Written Oct. 17, 2026, when the site launched.
Minnesota left Tampa at 3-0 with a win its offense didn't earn. The Buccaneers outgained the Vikings 243 yards to 230 and ran nine more plays. What decided Sunday was a punt return, three long field goals and a defense that let Tampa Bay convert 2 of 17 third downs. If you want to know who is carrying this unbeaten start, look at the people who never line up on offense.
Kyler Murray said it first. "There were some throws I missed. For my first my first full game since last October, I felt it started to slow down for me but, at the end of the day, offensively we just weren't on the same page," he said, per the AP. (The repeated words are in the AP's text.)
Where the 23 points came from
Seven of them belong to Myles Price. The defense forced a three-and-out on Tampa Bay's first possession, and Price took the punt 86 yards, up the middle and down the sideline, for his first career touchdown. The Bucs had run three plays and trailed 10-0. The AP reported that Price had dreamed earlier in the week about scoring on a return, and then dreamed it again during a pregame nap.
"It means everything," Price said. "I'm so excited."
Nine more came from Will Reichard, who made all three of his field goals: a 54-yarder on the opening drive, a 56-yarder with 3:10 left for a 20-16 lead, and a 43-yarder in the final minute. Look at the drives behind the last two. The 56-yarder came at the end of an 11-play drive that gained 17 yards. The 43-yarder came after Andrew Van Ginkel intercepted Baker Mayfield at the Tampa 41, and the offense added 16 yards from there. That's six points on 33 yards of offense, and most of the credit goes to the kicker.
The offense did score one touchdown, and it was a good one. On third-and-8 in the second quarter, Murray went deep to Jordan Addison, who beat Jacob Parrish one-on-one for a 41-yard score and a 17-10 lead. That drive went 73 yards in four plays. Addison finished with five catches for 90 yards.
Then the offense disappeared. After the Addison touchdown, Minnesota had six possessions before the 56-yarder: five punts and an interception, and none gained more than 17 yards. Seven of the Vikings' 13 possessions lasted three plays. They converted 2 of 15 third downs and gave up three sacks. Johnny Hekker punted eight times.
Some of that was circumstance. Justin Jefferson hurt his ankle in the first quarter and didn't return. He had two catches for 32 yards before he left. The AP reported that Kevin O'Connell said Jefferson was close to coming back but couldn't quite get the push-off he needed. This was also Murray's first full game with the team: he took a concussion in the first quarter of the opener, and Carson Wentz led Minnesota to its first two wins (AP). An offense missing its best receiver, with a quarterback still finding his feet in it, was going to have a rough afternoon, and it did.
The defense, with some help
Tampa Bay finished 2 of 17 on third down and 0 for 2 in the red zone. The Vikings sacked Mayfield six times and hit Tampa's quarterbacks 12 times. They also intercepted two passes: Van Ginkel's off Mayfield, and one by Isaiah Rodgers at the Minnesota 3 with eight seconds left, thrown by rookie Jalon Daniels after Mayfield's thumb injury. Eric Wilson had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Kyle Van Noy had 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Blake Cashman added a sack and eight tackles.
Tampa's field goals came from 28, 38 and 54 yards. Murray's interception handed them a first down at the Minnesota 22 in the third quarter, and the Bucs ran four plays for 2 yards and kicked.
The fair objection is that the Bucs did a lot of this to themselves, and the AP lists the damage. A holding call wiped out an 85-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin Jr. on third-and-30. Another hold erased a 14-yard Mayfield scramble. Two straight holding penalties pushed Tampa back from a first down at the Minnesota 7, and the drive ended in the field goal that tied it 10-10.
Minnesota gave some of that back. Joshua Metellus hit Emeka Egbuka helmet-to-helmet on third-and-29, the drive kept going, and Chase McLaughlin's 54-yarder made it 17-16. The Vikings were flagged nine times for 95 yards; the Bucs eight times for 81.
So, weighing it: the holding calls gave Brian Flores's defense a couple of stops it may not have earned on its own, the 85-yarder above all. The six sacks and the 2-for-17 on third down were the defense's own work. Add a punt-return touchdown and a kicker making three from 43 yards or longer, and you have the win, with one great throw from the offense on top.
What 3-0 looks like from here
O'Connell didn't oversell it:
"We knew that was going to be an all-out, full team effort," O'Connell said. "We have to get better in all three phases. I got to do a better job but to be 3-0, to have the type of support we had today from the fans, unbelievable to have that many in the house."
The AP notes this is the Vikings' second 3-0 start in three years. A team with this defense and a kicker this sure of himself can win a lot of games. We've watched enough Vikings seasons to be nervous about leaning on a punt returner and a kicker for 17 weeks, though, and the offense will have to give them more help than it did here.
Tampa Bay's day was worse. The Bucs are 0-3, and Mayfield dislocated his right thumb on a desperation pass late in the fourth quarter. Coach Todd Bowles said X-rays were negative and that Mayfield would have an MRI on Monday (AP).
"I'm sure it looks bleak," Godwin said. "It's not ideal. Definitely not the start we wanted and we never want to lose (Mayfield) but that's where we are right now and the reality is we have to pull ourselves out of this hole."
The Vikings come home to face Miami next Sunday (schedule). The first thing to watch this week is Jefferson's ankle. The second is whether the offense can string together more than one drive without help from the return team.
Sources: ESPN box score, drives and play-by-play; the AP's game story and quotes, via ESPN.