Buffalo Bills Defeat Minnesota Vikings as Carson Wentz Struggles

Carson Wentz struggled through a historically poor outing as the Minnesota Vikings fell 23-6 to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the first quarter on November 9, 2026, where tight end Dalton Kincaid was tackled by safety Joshua Metellus and linebacker Eric Wilson.

The defeat dropped the Vikings to 6-2 and out of first place in the NFC North, falling to third place in the division after entering Week 8 as the lone unbeaten team remaining in the league. Buffalo improved to 7-1, sitting at the top of the AFC standings after a hard-fought road victory on November 9, 2026, on a night when Josh Allen worked toward capturing the number one playoff seed.

Stepping in for an injured Kyler Murray, Wentz completed just 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. His 2.3 QBR marked the lowest for any quarterback in the NFL this season and the lowest by a Vikings player since Tarvaris Jackson recorded a 1.8 QBR during a game in 2006.

Minnesota managed only 178 total yards of offense and held possession for just 17:28, ranking 31st in total yards per game. Hockenson was also featured in the offense.

Yeah, this one wasn’t my favorite, that’s for sure.

Josh Allen handled Brian Flores' heavy blitz approach, which pressured him on 68.6 percent of his dropbacks. Allen finished with 234 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception, including a notable play where he danced around for 6.07 seconds before throwing a 25-yard touchdown strike to Keleki Latu for the tight end’s first target and score of the season.

James Cook carried the Buffalo offense with 31 rushes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Bass added three successful field goals.

With the trade deadline approaching, head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the team’s quarterback situation following the loss. We’ve had dialogue about a lot of different positions, O’Connell said, as reported by NBC Sports.

Tight turnaround, obviously, playing the Monday night game, and we’ll get right to work on any potential moves that can be there. But really just focused on the game tonight, which was not good enough in any way, shape or form.

Reflecting on the offensive difficulties, Jefferson noted the need for simplicity: We’ve got to find ways to simplify it, and make it easier for everybody to just go out there execute the plays, not thinking, and just going out there and playing ball.