Darren Hails rounds up the Vikings week from Thursday, 24 September to Wednesday, 30 September 2026. Another win, a punt return worth waiting nearly 10 years for, and the end of a quarterback plan we once thought would last rather longer.

Last week, we were waiting to see what the Vikings looked like with Kyler Murray playing a full game. This week, we’ve seen it, we’re still unbeaten and J. J. McCarthy is a New York Giant.

I was expecting Tampa Bay to give us something to talk about. I wasn’t expecting quite that much.

The Vikings won 23–16, with Brian Flores’ defense and Matt Daniels’ special teams doing a considerable amount of the heavy lifting. Murray had his moments, Jordan Addison stepped up when Justin Jefferson went out, and the Vikings found enough to get home safely with the win. It wasn’t, however, an afternoon that made me feel the offense had caught up with the rest of the team.

Then Monday arrived and the quarterback we’d spent two years discussing as the future was traded for a fifth-round pick. We’re three games into a season with three wins, yet somehow there’s still plenty for Vikings fans to argue about. We do like to keep ourselves occupied.

A fifth-round pick is a difficult ending

Minnesota traded McCarthy to the Giants for a 2027 fifth-round pick. The player selected 10th overall in 2024, who lost his rookie season to a knee injury and then had an interrupted first year on the field, is moving on before taking a regular-season snap in his third year here.

I’m not going to pretend that return feels good. You can understand why the Vikings made the decision and still look at what we originally invested and think, well, that went badly.

McCarthy had fallen behind Murray and Carson Wentz. Once Wentz was trusted to handle the backup job, and then helped us win our first two games, there wasn’t much of an immediate role left. The Giants, having lost Jaxson Dart for the season, had a reason to offer him another opportunity.

The harder question is whether we were right to stop waiting. We can argue about the injuries, the development, the fit with Kevin O’Connell and how the club handled the whole thing. I don’t think any of us can honestly separate all of that into a tidy explanation yet. What we can say is that this was a failed attempt to find a long-term quarterback, and a fifth-rounder doesn’t make it feel like a successful piece of business.

I also don’t want McCarthy’s future reduced to proving one side of a Vikings argument correct. I hope he does well. If he succeeds in New York, we’ll have questions to answer, but he deserves the chance to play without carrying our entire quarterback debate around with him.

O’Connell and Nolan Teasley described the decision in personal as well as football terms. Max Brosmer now becomes the emergency option behind Murray and Wentz. The depth chart is simpler; the long-term answer still needs to be earned.

Murray needs time, but he also needs to play better

Sunday was Murray’s first full game as a Viking, and it still felt like a quarterback and an offense trying to get comfortable with each other. There were good throws, but too many possessions ended without us finding any rhythm.

To be fair, he’d barely played in the opener, missed Chicago and then lost Jefferson early in Tampa. That’s a poor set of circumstances for somebody learning a new offense, so it gives me a reason to be patient. It doesn’t, however, make every hesitant read or missed opportunity disappear.

I’m not calling for Wentz after one full Murray game. The Vikings chose Murray for a reason, and changing our minds every time a drive stalls would be a fairly exhausting way to follow the season. O’Connell has to help him settle, and Murray has to make better use of the opportunities he gets. The passing problems can’t all be handed to the offensive line.

Addison was the bright spot. His touchdown gave us something to hang on to after Jefferson left, and he took on the extra responsibility when the offense badly needed somebody to do it. I’d like to see Hockenson and Jennings become a bigger part of the answer as well, especially if Jefferson isn’t ready for Miami.

I’m pleased Murray got through a full game, but I wanted to come away more convinced by the offense than I did.

The defense had more than one answer again

Eric Wilson and Kyle Van Noy were among the players who helped Flores keep Tampa under pressure. After all the summer discussion about the young defensive front, it’s encouraging to see the experienced additions contributing alongside it.

Van Noy has moved beyond being a familiar name brought in because he knows Flores. He’s doing a job the Vikings needed doing, and this week’s move to the main roster reflects that. Wilson also gave us a reminder that the next useful play doesn’t always have to come from the player everybody spent the week discussing.

It wasn’t flawless. Tampa found openings, and there were stretches when the defense still had work to do to get off the field. I don’t want the win to turn every individual performance into a dominant one. What I appreciated was that Minnesota kept finding somebody to make the play when it was needed.

Rodgers provided the final answer with his interception. A week after helping save the Chicago game on special teams, he closed this one out in coverage. That’s a very useful fortnight.

Last week’s Scroll was about whether the defense could carry its summer promise into real games. Now we’re seeing how many different ways that group can help us win while the offense gets itself sorted. Flores deserves plenty of credit, although I’d quite like him to have a less demanding afternoon at some point.

Myles Price has earned more than a footnote

Price’s 86-yard punt-return touchdown ended a wait stretching back to Marcus Sherels in October 2016. Jay Ward helped open the route, Price hit it and suddenly an offense having trouble sustaining drives had a 10-point lead to work with.

Wednesday brought the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. That’s two consecutive weeks a Viking has won it after Rodgers’ blocked field goal in Chicago.

Reichard did his job as well, and Hekker stepped in for the injured Thorson. Daniels’ group has become something we can look forward to watching, rather than a part of the game we mostly notice when somebody gets it wrong.

I enjoy watching those units win games. I would also quite like the offense to stop making it such a requirement. Price deserves his own credit, though, rather than only appearing as evidence of what somebody else hasn’t done. He’s been one of the best reasons to watch this September.

Jefferson’s ankle and Oliver’s absence change the Miami plan

The early news on Jefferson was encouraging, with O’Connell saying he’d avoided a long-term injury. By Wednesday, though, Jefferson still hadn’t practised and remained day-to-day. There was no promise he’d play against Miami.

I’d rather have him properly ready than have the club treat an unbeaten start as a reason to rush him. The offense needs help, obviously, but asking Jefferson to play before he can move like himself isn’t much of an answer.

Josh Oliver has gone to injured reserve, while Van Noy and Brosmer have joined the 53-man roster. Oliver’s absence makes the heavier formations and run game support harder to put together just when Murray needs some dependable structure around him. Hockenson’s responsibilities don’t get smaller because he had a quiet Sunday.

Thorson also missed Wednesday with his hamstring injury, keeping Johnny Hekker relevant after he filled in at Tampa. It’s been another week where the injury report and the lower end of the roster have had a fairly direct effect on Sunday’s plan.

Miami is a chance to get the offense moving

The Dolphins arrive at 0–3 and have lost De’Von Achane for the season to a torn ACL, a brutal blow reported on Monday. We should expect to win at home. I don’t think we need to spend three paragraphs pretending otherwise.

Malik Willis still gives Flores a different problem from Mayfield. If the rush loses its shape, Willis can turn a well-designed pressure into a scramble and a new set of downs. Jeff Hafley also knows O’Connell’s offense from his time in Green Bay, so I’d be wary of expecting everything to become easy just because the records look so different.

Kickoff is at 9:05pm UK and Ireland time on Sunday, 4 October. I’ll take another win however it comes, but I’d like to come away talking about Murray finding a rhythm, Hockenson getting involved and drives that don’t need a return touchdown to make the score look respectable.

Three wins are already banked. McCarthy’s Minnesota chapter is over. Now O’Connell and Murray have to show us more of the offense they chose to build this season around. We don’t need perfection against Miami. A bit of progress would be very welcome, though.