A win is a win. It doesn't matter how pretty or ugly the win is, the record book doesn't have a "style points" column. That seems to be the philosophy the 2026 Minnesota Vikings are embracing after yet another ugly win, this time against the Miami Dolphins.
On paper, this game should have been a “get right” game for the Vikings — and in some ways it may have been —, but as anyone who has watched this game knows, that’s why they aren’t played on paper. The Dolphins came into this week as one of the worst defenses in the league, and even without star wide receiver Justin Jefferson available, it was a good matchup for the Vikings.
What the Vikings got instead was another three quarters of almost complete ineptitude on offense, with kicker Will Reichard
saving the day and accounting for all of the Vikings’ points (more on him in a bit). But, at the end of the day, the Vikings come away with a win, a 4-0 record, and a real shot to be 5-0 heading into the bye week with the Saints next up on the schedule.
Before we look ahead to that matchup, it’s time to celebrate Victory Monday with a look at the Good, Bad, and Ugly from the Vikings’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.
The Good: Will Reichard
You can make a really strong case for kicker Will Reichard as the Vikings’ MVP through the first quarter of the season. Reichard has been easily the most consistent player on the team, having made approximately 847 kicks in a row — only a slight exaggeration.
The Vikings needed every one of those kicks to come away with the win on Sunday, as their offense continued to look like the game of football was a foreign concept to them. Minnesota finally seemed to get their act together by the fourth quarter, but even with the marked improvement they were unable to score any points on their own.
Since Week 2, Reichard has accounted for 32 points. The special teams unit as a whole has contributed another 6 points. That leaves just one touchdown since week two from the Vikings’ offense. That lack of production hasn’t cost them a game yet, but it’s only a matter of time if Kevin O’Connell, Kyler Murray, and the rest of the offense can’t get it together.
The Bad: Minnesota’s Offense…Again
It’s not unfair to say that the Vikings are the least imposing of the league’s three remaining unbeaten teams — especially with the absence of Justin Jefferson. The Kansas City Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and multiple Super Bowl wins this decade. The San Francisco 49ers have Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy, and Christian McCaffrey.
Then there’s Minnesota, who has Brian Flores and…not much else. The offense hasn’t been able to hold up their end of the bargain through the first four weeks, and the defense is playing the role of Greg Jennings and putting the team on their back (if you know, you know).
That’s not sustainable. At some point this offense is going to have to get better. Significantly better. They’ve scored just six points since Week 2, coming on a bomb from Murray to Addison last week. Outside of that play, it’s been a whole lot of disappointment from this unit, with momentary flashes of the potential that could be.
You saw some of that potential in this game, though it didn’t lead to points. The offense looked miles better in the fourth quarter than they had all game, and it’s not a coincidence that the improvement coincided with a shift to a more quick-passing offense. That’s what Murray does well, and should be a bigger focal point of the offense going forward, especially if Jefferson misses next week or multiple weeks.
The Ugly: An Utter Lack of Discipline
Even if the Vikings’ offense weren’t completely anemic, the penalties would stymie any chances Minnesota had at putting anything together. Week after week, the Vikings have been shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, and that came to a head in Week 4, especially in the first half.
Minnesota had seven first-half penalties, stunting any chance of growth this offense had. Penalties kept Minnesota from getting into a rhythm and kept the Dolphins hanging around to make a game of it. The Dolphins are an improving team and hung around with the Chiefs last week, but even so this game shouldn’t have been as close as it was.
The offensive line didn’t do Murray and the offense any favors — Miami came into the game as the only team in the league without a sack, but had multiple free rushers on seemingly every pass play — but it really was the penalties that stood out as holding Minnesota back in the first half. They cleaned up their act in the second half, but they can’t continue having those mental lapses if they want to compete against the better teams in the league.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: The Good, Bad, and Ugly from Vikings' Week 4 win over the Dolphins
