Minnesota improved to 4-0 Sunday with a gritty 15-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins, relying once again on a dominant defense, flawless special teams and a timely late offensive drive capped by a career day from tight end T.J. Hockenson.
KSTP Sports was in the locker room postgame and spoke with Hockenson, RB Aaron Jones Sr., WR Jordan Addison, OL Will Fries, K Will Reichard, LB Blake Cashman, and CB Byron Murphy Jr.
***Click the video box above to watch the postgame reaction***
Despite the victory, several offensive players expressed frustration with mistakes that prevented the unit from fully breaking through.
Addison said penalties repeatedly stalled promising drives.
“Every time we hit an explosive play or had a good drive going, we had a penalty on offense that set us back a little bit,” Addison said.
Addison believes the offense’s best football is still ahead, but emphasized there is urgency to unlock it.
“It’s definitely coming. We got to have it now, though,” Addison said. “We just got to play disciplined, play better. But I’m glad we’re 4-0.”
Reichard remains automatic
While the offense continued searching for rhythm, kicker Will Reichard once again delivered.
Reichard connected on all of his attempts, extending his streak to 30 consecutive made field goals.
The second-year kicker shrugged off the milestone.
“It’ll be cool after it’s over,” Reichard said. “Right now, just trying to take each kick as its own and do as best I can to put them through.”
Defense keeps delivering
For the second time in four victories, Minnesota won without scoring an offensive touchdown, a testament to a defense that continues to rank among the NFL’s elite.
Murphy said the formula is simple.
“On the offensive side, don’t turn the ball over,” Murphy Jr. said. “On the defensive side, go get the ball.” The Vikings were +1 in the takeaway/giveaway ratio.
The Vikings nearly surrendered a disastrous long Ollie Gordon II run, but a fingertip touch by linebacker Blake Cashman helped save the day after Miami’s runner was ruled down near the line of scrimmage.
Cashman didn’t even realize he had gotten a finger on Gordon on the play.
“I had no idea,” Cashman said afterward. “I took off running, too.”
Still, Cashman wasn’t satisfied with the overall performance.
“We were good maybe 95 percent of the time, but there were plays out there that we could have been better and we should have been better,” Cashman said. “We just got to keep evaluating the film, keep ourselves to the high standard that we do and continue to find ways to improve.”
Murphy Jr. pointed to another close call when Miami rookie receiver Chris Bell scored, but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds then re-entered and was the first to touch the ball.
“It’s a game of inches,” Murphy Jr. said. “Thank God he stepped out of bounds.”