Vikings Autopsy: Daily Norseman Week 4 Postgame Roundtable (A 15-10 win over the Dolphins)
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Hello everyone, and welcome to the Week 4 Minnesota Vikings postgame roundtable here at Daily Norseman. The Vikes are coming off another ugly one, this time a 15-10 win at home over the Dolphins, and remain alone atop the NFC North at 4-0.
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How much longer can the offense ride the defense’s coattails? Did the fourth quarter show an offense starting to figure some things out?
Let’s talk to it:
Question 1: Let’s freestyle for a minute — get your initial thoughts out about the Vikings beating the Dolphins in Week 4, 15-10.Brandon Warne: I’m going to take a little bit of a different tack here. While many are saying “they can’t keep winning like this” and things of that nature, I’m going with this:
They have four wins — and those aren’t going anywhere. Good, bad or otherwise, they won those four games and nobody can take that from them. If you assume a team needs to go 10-7 to be in the playoffs this year, then if they can go 6-7 the rest of the way, they should be good to go.
In a division that is by no means insurmountable with games against the Saints, Commanders, Colts, Jets and Falcons remaining, I’m choosing positivity.
Now, that’s not to ignore the elephant in the room that they can’t keep winning games this way — which is likely more true than false — I also fall back on one of my most-used sports adages:
No matter what, things will not stay the same. They’ll get better, or they’ll get worse — but they will not remain the same. It’s easy to fall into a thought process of “this won’t work if things don’t change,” but that’s rooted in a concept that I’ve never felt was true in sports — that things won’t change.
Warren Ludford: It was another somewhat ugly win over a struggling team, so it was frustrating. On the other hand, the offense showed signs of improvement later in the game, especially with Kyler Murray. Defense and special teams continue to be great; the offense is still anemic, but there are some positive signs for the future.
Craig Williams: Painful to watch. The Vikings could be the 2000 Ravens if they had average QB play. I wish Murray was mid.
Shawn C.: Fortunate (again). Between the lucky breaks and penalties, we’re really playing with fire if the offense doesn’t turn the corner. Kyler Murray found his rhythm in the 4th quarter, which hopefully signals the consistent success many envisioned all offseason. Performances like these may be enough to get past the combined 0-8 Bucs and Dolphins, but teams like the Bills and 49ers will eat our lunch if the offense can’t hold up its end of the bargain.
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Question 2: Who was your Vikings MVP?BW: I have to go with T.J. Hockenson. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, a 93.2 PFF score really tells the story here. A safety valve is so vital with a quarterback still trying to find his identity within an offense, and that’s exactly what Hockenson provided — and not only in general, but with the top wide receiver in the NFL sidelined, besides.
WL: T.J. Hockenson. He had his best game post-knee injury. The Vikings will need him with Jauan Jennings being a non-factor at this point.
CW: Will the Thrill Reichard is the best kicker in Vikings history and this team’s biggest weapon. Aaron Jones and Dallas Turner are in consideration as well.
SC: Dallas Turner. Another amazing day for Turner, who is now on pace for like 23 sacks. I expected improvement, but this is just ridiculous now. It seems like his name is being called on every pass play
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Question 3: Who was your Vikings LVP?BW: I’m going to go with Jauan Jennings. With Jefferson sidelined, it stood to reason that someone would have to find their way in the passing game to pick up the slack. And if I’m honest, I think Hockenson was third on my pecking order behind Jordan Addison — who was fine but not great with four receptions and 52 yards — and Jennings, who caught his only target for eight yards and graded out poorly in pretty much every facet of the game.
WL: Johnny Hekker. He shanked two punts…
CW: Wes Phillips. Waste of salary.
SC: This one is tough, but I gotta go with Harrison Smith, who had a rough outing. Hoping it’s simply a matter of getting back into football shape after missing the entire offseason.
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Question 4: For the second week in a row…where do you stand on Kyler Murray right now?BW: Baby steps — pun unintended. I think we expect an awful lot out of quarterbacks on a weekly basis, and there’s a lot of nuance that a signal-caller has to pick up on in the playbook, within the offense/communication with the coaching staff, and also with the supporting cast (both the pass-catchers and also the line, as well). I’ll also lean on his fourth-quarter stats as a reason for optimism:
In the final stanza Sunday, Murray went 12-for-13 for 112 passing yards (92.3 percent), zero touchdowns/interceptions, zero sacks (!), 8.6 yards per attempt and a passer rating of 102.6.
It’s….something.
WL: Kyler Murray is getting more acclimated and improving. His accuracy against the Dolphins was 90%, which is elite. And no turnovers. Sacks are still an issue, not 100% his fault in every case, but he built a rapport with T.J. Hockenson, which will serve him well down the road. The Dolphins played cover-2 most of the game (which they hadn’t done much this season), which limited the deeper passing game. But overall, he showed signs of getting more acclimated to the offense and becoming a bit more comfortable in his second full game.
CW: We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with Donovan McNabb…in Minnesota, not Philly.
SC: Optimistic. Murray played out of the shotgun much more this week, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he finally looked like the quarterback I thought he’d be since the spring. The fourth quarter looked like a completely different player. Getting Justin Jefferson back will be fun to watch.
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Question 5: T.J. Hockenson — Is he “back” or do you still need to see more?BW: He’s BACK back. I think the most impressive thing to me is that he secured all 13 of his targets, making him the first pass-catcher with a 100.0 percent reception percentage on at least that many throws since CeeDee Lamb caught 13 of 13 targets for 98 yards and two scores on Jan. 7, 2024 against the Commanders.
He’s also the first Vikings player to do so in team history. That’s right, a team with as rich a history as the Vikings when it comes to pass-catchers.
That’s pretty special.
WL: I think he’s back. He may not be targeted as much as he was against the Dolphins, but he showed he can be more dynamic than he has been in the past couple of years, and I don’t think he pulled that out for just one game. It may be as much mental as physical for him. But once he got it back, I don’t think he’ll lose it again in future games barring injury.
CW: He’s never truly lived up to the expectations. A very nice game; let’s see if he can keep it up.
SC: Oh, he’s back. If he stays healthy, he could have a 2023-type season. Murray loves throwing to tight ends, and a healthy, elite WR group will force defenses to pick their poison. It’s the perfect storm for Hockenson to thrive the rest of the way.