NFL Week 4 Sunday aftermath: Bears’ defense continues to shine; Jaguars are for real
The NFL has three 4-0 squads. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs look the part, with Brock Purdy playing at an MVP level to open the season and K.C. sporting complementary ball with Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker III splashing big plays. Then there are the Minnesota Vikings, who are as lopsided as any winning club.
The Vikings beat the Dolphins, 15-10, in Week 4 without scoring a touchdown, their second such win of the 2026 season after also prevailing without a TD in Week 2 at Chicago. Minnesota is the second team in the last 90 years (1994 Steelers) to win three straight games in a season while scoring one or fewer scrimmage touchdowns across the trio of tilts, per Opta Stats. The Vikings became just the third team in NFL history — and first in over a century — to begin a season 4-0 despite not scoring a touchdown in two of their first four games, joining the 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals as the only squads to accomplish this feat, per NFL Research.
Kevin O’Connell would like his offense to hum a month into a season, but at least he can tinker while stacking up wins.
Brian Flores’ defense once again dominated, holding a moribund Miami offense to 198 yards and eight first downs. The special teams also shined, with Will Reichard netting five field goals and Myles Price continuing to create explosives (SEE: a 47-yard kick return and a 36-yard punt return). Why are teams still kicking to him?
The concern is that the offense, led by Kyler Murray, remains a slog. On Sunday, Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley sat in two-high looks, forcing Murray to be patient. The QB attempted zero passes of 20-plus air yards, and just 18.9% of his throws traveled 10 or more air yards, per NFL Research. The dink-and-dunk operation, which routinely puttered, brought boos from the hometown fans.
“We want to score points, too,” said tight end T.J. Hockenson, who had 13 catches for 119 yards, per The Minnesota Star Tribune. “I mean, we love our fans here. We go play in front of them, so we get it. We’re frustrated, too. We’re getting rolling, and [the booing] is what it is. I understand it, and we’ll just keep moving forward.”
The Vikings’ offense is a rocky watch, with pre-snap penalties continuing to be killer, and the offensive line is dealing with some injuries.
“If it’s a self-inflicted thing, we’ve got to remove that from our offense,” O’Connell said after the game. “To win the turnover battle again, to win the field-position battle, to do a lot of the things that we talk about — you mix that with an ascending group, which I do believe [we are], and I think we saw it there in the second half.
“We can’t accept any aspect of this that wasn’t [caused by] a really good play by the defense.”
Murray found a groove late in the contest that perhaps showed he could make strides in O’Connell’s offense. Of course, that was against a tired Dolphins defense that has been beaten up this season.
The good news for these Vikings is that the defense and special teams can continue to carry them until the offense catches up. Given his early-season injury, Murray has some leash before we officially declare him an ill fit for KOC’s offense, but the initial offerings haven’t been pretty.