Vikings vs. Chargers: How to watch, start time, TV channel, weather, odds and more

It’s game day, everybody! We’re just hours away from things kicking off at U.S. Bank Stadium between the Los Angeles Chargers and your Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 NFL action. This promises to be a very good game between two teams looking to avoid an 0-3 start, and we want to make sure you have the ability to follow along with all of the action, so here’s how you can do just that.

Television Info

This game will be kicking off at the most ideal time for NFL games to get underway, that being noon Central time on Sunday. This one will be shown on FOX affiliates around the country, with Kevin Kugler and Mark Sanchez on the call from the booth. Below you’ll see the coverage map from the good folks at 506 Sports. The Chargers/Vikings matchup is indicated by the green area.

If you are not in the local broadcast area for this one, please remember that the NFL Sunday Ticket package is on YouTube TV now for your streaming convenience.

For our men and women in uniform serving overseas, this game will. . .not be shown live on the American Forces Network in any way, shape, or form. No live broadcast, no replay, nothing. Harumph.

Radio Info

If you have a Vikings Radio Network affiliate in your area, most of them will probably be carrying the game. However, check to be sure because the preseason games are a bit more iffy than regular season contests, obviously.

For those of you who are going to use satellite radio to listen to this one, you can find the feed from the Vikings Radio Network on SiriusXM Channel 232. You can listen to the Chargers feed on Channel 389 if you feel compelled to do so for whatever reason.

Referee Info

According to the guys from Football Zebras, the officiating crew for this one will be led by Shawn Smith. The Vikings actually haven’t seen a crew led by Smith since late in 2020, when his crew handled the Vikings’ 33-27 loss to the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Weather Info

Obviously, the game will be indoors and away from the elements since it’s in Minneapolis. If you’re planning on taking part in any pre-game festivities, you’ll have to try to stay dry according to our friends at WeatherNation. It’s supposed to rain pretty much all weekend in the Twin Cities area, with the potential for thunderstorms on Sunday morning and temperatures in the mid-60s with winds out of the southeast at 10-15 miles/hour.

Betting Info

According to the folks from the DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for this one has shifted a bit since things opened earlier in the week. The Vikings opened the week up as a 1-point underdog but now sit as a 1-point favorite. We’re expecting some points in this one, with the over/under currently sitting at a whopping 54 points, the highest total in the NFL for Week 3.

Streaming Info

As mentioned previously, the NFL Sunday Ticket package is now on YouTube TV, which anyone can subscribe to in order to ensure that you have a legal stream to watch the game on. If you’re in the local broadcast area, services such as Fubo TV or Sling TV will also have the game streaming for you.

I’ll say the same thing about illegal streams that I always say: don’t. Or damn sure don’t go advertising them here. You’ll be banned and that will be the end of it.

Post-Game Info

As soon as the final gun sounds for this one, you’ll be able to catch a LIVE postgame show, courtesy of Vikings Report with Drew and Ted, where yours truly will join the hosts to talk about everything we just watched. We’ll have a separate post with the feed for that one, or you can go to their YouTube page and log in there to interact with the show and potentially win yourself some swag.

That should be all of the information that you need to follow along with the action from U.S. Bank Stadium between the Vikings and the Chargers, folks. As always, we’ll have Open Threads throughout the game for your discussion purposes, with the first one dropping an hour before kickoff at 11:00 AM Central time.