight win going back to last season, winning 9-3.
Murray, who did not clear the league’s concussion protocol in time to play against Chicago in Week 2, has cleared protocol this week and has already been named the starter for Sunday’s game for Minnesota.
After getting a noon Central Time kickoff in Week 2, the Vikings will once again be pushed to the late window in Week 3, with Sunday’s game getting underway at 3:05 PM Central Time. The game will be carried by the FOX family of networks, including KMSP-9 in the Twin Cities.
We’ll be keeping all of our stories about this week’s game here in this stream for you to find more easily, so keep checking back here for all the latest.