By Brian Murphy
Hey, 6-0 is a helluva accomplishment. Finding ways to win. Protecting the football. Building scar tissue. All worthy traits.
Time to mothball the pacifier and training wheels, though.
November’s schedule demands more adulting.
The Minnesota Vikings are undefeated, which is objectively wonderful. They dismissed the Indianapolis Colts 16-10 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, surviving another dog day afternoon of offensive dysfunction or just-miss opportunities depending on your prescription glasses. And with it comes the requisite anxiety about optics and sustainability.
They have won six consecutive games. Their defense has allowed a league-low 74 points. Their kicker remains one of the most reliable human beings in Minnesota. And their offense continues to operate like three shifts of manual labor.
It all feels totally untenable.
Perhaps not today. The Vikings are the only undefeated team in the NFL. Alphas of the NFC. Two games ahead in the loss column in the North and arm’s length from the knife fight raging below them in the standings.
But here come the Lions, Bills, Packers and 49ers, and Minnesota cannot keep asking its defense to blitz 85 percent of the time while its offense avoids the end zone like it’s molten lava.
Sunday offered another example of how the Vikings can win football games, with another reminder of how much harder they make it on themselves and their faithful.
The psychological road this franchise makes its fans march every season is truly biblical.
The Colts arrived in Minneapolis at 2-4, coming off a loss to winless Tennessee and without injured cornerback Sauce Gardner and tight end Tyler Warren. Indianapolis had plenty of problems before kickoff, not that anyone would notice.
Jonathan Taylor planted his flag at U.S. Bank Stadium (perhaps permanently next month, Mr. Teasley?) and rocketed 38 yards for an opening-drive touchdown that cold-cocked the rested Vikings and liquored congregates.
The Vikings trailed 7-0, and the afternoon immediately took on the familiar feel of an unnecessary struggle.
Minnesota’s opening possession, in contrast, was uninspiring. Myles Price gave the Vikings a 46-yard kickoff return to the Indianapolis 47. Surely, this was an opportunity to establish some offensive momentum.
Instead, the Vikings ran four times behind hobbled Aaron Jones with Jordan Mason returned, refreshed and curiously missing. They managed precious little and turned the ball over on downs on fourth-and-1. Another straightforward decision turning into a philosophical debate.
The defense, meanwhile, went back to work while Blake Cashman went berserk.
The local linebacker spent the afternoon treating Daniel Jones like a snitch at a biker rally. He finished with 12 tackles, two sacks, four passes defended and three quarterback hits. He was simply everywhere, disrupting Indianapolis’ passing game and making life miserable for the former Vikings quarterback meeting room MVP of 2024.
Can we all agree this is Brian Flores’ team? With special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, his chief of staff and Kevin O’Connell, their affable public relations director.
To be fair, O’Connell has won 11 straight games in the NFL. In twice as many ways. With a patchwork offensive lineup that finally lined up healthy and raring to continue the unit’s – ahem – ascension behind quarterback Kyler Murray.
O’Connell is the head coach, obviously. But when the offense spends another afternoon struggling to manufacture points at home against a spiraling team like the Colts, Flores the superstar defensive coordinator is the guy keeping the entire operation afloat.
Minnesota managed two Will Reichard field goals in the first half, which felt like a small miracle considering the amount of time required to produce them. One drive covered 53 yards in 15 plays and consumed more than six minutes. It ended with three points.
Fifteen plays for a field goal. Quite the offensive identity six games into the season.
The Vikings have apparently decided that scoring touchdowns is optional, provided their defense can keep the other guys from doing it.
The Colts helped. Spencer Shrader missed two second-half field goals, including a 56-yarder on fourth-and-2 that handed Minnesota a golden opportunity. Indianapolis had the Vikings wobbling, but its kicker couldn’t deliver the knockout punch.
Then came the play that pivoted the afternoon.
Murray, who had looked uncomfortable while missing open receivers, took off on a third-down scramble in the fourth quarter. He navigated traffic, found daylight and ran 35 yards to the Indianapolis 5-yard line.
Two plays later, Murray flipped the ball to T.J. Hockenson for the go-ahead touchdown. Minnesota led 13-10, and the offense had finally done something more substantial than keep the field-goal unit employed.
It was the Vikings’ 10th offensive touchdown in six games. Let that marinate. The touchdown mattered enormously, but it also illustrated the problem.
Murray finished 14 of 24 for 150 yards, and Minnesota spent much of Week 7 struggling to sustain drives yet again against an Indy defense missing its biggest star in the secondary.
Yet again, the Vikings refused to lose. Cashman and company kept making plays, even as Taylor churned his way to 95 yards and a looming parole hearing on the trade market.
The Colts had opportunities to tie the game, but Shrader’s second shank preserved the Vikings’ narrow lead.
Reichard then supplied his own plot twist. After extending his franchise-record streak to 35 consecutive made field goals, he had a 59-yard attempt blocked by Grover Stewart. Just as well. He doesn’t need to shoulder Gary Anderson’s 1998 burden of perfection into January.
Fortunately, Reichard got another chance. His 52-yarder -- just another sand wedge -- with 1:39 remaining gave Minnesota a six-point cushion, downright lavish these days.
And then Old Man Harry came to the rescue.
Harrison Smith, the 37-year-old safety who returned for his 15th season, intercepted Jones with about a minute remaining. It was the 40th interception of Smith’s career, a milestone worthy of another standing ovation and a reminder that the elder still knows exactly where the ball is supposed to go when delivered by ghost-fearing quarterbacks.
Harry! Harry! Harry!
There are worse ways to finish a football game than watching a franchise legend seal another victory.
Just don’t mistake survival for progress.
Six-and-oh is real. The defense is running out of adjectives to leverage. Reichard remains a weapon. Murray’s legs can rescue a drive, and Smith can still turn a game around with one instinctive play.
But here come tougher opponents and dynamic offenses that won’t keep gifting Minnesota opportunities to escape. The Vikings need to convert possessions into points, turn promising drives into touchdowns and stop relying on their defense to clean up every mess.
Cut and paste.
They have demonstrated that they can win ugly. They have demonstrated that they can protect the football and hang around long enough for something good to happen. Now they need to demonstrate that they can play a complete game.
Celebrate 6-0. The Vikings have earned that much.
But the kiddie pool is closed for the season. Now the Vikings have to swim with the sharks.
Yes, the offense had better pick it up, but I can hear Def Lep singing "Bringing on the Heartbreak..."
Great article Murph 👏
Playing with house money doesn't last forever.