Murphy: Four and Whoa!
Murphy: Four and Whoa!
Brian Murphy writes about a wild day in Lambeau that ended with the Vikings at the top of the NFL heap
By Brian Murphy
Three minutes, 26 seconds are an eternity when you’re making a left turn in the suburbs, waiting on four-putt granny to clear the green or wondering if another commercial break will ever end.
Marking our hyperconnected turbocharged lives, 3 ½ minutes are a teardrop in the ocean of time. You can scramble an egg, make a piece of toast or karaoke a song in the mere 3:26 the undefeated and unrelenting Vikings have played from behind during this unbelievable 2024 season.
Minnesota hasn’t just won its first four games for the first time in eight years. Offensively and defensively it has bulldozed opponents into the abyss by attacking before the final notes of the national anthem fade.
By the time the shellshocked hammer and tong their way back to daylight, the Vikings are kneeling down and chortling to the locker room with another “W” between their teeth.
Ten times Minnesota has started 4-0. Twice those seasons ended with a Super Bowl loss. Three others died in the NFC championship game. In 2016 and 2003, the Vikings were perfect through Week 4 only to miss the playoffs.
This 4-0 team may not be the best one in franchise history, but it is the least expected. Its 31-29 victory Sunday over archrival Green Bay was extraordinary in so many entertaining ways.
For how dominant quarterback Sam Darnold and the defense continue to look.
For how this well-balanced band of playmakers is stockpiling bona fides in all three phases.
For how they forged a 28-0 lead late in the first half that proved invaluable when the Vikings suddenly looked vulnerable during Jordan Love and Green Bay’s furious second-half comeback.
The last time the Vikings had a four-touchdown lead at Lambeau Field cars were lining up for gas while Watergate was turning the Nixon administration to ash. Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters went on to preserve a 24-point win Dec. 8, 1973, as Minnesota cruised to its second NFC title.
Five decades later, rookie kicker Will Reichert and Brian Flores’ tenacious D ultimately saved the Vikings from an embarrassing faceplant after the Packers outscored them 29-3 over the final 30-plus minutes to turn a laugher into a nail-biter.
Darnold threw three touchdown passes and Jordan Addison scored twice returning from a two-game absence because of an ankle injury as Minnesota scored on each of its first three possessions and forced four turnovers by Love, who was productive but stagnant coming back from a Week 1 knee injury.
The Vikings are sitting pretty atop the NFC North with a pending Week 5 matchup in jolly old London again against old nemesis Aaron Rodgers and the backpedaling Jets.
So much confidence dictating terms to opponents, so little adversity. The cat is totally out of the bag with these Vikings, who will be in the crosshairs from here on out.
The Packers, Bears and Lions are all staring up at their division leader. Where else would the Vikings rather be?
“I know what we have in this room is special,” said cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had one of their three interceptions. “So all that outside noise, I keep saying, ‘Stay off the (band)wagon. Don’t try to jump on it now. You all can stay over there, whatever you all do, but we’re going to keep this thing going.’”
Alpha dogs who love playing the underdog, the Vikings have gotten a month’s worth of mileage out of that tired old trope. No one more than Darnold, whose 11 touchdown passes lead the NFL.
“At the end of the day, we believe in each other more than anyone else believes in us,” said Darnold, who finished 20 of 28 for 275 yards.
Darnold connected with Addison, Justin Jefferson and Josh Oliver on scoring strikes. He also threw an interception and lost a fumble.
There are moments when you have to watch Darnold through fanned fingers, but they are few and far between, and none of his mistakes have proven fatal. Instead, his swagger and synergy with Kevin O’Connell continues to grow exponentially. Darnold’s ceiling is only rising and the head coach seems intent on pushing it higher.
“I think just leaning into your quarterback,” O’Connell said. “My confidence level in him is really high because he’s making some throws.”
Meanwhile, former Packers running back Aaron Jones had 93 yards on 22 carries, plus four catches for 46 more in his hyped return to Lambeau, where Jones spent seven seasons with Green Bay before being released in a cost-cutting move and signing with Minnesota in March.
Jones was itching to make a “Lambeau leap” into the seats but failed to reach the end zone. No matter. He hopped into a section of cheering Vikings fans on his way to the victorious locker room
“As we were taking that last kneel, the Packers defense, they’re like, ‘Ahh, we didn’t let you Lambeau leap in our house,’” Jones said. “I’m like, ‘You guys are worried about me Lambeau leaping? You guys should be worried about the score.’ I came here and got what I wanted. But I did get my Lambeau leap in, so I got a two-for-one.”
Make that 4 for 4.
Brian Murphy is a former Pioneer Press columnist and contributor to Purple Insider. Follow him on Twitter at @MurphyMedia_