Murray and the Vikings might’ve found some momentum for a lagging offense, late in their latest win
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The unbeaten Minnesota Vikings won another game behind a suffocating defense and sterling special teams, while their offense remained disjointed and uninspiring for a restless home crowd.
Lost in the din of another grind-it-out win and the mild booing sparked by a series of stalled possessions, however, was a promising fourth-quarter performance by Kyler Murray when the Vikings needed their passing attack the most.
Perhaps that was a sign the offense will be just fine with more time. Maybe it’ll prove to be a mirage. More likely, the results over the remainder of the season will land somewhere in the middle. Nonetheless, Murray and his teammates gained some vital steam with their finish against Miami on Sunday that gave the Vikings a 4-0 record.
After completing 12 of 13 passes for 112 yards in the fourth quarter of the 15-10 victory, helping the Vikings get eight first downs and hold the ball for 14 of 15 minutes, Murray said he felt "present" in a way he hadn’t experienced yet with his new club.
"I definitely felt like the game was moving slower," Murray said. "I was a little more in control, not perfect by any means, but to be able to get that many reps like I did today, play four quarters again, see defenses, see coverages, see guys moving around and getting to the field zones in man coverages, all that, you can't put a price tag on that playing this position. I think we're only going to get better."
Murray went 27 of 37 for 249 yards, including six throwaways and three drops by intended receivers. The combination of the game-long commitment by the Dolphins to playing split-safety coverage and the absence of star Justin Jefferson made the intermediate and deep passes more difficult. Murray repeatedly held the ball in the pocket too long, taking four sacks against a team that had none over the first three games.
But he leaned hard on tight end T.J. Hockenson and connected with Jordan Addison for a crucial 27-yard gain on a tough throw to an in-cutting route at midfield with about four minutes left.
"I thought it said a lot about Kyler and the group as a whole, fighting through some adversity there," coach Kevin O’Connell said.
Murray’s preseason work on a demanding playbook was affected some by the competition with J.J. McCarthy, limiting his turns with the first team until he was announced as the starter on Aug. 11.
Then he was sidelined in the first quarter of his debut by a concussion that kept him out the following week, too. In Murray’s return, Jefferson had an injury force an early exit. The duo has played only 18 snaps together through four games.
The Vikings, not coincidentally, are the only team in the last 90 years, according to Sportradar data, to start a season 4-0 and have at least two games with no offensive touchdowns.
"There's no lack of confidence by any means," Murray said. "Obviously we've got to be better and cleaner, and we will be."