The Minnesota Vikings improved to 5-0 with a 23-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
The win came in Week 5 and sent the Vikings into their bye week with a perfect record. Injuries had limited the time quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver Justin Jefferson spent on the field together earlier this season. In this game, the pair showed clear progress in their timing.
Murray completed 24 of 30 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown. He posted a passer rating of 109.6 and added 10 carries for 51 rushing yards. His longest run covered 18 yards.
Jefferson finished with six receptions on seven targets for 79 yards and one touchdown. The scoring catch came early in the third quarter and gave the Vikings a lead they would not relinquish.
“He seemed to find a rhythm,” Jefferson said. “It was great. The off-schedule plays he made scrambling and using his feet to create first downs and build momentum were definitely big for us. When a play doesn’t look like much, but he’s making something out of nothing, that goes a long way for us.
“That’s something we were looking for and expecting from him, creating those plays, scrambling, and looking downfield to make those big plays. He played tremendously. We just have to finish those drives, especially with the two fumbles we had.”
The touchdown pass covered 15 yards and came with Jefferson surrounded by multiple defenders. Murray described the play in detail afterward.
“I think [the touchdown pass] would’ve been a little cleaner [since] he initially got bumped by the nickel, but man, a guy like that, you give him a chance, it’s a hell of a catch,” Murray said. “It’s my first full game with him, but I’ve seen in spurts throughout my time here why he’s one of a kind. To see it live today, with a catch like that, triple coverage around him, no flinch, just focus and elite ball skills – it was a hell of a catch. The team needed it.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell pointed to the value of live game repetitions as Murray continues to settle into the offense. This marked Murray’s third start of the season in a more consistent role.
“I just think it’s time,” O’Connell said. “It’s just game reps. You can talk about every practice rep you want against a scout card or even a training camp rep, but the game reps of being in it, it’s his huddle, and it’s him running the show. On the road, in a noisy building, we had to take a couple of early timeouts just to make sure our substitutions were right after T.J. went down.
“We were doing some shuffling within the lineups, but we’ve had a lot of practice at that. He just kind of stayed the course. Tremendous poise all day long, decision-making, using his athleticism. I think this performance, like the second half from last week, is a lot for us to build on for sure.”
Running back Aaron Jones Sr. supported the effort with 113 yards on 25 carries and a fourth-quarter touchdown. Kicker Will Reichard converted all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 54-yarder before halftime and a 55-yarder in the fourth quarter that extended his streak of consecutive made field goals to 34.
The Vikings defense limited the Saints to 142 total yards. New Orleans quarterback Tyler Shough completed 16 of 25 passes for 96 yards and threw two interceptions. Minnesota entered the game allowing an NFL-low 12.8 points per game and held the Saints to one offensive touchdown.
The Vikings played without wide receiver Jordan Addison, who was inactive with a hamstring issue, and lost tight end T.J. Hockenson early to a concussion. Despite those absences, the offense generated 364 total yards.
Through four games this season, Murray has completed 69 of 101 passes for 662 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Vikings hold a two-game lead in the NFC North heading into their bye. They return Oct. 25 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The connection between Murray and Jefferson remains a work in progress, but Sunday’s results offered tangible evidence of improvement in both the passing game and the running game when the primary targets are available.
