By Brian Murphy
Only in Minnesota could a five-point home win and a 4-0 start carry so much existential dread, but here we are.
The Vikings are undefeated after four games, with a pair of NFC North wins and a relatively soft schedule in October that includes a bye -- a golden opportunity to stockpile more victories and seize control of an ultra-competitive division.
Playing a month of NFL football without losing is extremely difficult. It’s masterful how their defense looks downright terrifying while their special teams might be the best unit on the roster.
Their quarterback is finally healthy enough to finish games. They have survived injuries, penalties, offensive dysfunction and are basking in the glow of whatever psychological experiment Brian Flores is conducting on opposing quarterbacks.
And yet, after defeating the hapless Miami Dolphins 15-10 Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, everything feels so freaking hard. This is no way to put together a Super Bowl run, but perhaps this is the jagged journey they will remain on until January.
Minnesota spent most of Sunday doing everything it could to leave its agitated fans chirping for Carson Wentz while bleeding out a game it had mostly controlled.
Flores and his crew harassed Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis into 85 passing yards, as expected. They routinely forced three-and-outs and suffocated Miami for long stretches, just like a superior unit is supposed to do against a winless team.
The Dolphins basically needed Ollie Gordon’s 53-yard run and a couple of breaks to make the game interesting. Offensively, the Vikings spent another afternoon grasping for solutions and normalizing another self-inflicted mess.
Despite playing in front of a friendly crowd, the Vikings committed a host of pre-snap penalties among the 11 for which they were flagged. The teams combined for 20 infractions totaling 140 yards.
Referee Adrian Hill was on the microphone so much he likely spent the night gargling salt water. Felt like I knew the man personally by sundown.
At one point, crowd tried to gin up a “We Want Wentz!” chant, though it fizzled much like Kyler Murray’s pocket presence the first three quarters. Minnesota failed to reach the end zone for the second time this season.
Without Will Reichard’s continued dominance in the kicking game and just happening to draw Miami in Week 4, Sunday could have been a reckoning instead of brief respite.
The Vikings led 9-0 at halftime and 12-3 after three quarters before putting together a 15-play drive that chewed up more than half of the fourth quarter. They even managed a red-zone snap, the rarest of all species this season, only to conclude the drive with a field goal.
Death, taxes, construction on I-494 and Reichard good from anywhere.
Minnesota’s third-year kicker might be the most important man in the state right now. Cool only begins to describe the heater he’s on. Reichard extended the NFL’s longest active streak to 31 consecutive made field goals and tied Faud Reveiz for second place all time with the Vikings.
Gary Anderson holds the team record with 35 consecutive makes during the 1998 regular season, a stretch that was extraordinary until the exact moment in the NFC championship game that it wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Reichard has not missed a field goal since Oct. 23, 2025, in Minnesota’s Week 8 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers.
“Will, he’s a dog, man,” said wide receiver Jordan Addison. “We need him. But we need to help him out.”
Yeah, anytime now.
The Vikings have apparently decided that 12-3 is a philosophy. Not aesthetically pleasing, but there are worse things than being undefeated.
The defense deserves enormous credit. So does Myles Price, who continues to look like he might be the best returner in football. Dallas Turner is becoming a genuine difference-maker. And Flores has turned opposing quarterbacks into human stress balls.
Impossible to know what is the ceiling for a team that needs its defense and special teams to deliver play by play just to survive. You can hear the snickering around the league, if it’s not being drowned out by the muttering throughout the Twin Cities.
That conversation will linger until the offense makes it go away. Perhaps it can.
Murray is still without his top receiver, Justin Jefferson, and starting running back Jordan Mason. The entire left side of Minnesota’s offensive line was dinged up Sunday, with tackle Christian Darrisaw and guard Donovan Jackson lost to injury against the Dolphins.
There were times when the pocket collapsed almost immediately and swallowed the diminutive Murray whole.
Still, Murray did not turn the ball over. He made several outstanding throws under pressure and repeatedly found tight end T.J. Hockenson, including a series of second-half throws that actually resembled an NFL passing game.
The Vikings ended the game near the goal line with the ball in their hands. No panic, even though that big red button remains within arm’s reach for everyone.
But here’s the thing. They already have four wins banked. The Packers are a mess. The Lions are vulnerable defensively. Chicago is chugging along but still without star quarterback Caleb Williams. And the NFC looks wide open.
So the maybes offer more promise than misguided hope.
Maybe Jefferson and Mason will jump-start the offense. Maybe Murray is getting more comfortable. Maybe Hockenson keeps producing. Maybe the offensive line stabilizes.
Or maybe the Vikings keep hanging earrings on pigs and winning ugly until somebody figures out how to stop them.
There is, after all, something to be said for a team that keeps finding a way. But they’re running out of patsies.
New Orleans is next. Indianapolis in unpredictable. Then come Detroit and Buffalo. The Vikings cannot spend the next month asking their defense to hold opponents to 10 points while Reichard handles the rest.
Minnesota is undefeated, but is it a viable contender? Being flawed at 4-0 is better than middling at 2-2.
Enjoy the wins. Trust the defense. Watch the injury report.
And keep the antacid nearby.