The Minnesota Vikings had what, for them, qualifies as an offensive explosion Sunday afternoon at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, as they scored two touchdowns in the same game for the first time since Week 1. When you play defense the way the Vikings have, that’s all you need.
Despite two turnovers in the red zone that led directly to all of the New Orleans Saints’ points, the Vikings did enough to keep themselves undefeated in the 2026 season, as the Vikings’ offense had its best game of the season and did enough to put together a 23-13 victory over New Orleans in Week 5.
The Saints won the coin toss and elected to postpone the second half, giving the Vikings offense the first football on this one. Kyler Murray found TJ Hockenson early for a first-down completion that saw Hockenson hit his head on the ground awkwardly and end up on the sidelines for a concussion evaluation. The Vikings’ offense continued to move down the field, with Murray finding Tai Felton for a 23-yard completion to get into Saints territory. A third-down completion to Justin Jefferson that would have put the Vikings in the red zone was negated by an illegal formation call, and the Vikings failed to convert the ensuing third-down attempt, so Will Reichard came on. He connected from 40 yards out to give the Vikings an early 3-0 lead six minutes into the contest.
The Saints’ offense saw their first possession turn into a very quick three-and-out, with Tyler Shough going to the ground twice. The Vikings took over and, once again, put together another good drive, with Jefferson getting his first two official catches of the game to push the Vikings into New Orleans territory at the 30. A pair of carries by Aaron Jones moved the chains again and put the Vikings’ offense in the red zone for just the ninth time this season. The Vikings then found themselves facing a 3rd-and-1 from the New Orleans 10, and Jones took another handoff and chased the ball. Chase Young picked up the loose ball for the Saints and returned it to the New Orleans 34-yard line, making it a turnover for the Vikings and another offensive possession that ended without a touchdown.
The Saints’ offense got a first down late in the first quarter, when Shough found Chris Olave at midfield. The Saints then converted on a couple of short fourth downs, one on a pass to Olave and another on a pass to Devaughn Vele. New Orleans’ offense kept pushing and moving into the red zone and, eventually, into a goal-to-go situation behind some running from Kendre Miller. Miller then brought the ball down at the 1-yard line, and later carried the ball into the end zone from two yards out to give the Saints a 7-3 lead with eight and a half minutes left in the first half.
The Vikings got the ball back, and three straight handoffs to Jones resulted in a three-and-out. New Orleans recovered the ball at their own 21-yard line following a punt by Brett Thorson. The Saints’ offense responded with a three-and-out of their own, and Myles Price once again showed why he’s quickly establishing himself as the best return specialist in the league. He fielded a punt from former Viking Ryan Wright and took it 43 yards, putting the ball on New Orleans’ side of the field at the 47-yard line.
As is their custom after a big play, the Vikings started the drive with a penalty, as Ryan Van Demark was called for holding, pushing the ball back to Minnesota’s side of the field and making it 1st-and-20. The drive went nowhere after that, and Thorson had to punt it again. But the Saints went three-and-out at the two-minute warning, giving the ball back to the Vikings with 1:56 left on the clock and one timeout remaining from their own 31-yard line.
The Vikings were able to push the ball into Saints territory at the 39-yard line on a nice throw from Murray to Jefferson, but then Murray inexplicably took a sack to force the Vikings to call their final timeout. Another pass to Jefferson moved the ball closer to the end zone, and that meant another opportunity for Reichard, who put the ball through the uprights from 54 yards out to make it a 7-6 game at halftime.
The Vikings’ special teams made an impact on the second-half kickoff, as rookie Jake Golday punched the ball free from Saints return man Jayden Price, with Jeshaun Jones recovering for the Vikings to give them the ball right away. A trick play was missed on first down, but Murray then made things right by scrambling 18 yards on 3rd-and-10 to avoid a three-and-out. Then, on another third-down play, the Vikings did something they hadn’t done in more than two full games.
They scored a touchdown. On offense.
Murray lofted one into the back-left corner of the end zone for Jefferson to inbound triple coverageand Jefferson was able to come down with it for a 15-yard touchdown to put the Vikings back on top, 13-7.
The Saints’ offense committed its second straight turnover on the next series, as a series of penalties pushed them back into a 2nd-and-26 situation, and Shough threw a pass to Byron Murphy for an interception.
Minnesota immediately returned to the red zone and found themselves facing 3rd-and-15 from the New Orleans 19-yard line. Murray flipped a short pass to Myles Price down the left sideline, and the Saints’ defense appeared to bring him down, but the ball came loose and was picked up by Saints safety Jonas Sanker, who raced down the sideline for an 87-yard score, and just like that the score was tied at 13-13.
And it stayed tied because Daniel Carlson, the former Viking, pushed the extra point to the left.
The Vikings recovered the ball, and Murray found Jeshaun Jones for his first NFL reception, a 32-yarder that quickly returned the Vikings to New Orleans territory. Aaron Jones then took a handoff for 19 yards, and the Vikings were right back in the red zone. After they changed ends for the fourth quarter, Jones took a handoff from Murray and hit Julian Blackmon for an 8-yard score to put the Vikings back in front, 20-13.
The Saints’ offense, once again, went three-and-out, giving the Vikings’ offense another chance to add to their lead with about twelve minutes left in regulation. The Vikings offense was moving the ball until Kevin O’Connell, inexplicably, called a trick play that saw Jefferson try to throw a pass back to Murray that was almost intercepted by a Saints defensive lineman but “only” ended up being an 11-yard loss. The Vikings added more points, fortunately, thanks to another field goal by Reichard. He connected from 55 yards to make it 23-13 with seven minutes left in regulation.
New Orleans took over on their next possession in Minnesota territory and faced a 4th-and-7. Instead of Carlson attempting a 62-yard field goal, they opted to go for it, but Shough’s pass to Juwan Johnson was intercepted at the line to get a turnover on downs. The Vikings fumbled it, but got the ball back soon after the defense intercepted Shough again, with Byron Murphy getting his second of the day on a deep ball intended for Olave.
The Vikings only had to pick up one more first down after that, and once the two-minute warning hit, the Saints had no time left, and the Vikings had nothing to do but run out the clock to push their record to 5-0 on the 2026 season and come home from New Orleans with a 23-13 victory.
Murray had his best game as a member of the Vikings in this one, as he completed 24-of-30 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards and converted multiple first downs with his legs to keep drives alive, something he hasn’t done much in recent games. He was helped by another solid performance by Aaron Jones, who carried the ball 25 times for 113 yards and a score and recovered well from a lost fumble early in the game.
Brian Flores’ defense also put up another suffocating performance. The Saints had just 142 yards of offense on the afternoon, and even though the Vikings only sacked Shough twice, he was under constant pressure all game and threw the two interceptions we mentioned earlier to Byron Murphy. The Vikings ran 25 more plays than the Saints and had a nearly twenty minute time-of-possession advantage against the Saints, which is a testament to how dominant their performance was in this one.
The Vikings will take Week 6 off for their bye week before returning to the field in Week 7, when they host the Indianapolis Colts at US Bank Stadium.
The Minnesota Vikings will remain one of the NFL’s unbeaten teams as they defeat the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome in Week 5 by a final score of 23-13. Thanks to everyone who got their game coverage this week right here on The Daily Norseman!