SEATTLE (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings were having enough problems on offense with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback.
With McCarthy in the concussion protocol, the Vikings turned to Max Brosmer for his first NFL start, and against the Seattle Seahawks' fearsome defense, the undrafted rookie was in a tough spot.
Brosmer threw four interceptions in Sunday's 26-0 loss. It was the fourth straight defeat for Minnesota (4-8), which was shut out for the first time in 18 years.
“In no way, shape or form can we play offensive football like that and try to win at a place like this,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We just did not have a type of offensive performance that is ever going to be acceptable.”
The last time Minnesota failed to score was in a 34-0 loss against Green Bay on Nov. 11, 2007, but the Vikings' offensive issues this season are nothing new. Minnesota failed to score while managing just 4 yards of offense in the second half of a 23-6 loss to Green Bay last weekend, and McCarthy had thrown six interceptions over the past three games.
The Vikings signed Brosmer after a strong 2024 season at the University of Minnesota. He played the first five years of his college career at New Hampshire, leading the FCS in passing yards in 2023.
Against Seattle, he looked very much like a rookie thrust into an uncomfortable situation. Brosmer was 19 of 30 for 126 yards and was sacked four times. O’Connell said Brosmer was often rushing his throws or checking down too quickly, and the QB agreed.
“It’s the NFL man, it’s tough,” Brosmer said. “I feel like I was maybe a half a click fast in the reads. I feel like that’s feeling the flow of the game, feeling the flow of the pocket, feeling the flow of conceptually what’s happening down the field.”
The low point came late in the second quarter. Trailing 3-0, the Vikings forced a fumble, giving Minnesota the ball at the Seattle 13.
A few plays later, the Vikings faced fourth-and-1 from the 4 and decided to go for it. Brosmer rolled out on a bootleg and Seattle’s DeMarcus Lawrence almost immediately got his hands on the rookie, who flung the ball in desperation. It went straight to linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who returned the interception 85 yards for a touchdown.
“That’s about as bad a result as you can have in that sequence,” O’Connell said. “Getting the turnover we were so desperately waiting for — our defense does that and the sequence ends with them getting seven points, (that) is losing football.”
It got worse after halftime. Minnesota’s first five second-half possessions ended on turnovers, starting with a fumble by Aaron Jones. Brosmer threw interceptions on three consecutive series, and on the next possession, the Vikings turned it over on downs while allowing Seattle's fourth sack of the game.
Vikings fans only needed to look at the opposing sideline to wonder what might have been. Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold led Minnesota to 14 wins last season before the Vikings let depart in free agency.
This year, Darnold and the Seahawks (9-3) are a top playoff contender, while Minnesota is buried in last place in the NFC North.
“There’s no question we’re pressing,” O’Connell said. “That’s maybe guys trying to do too much. Maybe we’ve got to try and limit what we’re asking of the group as a whole, especially with some different guys stepping into the lineup.”
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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer speaks in a news conference after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) passes against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) passes an interception against Seattle Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (0) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — More than 200 years after being sunk by Adm. Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship has been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbor by marine archaeologists.
Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 15 meters (49 feet) beneath the waves, divers are working against the clock to unearth the 19th-century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast.
Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, which is leading the monthslong underwater excavations, announced its findings on Thursday, 225 years to the day since the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
“It’s a big part of the Danish national feeling,” said Morten Johansen, the museum’s head of maritime archaeology.
A great deal has been written about the battle “by very enthusiastic spectators, but we actually don’t know how it was to be onboard a ship being shot to pieces by English warships and some of that story we can probably learn from seeing the wreck, Johansen said.
In the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson and the British fleet attacked and defeated Denmark’s navy as it formed a protective blockade outside the harbor.
Thousands were killed and wounded during the brutal hourslong naval clash, considered one of Nelson’s “great battles.” The intention was to force Denmark out of an alliance of Northern European powers, including Russia, Prussia and Sweden.
At the center of the fighting was the Danish flagship, the Dannebroge, commanded by Commodore Olfert Fischer.
The 48-meter (157-foot) Dannebroge was Nelson’s main target. Cannon fire tore through its upper deck before incendiary shells sparked a fire aboard.
“(It was) a nightmare to be on board one of these ships,” Johansen said. “When a cannonball hits a ship, it’s not the cannonball that does the most damage to the crew, it’s wooden splinters flying everywhere, very much like grenade debris.”
The battle also is believed to have inspired the phrase “to turn a blind eye.” After deciding to ignore a superior’s signal, Nelson, who had lost sight in his right eye, reportedly remarked: “I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes.”
Nelson eventually offered a truce and a ceasefire was later agreed with Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik.
The stricken Dannebroge slowly drifted northward and exploded. Records say the sound created a deafening roar across Copenhagen.
Marine archaeologists have discovered two cannons, uniforms, insignia, shoes, bottles and even part of a sailor’s lower jaw, perhaps one of the 19 unaccounted-for crew members who likely lost their lives that day.
The dig site will soon be enveloped by construction work for Lynetteholm, a megaproject to build a new housing district in the middle of Copenhagen Harbor that is expected to be completed by 2070.
Marine archaeologists began surveying the area late last year, targeting a spot thought to match the flagship’s final position.
Experts say the sizes of the wooden parts found match old drawings. Dendrochronological dating, the method of using tree rings to establish the age of wood, match the year the ship was built. They also say the darkened dig site is full of cannonballs, a hazard for divers navigating waters darkened by clouds of silt stirred up from the seabed.
“Sometimes you can’t see anything, and then you really have to just feel your way, look with your fingers instead of with your eyes,” diver and maritime archaeologist Marie Jonsson said.
Chronicled in books and painted on canvases, the 1801 battle is deeply embedded in Denmark’s national story.
Archaeologists hope their discoveries may help reexamine the event that shaped the Scandinavian country and perhaps uncover personal stories of those who went into battle on that day 225 years ago.
“There are bottles, there are ceramics, and even pieces of basketry,” Jonsson said. “You get closer to the people onboard.”
Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark's Viking Ship Museum, shows part of a human lower jawbone recovered from the wreck of Danish flagship "Dannebroge" that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Archaeologists sail with boat through the harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
An archaeologist points to a computer screen, showing a map of the wreck of Danish flagship "Dannebroge" that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark's Viking Ship Museum, shows a metal insignia recovered from the wreck of Danish flagship "Dannebroge" that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark's Viking Ship Museum, shows a metal insignia recovered from the wreck of Danish flagship "Dannebroge" that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
