By Brian Murphy
Lance a few boils, look the other way, and this is exactly what the Minnesota Vikings are supposed to look like. Never mind your delicate sensibilities.
They went into the Superdome on Sunday, welcomed Justin Jefferson back from an ankle injury, watched Kyler Murray continue to find his footing and allowed Brian Flores’ defense to terrorize another opposing quarterback into seeing more ghosts.
They ran the ball effectively, made big plays when they needed them and put down New Orleans 23-13 like any respectable team would with a mangy dog like the Saints. Now 5-0 entering a prescient bye, the trend lines are finally pointing upward in the uber-competitive NFC North just as their forgiving schedule gets real.
Naturally, they also fumbled twice in the red zone, handed New Orleans a defensive touchdown and briefly managed to transform a game against a struggling opponent -- stop me if you’ve felt like this for a month – into a hostage negotiation.
Only the Vikings. And how apropos that another contextual snapshot of what this franchise so desperately longs was taken at the Superdome, where Minnesota has experienced so much postseason magic and heartbreak.
Not Jefferson, of course, the hometown hero and former Louisiana Tiger whose return to his old stomping grounds came off an ankle injury that had prevented Minnesota’s star receiver from truly connecting with Murray.
The duo took care of that with a beautiful pitch-and-catch to the back of the end zone for Jefferson to give the Vikings a third-quarter lead. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, here. Just start unpacking the reasons to be encouraged by this team.
The Vikings have spent five weeks demonstrating that their defense and special teams can carry an enormous burden. Sunday offered another tantalizing glimpse of what might happen if the offense finally gets out of its own way.
Murray’s 15-yard dime to Jefferson put the finishing touches on an impressive drive the speedy quarterback kept alive with an 18-yard scramble that stirred embers from his dynamic running-and-throwing history in Arizona.
Jefferson finished with six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Murray went 12-for-12 for the first time in his career and completed 19 of 27 for 229 yards without a turnover, supplementing that with 51 yards on the ground.
Moreover, Murray looked comfortable for the first time this season and is beginning to resemble the player Minnesota believed it was getting when it signed him in March. He was accurate, decisive and increasingly dangerous outside the pocket.
Murray found contributions from a supporting cast featuring backups and emergency reinforcements, with T.J. Hockenson leaving early because of a concussion.
This is what the offense was supposed to look like.
And yet, Minnesota once again spent much of the first half conducting a clinic on how to waste scoring opportunities.
Aaron Jones fumbled in the red zone, New Orleans recovered, and the Vikings came away with three points from an opening drive that consumed nearly 13 minutes of game time. Penalties and stalled possessions followed. The Saints took a 7-3 lead after converting two fourth downs on a drive that exposed a rare crack in Flores’ armor.
Jones, who returned from his costly turnover after being listed as questionable with a knee injury, finished with 113 rushing yards on 25 carries. A warrior teammate for the ages.
His 10-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter restored Minnesota’s lead after the Vikings had watched another promising possession end in disaster.
Myles Price, the emerging special-teams star who had already delivered a 43-yard punt return, caught a short pass late in the third quarter and promptly fumbled. Saints safety Jonas Sanker scooped up the precious cargo and raced 87 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 13.
The Vikings had outplayed New Orleans for most of the afternoon, yet gifted the Saints their biggest highlight without requiring anything from overwhelmed rookie quarterback Tyler Shough and their anemic offense.
Minnesota could turn a routine trip to Target into an eight-episode psychological thriller. Fortunately, Flores has built a defense that apparently considers such nonsense a personal challenge.
New Orleans managed 142 total yards, nine first downs and Shough’s 96 passing yards. Byron Murphy Jr. intercepted him twice. The Vikings swarmed and harassed him into fruitless scrambles and pressured throws whenever the Saints weren’t being flagged for holding.
That’s the sort of confidence this defense has earned.
Minnesota entered Sunday allowing an NFL-low 12.8 points per game. It left New Orleans having reinforced that reputation, even while surrendering an offensive touchdown after the Saints converted those fourth downs and another score on the fumble return.
The distinction matters. New Orleans’ defense scored once, but its offense spent most of the afternoon getting bullied.
The Saints had four first downs across six possessions after their lone offensive touchdown. Minnesota managed only one sack, but its pressure was relentless and befuddling per usual.
The unit is playing the kind of football that can carry a team deep into January. It is aggressive, opportunistic and increasingly convinced that the next mistake belongs to the other guy.
Meanwhile, Will Reichard deserves another mention, because of course.
The third-year kicker with Lake Superior coursing through his veins made all three field-goal attempts, each from at least 40 yards, including a 55-yarder that stretched the lead to 10 in the fourth quarter. In a game littered with offensive miscues, Reichard once again was the reliable adult in the room.
Speaking of adults in the room, the Vikings eventually won comfortably enough, but not before coach Kevin O’Connell reached into his grab bag of trick plays and pulled out clown suits that should have stayed draped on Matt Nagy and Dan Quinn.
It involved Murray throwing to Jefferson and Jefferson attempting to lateral it back at midfield. Only the pass went directly into the cinder block mitts of Saints defensive lineman Colby Wooden, who lost the ball into the grateful hands of Murray.
The 8-yard loss went down as a fumble, recovery and reminder that KOC can only juggle chainsaws for so long before there is true bloodshed.
Pick all the nits you want, and there are plenty for local fans and national observers to pluck, but the Vikings joined the San Francisco 49ers as the NFL’s only 5-0 teams.
No small accomplishment in a league designed to humble everyone eventually. They have won through injuries, offensive inconsistency and enough self-inflicted wounds to make Larry David blush.
The encouraging part is that the offense looks like it is ascending, in the cliched parlance of our times. Murray is playing with more confidence. Jefferson is back. Jordan Mason is coming back. Jones is productive despite his knee trouble. And the defense is making life miserable for quarterbacks of all stripes.
The overarching concern is that Detroit, Buffalo, Green Bay and San Francisco won’t be nearly as forgiving when the Vikings grind into November. The red-zone fumbles, procedural penalties and ill-advised play calls simply have to stop.
A defense can cover for a multitude of sins, but asking it to deliver a masterpiece every Sunday is a dangerous way to operate. And, frankly, it’s greedy.
Perhaps this is a legitimate Super Bowl contender coming together in real time. Maybe it’s a flawed team riding a spectacular defense until some big-boy teams expose all the cracks.
Everything is in play. Compelling as always.