In the final preseason game of the season, the hope is, generally, that you can put together a performance that you can feel good about heading into the games that count, even though a lot of the starters don’t play.
The final preseason game of 2026 for the Minnesota Vikings was. . .pretty much the exact opposite of that.
The Vikings’ defense got scorched by Sam Ehlinger for most of the evening, and the offense failed to find the end zone for the second consecutive game as they fell to the Denver Broncos by a final score of 34-6 in the 2026 preseason finale at Mile High on Friday night.
The Broncos got the football first, and immediately went down and put up points on their first possession courtesy of a 43-yard field goal from Will Lutz to make it 3-0. There was some bad news on the drive for the Vikings as undrafted free agent safety Jacob Thomas, who has made quite an impression so far this preseason, hurt his ankle on a third-down play and needed to be helped off the field.
The Vikings’ offense, led by Carson Wentz due to J.J. McCarthy being out of this game with an ankle injury, took the field and immediately went three-and-out. Brett Thorson got the first punt of the night, and he blasted a nice 54-yarder that went out of bounds at the 12-yard line. The Broncos’ offense went back out on the field and, once again, pushed the ball down the field in convincing fashion. Jarrett Stidham marched the home team on an 88-yard drive, culminating in a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Adam Prentice, and the Broncos had a 10-0 lead with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter of play.
Minnesota’s offense did manage to pick up a first down on the ensuing possession and got the ball out to midfield, but Wentz’s pass to Gavin Bartholomew was stopped short on third down, and the Vikings punted it away again to start the second quarter.
Denver turned to Sam Ehlinger at quarterback on the next drive, and the Vikings got themselves a turnover courtesy of safety Khalef Hailassie. Hailassie had a couple of picks last offseason, and he stepped in front of a pass intended for Dane Key to get one in this game, setting the Vikings up in Denver territory.
With Max Brosmer taking over at quarterback for Wentz, the Vikings turned the interception into three points, as Will Reichard connected on a 46-yard field goal to cut the Denver lead to 10-3. The Vikings appeared to have a third-down conversion to extend the drive prior to that, but an illegal formation penalty took it away and forced the Vikings to settle for the field goal attempt a couple of plays later.
Denver returned the ensuing kickoff into Minnesota territory, which I’m sure Matt Daniels wasn’t necessarily thrilled with. The drive didn’t do much with the field position, however, and Lutz came on again for another field goal attempt. This one was a 37-yarder, and the veteran connected to push the lead back to ten once more at 13-3 with five and a half minutes remaining before halftime.
A touchback on the ensuing kickoff gave the Vikings good starting field position, and Brosmer led what might have been the best overall drive of the preseason, moving the offense down the field with some solid throws. Minnesota eventually got into a goal-to-go situation. . .and then Brosmer threw it away on three consecutive plays, leading to a 28-yard field goal from Reichard to make it 13-6 with a minute and a half left in the second quarter.
Ehlinger and the Broncos got the ball back and marched down the field in short order, connecting on a pair of big passes to get near the Vikings’ red zone with thirty seconds remaining. Ehlinger then found Jaleel McLaughlin out of the backfield for a 20-yard catch-and-run for the Broncos’ second touchdown of the night to make it 20-6 heading into the locker room.
The Vikings got the ball to start the second half, and promptly went three-and-out as a third-down conversion was wiped out by yet another penalty. The Broncos responded with a three-and-out of their own on their first possession of the half. Minnesota took over and managed to push the ball to midfield, but ultimately ended up punting the football away once again.
A third-down stop by the Vikings on Denver’s next possession was negated by a hands to the face penalty on 3rd-and-13, which we’re sure Brian Flores was absolutely thrilled with. That allowed the drive to push into the fourth quarter, and Ehlinger put the capper on a 17-play, 85-yard drive. . .yes, seventeen plays, eighty-five yards. . .with a 14-yard touchdown pass on a 4th-and-2 play to Cody Schrader to extend Denver’s lead to 27-6 early in the final stanza.
To the Vikings’ credit, they responded with another long drive that pushed into the Denver red zone. Ultimately, they found themselves looking at a fourth-and-goal from the Denver 6-yard line and elected to go for it. Brosmer threw a quick pass to Jermar Jefferson out of the backfield, and he was taken down immediately for a turnover on downs.
The Vikings’ defense then put the capper on a really awful night by allowing an 88-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to tight end Justin Joly, who didn’t have a purple jersey within 20 yards of him when he caught the football. He ran untouched for around the final 40 yards to the end zone, and the extra point extended Denver’s lead to 34-6 with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.
There really wasn’t anything to report after that. Nobody in purple really covered themselves in glory in the preseason finale, and now the focus will shift to the flurry of roster moves that the Vikings will make in order to get their roster down to 53 players. The next time they take the field, it will be for the regular season opener on 13 September when they host the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The preseason is over, and not a moment too soon for the Minnesota Vikings, as they fall to the Denver Broncos 34-6 in the 2026 preseason finale. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
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