The Minnesota Vikings did what they do best on Sunday — win by the skin of their collective teeth. It was far from pretty — though I listened to it on the radio as I drove back from my homeland and cannot attest to how it technically looked — but at the end of the day, they added a tally to the W column.
One of my favorite things to do is look at the game’s data and numbers afterward, find some fun trends, and explore avenues others may not have seen or focused on.
So let’s give this thing a shot:
6-0
The Vikings are unbeaten through six games for the eighth time in franchise history. They’ve opened 6-0 in 2026, 2009, 2003, 2000, 1998, 1975 and 1973, and also opened the 1976 season 5-0-1.
In those seven seasons, the Vikings have missed the playoffs only once — the 2003 team, which Nate Poole and the Arizona Cardinals bounced in the final game of the regular season.
In the post-World War II era, only seven teams have started 6-0 and missed the playoffs:
- 2009 Denver Broncos
- 2003 Minnesota Vikings
- 1978 Washington (Redacted)s
- 1968 Los Angeles Rams
- 1963 Cleveland Browns
- 1956 Detroit Lions
- 1948 San Francisco 49ers
Contrarily, 72 teams (of 79) have started 6-0 since 1945 and gone on to make the playoffs (91.1 percent).
0
The Vikings have lost zero times — and are the last team to be able to say this. Minnesota has been in sole possession of the “final unbeaten team” label five previous times in franchise history:
- 2016: 5-0
- 2000: 7-0
- 1976: 6-0-1
- 1975: 10-0
- 1973: 9-0
Eleven straight wins
Do you remember their last loss? You can be forgiven if you’re memory-holed it, as it was the Max Brosmer-inspired 26-0 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.
As of today, that’s 330 days ago.
In case you were wondering, this is the third-longest regular-season streak in Vikings history. From Dec. 1, 1974-Nov. 23, 1975, the Vikings won 13 straight regular-season games, breaking the team’s previous record of 12 straight set during the 1969 campaign (Sept. 28-Dec. 14).
Thirteen remains in play, but it won’t be easy if the offense doesn’t fire it up a bit.
Five straight wins — all by 10 points or fewer
Since beating the Packers 39-22 in Week 1 — mind you, remember all it took to reach that final margin of victory — the last five have come by a total of 34 points.
The Vikings have won five straight regular-season games by 10 points or fewer five times in franchise history, including most recently (before now, that is) from Nov. 3-Dec. 1, 2024. The franchise record is seven in a row (Sept. 25-Nov. 13, 2022) and the team also had streaks of six games from 1999-2000 and during the 1997 campaign.
16-25 (.390)
Minnesota’s six wins have come against teams with a combined 16-25 record — a .390 winning percentage, the third-easiest so far, ahead of the Chiefs (.375) and Giants (.287).
In case you were wondering, a .390 winning percentage comes out to roughly a 7-10 regular-season record.
That also gives the Vikings a .390 average strength of victory, which is in the middle of the pack in the NFL (16th). By comparison, Chicago’s five wins have come against teams with a .424 collective winning percentage, while the Packers check in at .407 and the Lions at .357.
41-30-1 (.576)
This, on the other hand, is Minnesota’s remaining strength of schedule — the toughest in the NFL.
That comes out to roughly a 10-7 record on a full season.
The next-toughest schedule belongs to the Bears (.563), with the Lions fourth in the NFL (.561). The Packers are tied with the Ravens for the eighth-toughest (.539), too, so don’t let anyone gaslight you into thinking the Vikings are the only team with a tough upcoming schedule in the NFC North.
200
The Vikings have won four games in which their leading passer has thrown for fewer than 200 yards:
- Week 1: Carson Wentz (133)
- Week 2: Wentz (143)
- Week 3: Kyler Murray (168)
- Week 7: Murray (150)
Prior to this season, the last time the Vikings won at least four of their first six games with their leading passer throwing for under 200 yards was 1973, when they had five such wins.
In franchise history, this has only happened three times before this season: 1970, 1971 and 1973.
To say the game has changed since then might be a bit of an understatement.
Average passing yards per game (teams):
- 1973 – 140.9
- 2026 – 221.0
12.3
The Vikings allow an average of 12.3 points per game — the top mark in the NFL by nearly 5.0 points per game (Kansas City is second at 17.2). Unless you’re older than 50, you’ve never seen a better scoring defense through six games in a Vikings season:
- 1970 – 6.5 PPG
- 1971 – 8.2 PPG
- 1976 – 10.0 PPG
- 1969 – 10.8 PPG
- 2026 – 12.3 PPG
0
The Vikings had zero giveaways on Sunday — the third time they’d done so this season. They’ve won six straight games when committing zero turnovers, dating back to a 31-9 loss to the Lions on Jan. 5, 2025.
Under head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings are 15-2 (.882) when they don’t turn over the football (since 2022).
155.0
The Vikings are allowing just 155.0 passing yards per game this season. The last time they allowed fewer? How about 1977, when they allowed just 112.9. This season’s mark would be the 11th-best in franchise history, but all 10 previous seasons were at least 49 years ago.
3
The Vikings have allowed just three points in the fourth quarter this season. The next lowest is the Dolphins with 27. Last season, the Saints led the NFL by allowing just 58 fourth-quarter points — an average of 3.4 per game.
The Vikings are currently allowing an average of 0.5 points per game in the fourth quarter. While this pace is pretty much impossible to maintain, they could still challenge the mark for fewest fourth-quarter points allowed in the era of 16-plus-game seasons.
The 1996 Carolina Panthers and 2003 Detroit Lions both set the mark with just 33 fourth-quarter points allowed, while the vaunted 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers allowed 41 and the 1993 Bills and 2000 Ravens allowed 42.
That comes to between 2.1 and 2.6 points per game — still more than four times what the Vikings have done so far.
