MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The unbeaten Minnesota Vikings have built their strong start to the season around dominant defense and sterling special teams.<\/p>\n
While their injury-thinned offense has lagged behind, it has made a significant contribution \u2014 playing a simple game of keep-away \u2014 that can\u2019t be left out.<\/p>\n
The Vikings have held the ball more than any team in the NFL but one, trailing only the division rival Chicago Bears in that basic but vital metric.<\/p>\n
With an average possession time of 33:38 per game, the Vikings have frequently put themselves in scoring position even if too many drives have ended in field goals or turnovers. Just as important, they\u2019ve allowed the league\u2019s stingiest defense to stay fresh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s helped us win games. It hasn\u2019t necessarily shown up in totality,\u201d coach Kevin O\u2019Connell said, zooming out to reflect on the offense\u2019s overall performance. \u201cAs a whole, though, I\u2019m very happy with where I think we\u2019re going to get to.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Vikings improved to 5-0 by beating the New Orleans Saints 23-13 on Sunday, their time of possession was more than 39 minutes \u2014 the second straight week they\u2019ve held the ball for roughly two-thirds of the game.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Vikings ranked 30th in the league in time of possession. They were 15th in 2024, 26th in 2023 and 23rd in 2022. Even more impactful this year has been the improvement in turnover rate. The Vikings had three takeaways in the second half against the Saints and lead the league with a plus-six margin. They finished 2025 with a minus-nine, fourth-worst in the NFL.<\/p>\n
With 153 rushing yards on 36 attempts, both season highs, and an 80% completion rate on 30 passes by Kyler Murray, the Vikings converted nine of 18 third downs against the Saints and kept their offense on a smooth path even if it hasn\u2019t been on a fast track. The season-most 364 total yards by the offense was promising, considering how many regulars were unavailable due to injury.<\/p>\n
The Vikings overcame two lost fumbles inside the 20-yard line, one the Saints used as a catalyst for their only offensive touchdown of the afternoon and one that was returned for a score.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately we need to continue to put the ball in the end zone at a higher clip to allow our defense to continue to play with leads,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s working<\/p>\n
Murray, who was forced out of his debut with Minnesota in the first quarter because of a concussion resulting from a hit to the head at the end of a scramble, finally got his ground game going with 10 rushes for 51 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Kyler played really well yesterday \u2014 the perfect balance of completions, attacking when we needed him to with his arm, attacking when we needed him to with his legs,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
What needs help<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell hasn\u2019t had much success with trick plays over five seasons of calling the offense. The Vikings avoided a colossal mistake in the fourth quarter when Justin Jefferson\u2019s throwback near midfield was nearly swiped by the Saints. Murray fell on the ball for an 8-yard loss and managed to get the Vikings back into field-goal range to push their lead to 10 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back on it, I didn\u2019t particularly like the call. I put that on me,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
Stock up<\/p>\n
When T.J. Hockenson was forced out of the game with a concussion during the first drive, the Vikings were suddenly missing their top two tight ends with Josh Oliver likely out for the season. Gavin Bartholomew and Ben Yurosek each had career-high snap counts, and Bartholomew had five catches for 33 yards and Yurosek had a 10-yard reception.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey both answered the bell,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
Stock down<\/p>\n
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings played 69% of the offensive snaps with Jordan Addison sidelined by a hamstring injury, but continued to see his impact limited to run blocking. Jennings has two catches for 9 yards on just five targets over four games. <\/p>\n
Injury report<\/p>\n
Hockenson remained in the concussion protocol on Monday, but the bye week ought to help the Vikings restock their offense. Addison, Hockenson, left tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion) and running back Jordan Mason (thumb) could all return when the Vikings host the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 25. Oliver and left guard Donovan Jackson (knee) are likely done for the season.<\/p>\n
Key number<\/p>\n
10 \u2014 The Vikings have won 10 straight regular-season games, the longest active streak in the league and tied for the third-longest run in franchise history.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
After hosting the Colts (2-3) in Week 7, the Vikings enter a defining four-game stretch. They\u2019re at Detroit, home against Buffalo, at Green Bay and then in Mexico City against San Francisco. The Lions, Bills, Packers and 49ers all have winning records, a combined 14-5 entering Monday.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here <\/p>\n
Dave Campbell, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The unbeaten Minnesota Vikings have built their strong start to the season around dominant defense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-930934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}