Quarterback Kyler Murray of the Minnesota Vikings runs with the ball on Sunday. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Minnesota is the NFL’s last undefeated team.
Yes, the Vikings. The team with the middling offense, a quarterback trying to jump-start his career and a division full of much louder contenders.
But with a 16-10 win over Indianapolis on Sunday — and after losses by both San Francisco and Kansas City — Minnesota is 6-0 and alone atop the league’s unbeaten list.
The 49ers squandered an early 14-3 lead and turned the ball over four times in a 29-20 loss to Atlanta. And in Seattle on Sunday night, the Chiefs struggled to get their usually potent offense moving and fell to the Seahawks, 20-3.
The Vikings, meanwhile, leaned once again on the defensive unit that has become the backbone of this unexpected start. Quarterback Kyler Murray’s 35-yard scramble early in the fourth quarter set up his go-ahead touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson.
Minnesota has been more workmanlike than dazzling. Its offense ranks among the league’s lower-scoring units, but the Vikings’ defense has allowed the fewest points in the NFL — just 74 through six games, or 12.3 per game. Justin Jefferson remains the headliner, but their perfect start has been built around lesser names: veteran edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel and a relentless pass rush; fellow linebacker Blake Cashman, who piled up 12 tackles and two sacks Sunday; and Murray, a free agent signing who has repeatedly delivered the one timely play Minnesota’s modest offense needs.
This is the Vikings’ first 6-0 start since 2009 and only their seventh in franchise history. Before the season, most sportsbooks pegged Minnesota’s win total at 8½ and viewed the Vikings as more likely to miss the playoffs than make them.
Now we are about to find out whether the Vikings are for real.
Their next four games are at Detroit on Sunday, home against Buffalo on a Monday night, at Green Bay and then against San Francisco in Mexico City. It is the stretch that will tell us whether the Vikings are contenders — or merely a feel-good story with a midseason expiration date.
(Carlos Barria/Reuters)
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