For the second time in three weeks, the Minnesota Vikings did not score an offensive touchdown. And for the fourth time in four weeks, the Minnesota Vikings did enough to come out of their game with a victory.
Behind five field goals by Will Reichard and a career-high 13 catches from TJ Hockenson, as well as another dominant defensive performance, the Minnesota Vikings were able to hold off a very game Miami Dolphins team at US Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon, winning by a score of 15-10 to push their record to 4-0 in the 2026 NFL season.
The Vikings won the opening coin toss and elected to receive, and Myles Price picked up right where he left off after being named the Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 3, taking the opening kickoff near midfield. But the Vikings did nothing about it, as the team’s first play from scrimmage resulted in the first sack of the year for Miami’s defense, as Kyler Murray was brought down by Zach Sieler for an 8-yard loss. The Vikings fumbled the ball, and the return was intercepted by the returning Dolphins in the end zone for a touchback. After the penalty, the Dolphins started their first possession at their own 10-yard line.
The Dolphins got one down on their first possession, but eventually got it away. That meant Price got another chance at the ball, and he returned the punt 36 yards to set the Vikings up in Miami territory at the 38-yard line. But the Vikings’ offense couldn’t do much after a first down, as several penalties pushed them back. Of course, that meant they could call on Will Reichard, who did what he usually does and drilled a 47-yard field goal to give the Vikings an early lead, 3-0, with less than eight minutes left in the first quarter.
Miami put together a pretty solid drive on their next possession, pushing themselves into Minnesota territory before their drive was ended by a sack from Dallas Turner, a takedown that gave him 4.5 on the young season. That gave the Vikings the ball at their own 21-yard line to begin their next drive. The penalty bug hit the Vikings again when a 21-yard catch from Murray to Jordan Addison was negated by a penalty on rookie Caleb Tiernan, and the Dolphins officially ended the drive by sacking Murray again, this one from Josh Uche.
The Vikings dodged a huge bullet on the Dolphins’ next possession, as Willis spun and dodged enough Vikings defenders to get a pass to rookie Chris Bell, who ran away from the defense for what appeared to be a 68-yard score. However, the officials ruled that Bell went out of bounds before the pass was caught, making his reception illegal and taking the points off the board, forcing Miami to punt the ball.
Minnesota moved the ball into Miami territory on their next possession, almost despite themselves thanks to some more offensive penalties. But, as is their wont, the Vikings’ offense stalled again after Murray was nearly sacked a third time, and Will Reichard came through again to add points for the Vikings. He connected on a 50-yard field goal to extend the Minnesota lead to 6-0 with seven minutes left before halftime.
The Dolphins’ next drive started with a penalty, as Willis scrambled and rookie Domonique Orange was called for a late hit for tackling him out of bounds, even though it appeared the hit was initiated in the field of play. That quickly put the Dolphins near midfield, but things quickly went the Vikings’ way thanks to Turner. He pressured Willis, and when Willis attempted to throw the ball, his hand hit Turner’s helmet and the ball fell. The first ruling on the field was an incomplete pass, but the Vikings challenged the call, and it was overturned as the loose ball was clearly recovered by Blake Cashman. That meant the Vikings got the football at midfield on the turnover.
Unfortunately, the Vikings offense couldn’t do anything with the turnover, as they went three-and-out quickly and only got a 20-yard punt from Johnny Hekker, meaning the turnover didn’t hurt the Dolphins too much. The Dolphins returned the favor with a three-and-out of their own, and the Vikings got the ball at midfield at the two-minute warning. Murray then found TJ Hockenson to bring the Vikings down to the Miami 26-yard line, but then took another sack from Sieler. Passes to Tai Felton and Hockenson put the Vikings at the Miami 15 with ten seconds left, and the Vikings took their final timeout. The last play of the half was, again, Will Reichard adding to Minnesota’s lead, as he connected from 33 yards out to make it 9-0 heading into the locker room.
Miami got the football to start the second half, and they got their biggest play of the afternoon in short order as Ollie Gordon took a handoff from Willis and rumbled 53 yards to the Minnesota 11-yard line to put Miami in the red zone for the first time of the day. After that, the Vikings defense came back and forced the Dolphins to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Riley Patterson for their first points of the day, cutting the Minnesota lead to 9-3.
The Vikings answered with a pretty solid drive, as they mixed some nice runs from Aaron Jones with some connection between Murray and Hockenson to push into Miami territory. As they neared the 20, however, penalties began to bite them again as Jauan Jennings was called for offensive pass interference. The drive stalled, giving Reichard another chance, and he made the most of it again, connecting from 41 yards out to push the lead back to nine points at 12-3.
Miami quickly went three-and-out on their next possession, and the Vikings responded with a three-and-out of their own that saw Murray sacked for the fourth time on the afternoon, this time by Chop Robinson. The Dolphins put together their best offensive possession of the day, as Willis found Malik Washington for a couple of connections to get the Dolphins into the red zone, and then Ollie Gordon took the handoff and ran into the end zone almost untouched for a 13-yard score to make it 12-10 at the end of the third quarter.
The Vikings then went on a long drive that spanned 15 plays, but only traveled 60 yards and took more than eight minutes off the clock. In the end, however, the result is the same. . .another field goal from Will Reichard. This one came from 29 yards and increased the Minnesota lead to 15-10 with just over six minutes left in regulation.
After the Vikings forced the Dolphins to punt it away, the Minnesota offense put together another long drive. Minnesota forced the Dolphins to burn their timeouts, and on a 3rd-and-5 play from the Miami 10-yard line, Murray found Hockenson near the goal line. Instead of going into the end zone, Hockenson slid down to the 1-yard line at the two-minute warning. With no timeouts left for Miami, all the Vikings had to do was kneel down in victory, and that’s what they did.
Hockenson finished a big day with Justin Jefferson out of the lineup. He tied a career high with 13 catches, gaining 119 yards. Jordan Addison and Aaron Jones each caught four passes on the day. Murray finished completing 27-of-37 passes for 247 yards.
For the second time in their last three games, the Vikings did not score an offensive touchdown. It’s obviously not sustainable, but it’s effective enough to get the Vikings’ record to 4-0 in the 2026 NFL season. At some point, they will need to switch the offense, but since the Vikings were without star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in this one, they did a pretty solid job of coming out of this one with a victory.
The Vikings will try to extend their unbeaten start next week, as they make the trip to the Big Easy to face the New Orleans Saints.
The Minnesota Vikings, once again, did just enough to emerge victorious, as they defeated the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 by a final score of 15-10 in Week 4. Thanks to everyone who got their game coverage today right here on The Daily Norseman!