By Matthew Coller
The Minnesota Vikings are 3-0 and their victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs left us with a lot to analyze. Let’s dive into everything that went right and wrong…
What went right
Murray’s downfield passing
It was clearly part of the Vikings’ early gameplan to try to push the ball downfield and Murray did that successfully to open the game, finding Justin Jefferson for a 22-yard gain.
This is a classic O’Connell-style concept with Jefferson and Addison lined up together on one side of the field and Addison’s deep post route holds the safety as Jefferson breaks inside. Murray’s timing and accuracy is spot on.
The strange thing about Sunday’s performance from Murray was how comfortable he looked throwing the ball downfield early in the game.
On this play, he drills a 30-yard throw to Addison on another staple O’Connell play. This time both receivers are lined up together on the QB’s left and Tai Felton stops underneath, leaving Addison running one-on-one with the safety. He keeps going like it’s a go route and then breaks off to the sideline wide open. The ball is there and Addison makes a great catch on the sideline.
Murray threw the ball in the air about 35 yards for the completion and all the way to the sideline. When people talk about his “arm talent” this is one of the types of throws they are talking about.
One small thing, however, is the timing. If the ball is out ever so slightly earlier, Addison doesn’t need to toe-tap. That speaks to Murray still learning his receivers’ speeds.
The Vikings’ best pass blocking game so far
Out of 34 drop-backs, Murray was only pressured on 11 of them and his average time to throw on those pressures was 4.57 seconds. The offensive line received its highest overall PFF pass blocking grade of the season (74.7) and every player on the front five was individually graded above average.
Brian O’Neill was at the top of the list, allowing zero pressures with an 86.0 grade. The only player to give up multiple pressures was Donovan Jackson with two and he still scored a positive grade.
Overall the Vikings did a good job containing superstar nose tackle Vita Vea, who only picked up two QB pressures. The only Bucs player to have more than two pressures was OLB David Walker with three.
Eric Wilson’s best game ever?
The Vikings’ middle linebacker played 66 total snaps, 18 of which were as a pass rusher and 30 were in coverage. In those pass rush snaps, he created five pressures, two of which resulted in sacks (1.5 sacks in the box score). PFF graded him above average against the run, as a tackler, as a pass rusher and in coverage.
When a player has such a big game, it’s easy to forget some of the smaller moments. Here is an example where Wilson fakes a blitz
Here’s another example of his well-roundedness. Wilson has become a nightmare for opposing RBs to face. On this play, Bucky Irving gets the initial stop but Wilson disengages when Mayfield tries to escape and tracks him down.
Redmond, LDR and TID
The interior defensive line continued to slow down the opponent’s run game by winning their matchups up front.
Here is an example of the Bucs double-teaming Rodriguez and leaving a tight end to block Ingram-Dawkins. Rodriguez fights the initial double and Ingram-Dawkins sticks his man in place, giving nowhere for the running back to go.
The most consistent player up front for two years has been Redmond. He finds ways to get penetration and disrupt the offense every week. He has a combination of twitchiness and strength.
On this play, the Bucs try to run outside zone to the left and he knifes into the backfield, causing the Bucs to hold.
It’s really hard to reach block a player with his type of quickness.
Kyle Van Noy’s 17 snaps
You won’t find a much more productive 17 snaps than what Van Noy had against the Bucs. He picked up two sacks and had three other tackles that resulted in negative plays for the Tampa offense.
Isaiah Rodgers in coverage
Targeted six times and allowed two catches for nine yards.
The times Flores didn’t blitz
The Vikings certainly came after Mayfield, sending at least five rushers on 71.4% of plays, per PFF. But Mayfield had 12 drop-backs where the Vikings did not send an extra rusher and he went just 4-for-10 with two scrambles on those plays.
Will Reichard’s kicking (again)
The Vikings’ kicker makes the “what went right” list every week. He nailed two 50+ yard field goals and both extra points. Now the Vikings’ kicker has made all 13 kicks this season.
Myles Price’s punt return for touchdown
Ever since Price flashed his returning skill in 2025 preseason, a return for touchdown has felt inevitable.
Well, it finally happened against the Bucs, in part because he has very good vision and the ability to anticipate and react before things happen. This return is a good example. A defender is coming from his right side to make the tackle and he uses their momentum against them and breaks to his right to go around them. There’s no teaching that.
Price’s development from last year to this season has made him into a serious weapon for the Vikings on kick and punt returns.
Johnny Hekker filling in
Hopefully Hekker warmed up his leg before the game because he got a ton of work. The veteran, who returned due to Brett Thorson’s injury, punted eight times for an average of 46.5 yards. He had two inside the 20 and a long of 62. Plus he held flawlessly for Reichard on his three field goals.
What went wrong
Murray holding the ball
There are way too many examples of Murray not getting rid of the football. His time to pressure was 4.5 seconds. The question is: Why?
These two screen grabs tell the story. On some plays, the Buccaneers did a good job of covering everyone up. This one, for example, shows that either Murray has to throw the ball 25 yards to the sideline from the opposite hash with an underneath defender there or check down to Aaron Jones as the linebacker is coming his way. There is just no good option.
After the early success on deep shots, they seemed to dial up downfield passes time and time again. Murray became less comfortable with letting it rip. It’s possible that Tampa Bay changed how things looked with coverages or that he was trying not to make a big mistake.
Here is an example where he seems to be getting ready to take a shot to Jauan Jennings and then stops himself. By the time he pulls the ball down, Josh Oliver isn’t open any more but if he’d just checked it down right away then Oliver could have picked up a few yards.
The best way to describe the issues were indecisive. It didn’t appear like he wasn’t seeing where to go with the ball, rather he wasn’t sure if it was the right choice for the moment.
These are things that Murray will have to become more comfortable with as he goes along.
Murray’s near misses