For the second time in three weeks, the Minnesota Vikings did not manage to 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 Will Reichard field goals and a career-high 13 catches from T.J. Hockenson, as well as yet another dominating defensive performance, the Minnesota Vikings managed to hold off a very game Miami Dolphins team at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon, winning by a score of 15-10
to push their record to 4-0 on 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 out to near midfield. But the Vikings did nothing with it, as the team’s first play from scrimmage resulted in the first sack of the year for the Miami defense, as Kyler Murray was taken down by Zach Sieler for an 8-yard loss. The Vikings punted the ball away, and the return was muffed by the Dolphins’ returner into the end zone for a touchback. After a penalty, the Dolphins started their first possession at their own 10-yard line.
The Dolphins managed to pick up one first down on their first possession, but eventually wound up punting it away. That meant Price got another chance with 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 with it after one first down, as a couple of penalties pushed them backward. 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 just under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Miami put together a fairly solid drive on their next possession, pushing themselves into Minnesota territory before having their drive 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 start their next drive. The penalty bug struck the Vikings again as a 21-yard gain 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 coming from Josh Uche.
The Vikings dodged a major bullet on the Dolphins’ next possession, as Willis scrambled around and avoided enough Vikings defenders to get a pass away 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 had stepped out of bounds prior to catching the pass, making his reception illegal and taking the points off the board, forcing Miami to punt the ball away.
Minnesota moved the ball into Miami territory on their next possession, almost despite themselves thanks to a couple more offensive penalties. But, as is their wont, the Vikings’ offense stalled again after Murray was nearly sacked a third time, and again Will Reichard came on 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 put the Dolphins quickly near midfield, but things quickly went the Vikings’ way thanks to Turner. He got pressure on Willis, and when Willis attempted to throw the ball, his hand hit Turner’s helmet and jarred the ball loose. The initial ruling on the field was an incomplete pass, but the Vikings challenged the call, and it was reversed because the loose ball was clearly recovered by Blake Cashman. That meant the Vikings got the football back at midfield on the turnover.
Unfortunately, the Vikings’ offense did nothing with the turnover, as they quickly went three-and-out and got just a 20-yard punt from Johnny Hekker, meaning the turnover didn’t hurt the Dolphins much at all. The Dolphins returned the favor with a three-and-out of their own, and the Vikings got the ball to midfield at the two-minute warning. Murray then found T.J. Hockenson to get 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 last timeout. The final play of the half was, once again, Will Reichard adding to the Minnesota 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 into the red zone for the first time on the day. After that, the Vikings’ defense got their bearings 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 fairly solid drive, as they mixed some nice runs from Aaron Jones with some connections between Murray and Hockenson to push into Miami territory. Once they got near the 20, however, penalties started to bite them again as Jauan Jennings got called for offensive pass interference. The drive stalled out, which gave another opportunity to Reichard, and he once again made the most of it, 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 get sacked for the fourth time on the afternoon, this time by Chop Robinson. The Dolphins then 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 Ollie Gordon then took a handoff and went into the end zone practically untouched for a 13-yard score to make it 12-10 right at the end of the third quarter.
The Vikings then went on a lengthy drive that encompassed 15 plays, but only traveled 60 yards and took over eight minutes off the clock. In the end, however, the result was the same. . .another field goal from Will Reichard. This one came from 29 yards out and increased the Minnesota lead to 15-10 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
After the Vikings forced the Dolphins to punt it away, the Minnesota offense managed to 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. Rather than going into the end zone, Hockenson slid down in bounds at the 1-yard line at the two-minute warning. With no timeouts left for Miami, all the Vikings had to do was kneel out the victory, and that’s what they did.
Hockenson wound up having a huge day with Justin Jefferson out of the lineup. He tied a career high with 13 catches, picking up 119 yards. Jordan Addison and Aaron Jones each caught four passes on the day. Murray wound up 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 was effective enough to get the Vikings’ record to 4-0 on the 2026 NFL season. At some point, they’ll have to get the offense moving, but given that the Vikings did not have star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in this one, they did a fairly solid job coming out of this one with a victory.
The Vikings will attempt to extend their undefeated start next week, as they’ll make a trip to the Big Easy to face off with the New Orleans Saints.
The Minnesota Vikings, once again, did just enough to emerge victorious, as they defeat the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 by a final score of 15-10 in Week 4. Thank you to everybody who got their coverage of today’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
