Minnesota's defense and special teams engulfed Miami, and the offense surged late to collect a 15-10 win Sunday and 4-0 start for the second time in three seasons. After watching Week 4 film, we have identified three areas of Purple-shaded dominance, two young players who handled bigger roles than normal, as well as one special moment of the game that epitomized Minnesota's culture of smart and tough players who love football.

Three Significant Stats

Balancing Act

Even without a touchdown, the offense dictated the flow of Sunday's game, running 72 plays to Miami's 37. Kyler Murray completed 73% of his attempts for 247 yards and committed no giveaways, and Aaron Jones, Sr., paced the rushing attack with 20 carries for 94 yards. Overall, it was the 10^th game under Head Coach Kevin O'Connell that the offense tried 30-plus passes and rushes and netted at least 200 yards through the air and 100 yards on the ground. Minnesota did it once in 2025, twice in 2024, five times in 2023 and once in 2022.

The Vikings are 8-2 in such games, for what it's worth, with their losses occurring in Weeks 11 and 15 in 2023 by four points combined to the Broncos (21-20) and Bengals (27-24 OT).

Owning the finish

Minnesota possessed the ball for 14 minutes … in just the fourth quarter Sunday. It contributed to the second-highest TOP in a game (39:11) in the O'Connell era, after 42 minutes and 19 seconds in Week 10 at Jacksonville in 2024, which, coincidentally, featured only field goals (John Parker Romo had four in relief of Reichard in a 12-7 win vs. the Jags).

The Dolphins drew within 2 points near the end of the third frame but only had time for a quick three-and-out after the Vikings extended their lead to 5 due to the offense finding a groove.

That series by the Fins was sandwiched between 15- and 11-play Vikings drives that marched 60 and 84 yards, the latter of which ended in victory formation after T.J. Hockenson selflessly surrendered a probable touchdown on his 13^th catch of the day to retain possession and a new set of downs with 2 minutes to play. Miami had exhausted its timeouts prior to the 2-minute warning.

Those 26 plays and 14 minutes seemingly juxtaposed the home team's experience to the visitor's youthfulness. Murray completed his final nine passes and went 12-for-13 with a passer rating of 102.6 in the fourth quarter to drown the Dolphins chances of a comeback. His go-to target for the duration of the game but especially in that stretch was Hockenson, who nabbed six of his 13 receptions in closing time. And one of Murray's sharpest throws of the day was a 27-yarder to Jordan Addison, with 4:22 left, that he fit over the head of LB Jordyn Brooks in a void that was encircled by three defenders within a few yards of the receiver.

Chunk-sized bites

Eight times, the Vikings executed a play for 15 or more yards, one better than they did at Chicago for the most in a game this season and tied for the second-most in a game since 2024, with the performances against Cleveland and Dallas last year (Minnesota logged nine such plays in Week 18 in 2025 versus a Packers defense that rested several starters).

Sunday's tally involved rushes by Jones for 15 and 19, and a catch-and-run for 15, and Murray clipping five other passes for 15-plus (a trio to Hockenson and a pair to Addison).

Murray was particularly dialed on throws that traveled 10-19 yards; he went 5-for-7 with 103 yards on those attempts — a stark improvement from his 1-for-5 showing in Week 3. Also, it's worth noting Murray excelled on quick passes (under 2.5 seconds) and did not try a single pass of 20 or more air yards according to Next Gen Stats after hitting three in Week 3.

More food for thought: Jones, 31, posted three carries of 10-plus yards, which tied Week 9 at Detroit last season for his most in a game since 2024. His 72 rushes through Week 4 counts as seven more than he recorded in 2020 for his most to begin a season in his career.

Two Positive Impressions

Tai Felton

It was easy to spot the 2025 third-round pick Sunday because of the neon pink cleats that he wore in support of the league's Crucial Catch cancer initiative this month. Also, because he made his first start in 21 appearances and he brought in a career-long 14-yard catch after Murray was sacked, helping reposition Minnesota for a field goal before the half.

The 6-foot-1, 186-pound target worked for the opportunity. He ran a hitch between the numbers and hashes to Murray's right, then darted inside away from coverage and over the middle of the field, slipping underneath lurking Dolphins LB Jacob Rodriguez. Once Felton crossed the opposite hashmarks, Murray flicked him a 7-yard pass with room to run for 7.

Felton looked like a natural with the ball in his hands — his bright footwear complemented his 4.37 speed — and he nearly made a tackler miss as he was aiming to get out of bounds.

A consistent standout in the third phase, Felton was leaned on in Week 3 after Justin Jefferson injured his ankle and played 32 offensive snaps that game. He increased that number to 46 in Week 4, which is how many he accumulated over 17 games as a rookie. The workload resulted in 27 routes but just the one target. To his credit, he averaged 2.9 yards of separation per NGS — more than double what he averaged across 21 routes (1.4) against the Buccaneers. He primarily ran in-breakers (13 routes) followed by verticals (11).

Jake Golday

The second-round rookie out of Cincinnati has played seven defensive snaps over the past two games, including five against the Fins, after none in Weeks 1-2. It's not the volume that is intriguing, though. It's Golday's versatility on defense — the different places he's aligned.

After making his defensive debut in Week 3 as an off-the-ball 'backer, Golday moved down to the line of scrimmage and around the defense, spelling Andrew Van Ginkel for a handful of snaps. On his first two snaps Sunday, Golday acted as one of the Vikings five-up players; he flexed out to hang over the slot on his third and closed from depth to nullify a screen for no gain; and he flip-flopped from being stacked to walking up on the edge on his final snap.

Golday's involvement on defense may be minor so far, but it's not nothing. The fact he has earned coaches' trust to play multiple positions — and give Gink' a breather — is a big deal.

A Moment to Remember

It won't show up as a punt block, but the effort that Ivan Pace, Jr., summoned on fourth-and-7 at Miami's 31 with about three minutes remaining in the first half deserves mention.

From the 23.5-yard line, Pace flat-out flew, fully extending into a Superman dive to try to block Bradley Pinion's punt. The linebacker didn't get all or much of it, but he skimmed it enough to avoid a roughing the kicker penalty; the ball was downed at the Vikings 24 and Minnesota drained the clock and tacked on three for a 9-0 lead at the break.

Pace did a good job disguising his action after the snap, calmly standing beside Golday, who was in a four-point stance in the gap between the long snapper and right guard. After the snapper dropped his head and lost vision of the front, Pace moved next to Golday and put his hands in the dirt, directly over the guard. Upon the snap, he wiggled through the gap — Golday stunted right and charged at the Fins personal protector — and he went airborne with his hands in a diamond shape when Pinion dropped the ball to punt it. Initially, Pace was penalized for hitting Pinion's plant leg, but replay assist proved he hit the pigskin first.

It was the latest play in a string of them this year where Pace's effort flashed on film. Although he is playing a career-low 18% of the snaps on defense — and a season-low five snaps Sunday — he is finding ways to impact the game. His elite effort on special teams was a nice follow-up to him posting three QB pressures on 16 snaps in Week 3; that log included one where he thumped TE Cade Otton into Baker Mayfield's lap for a half-sack.

So, even if it wasn't memorable in real time, a rewatch of Pace's all-out play style is confirmation that he's playing smartly, tough and loves doing whatever he can do to win.

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