Jordan Addison was uncharacteristically quiet … too quiet.

Well, until around the five-minute mark in the first half of Sunday's 23-16 win in Tampa when the Vikings receiver emerged from the shadows in the sun and snagged a 30-yard pass from Kyler Murray, dragging his toes as he stretched out of bounds at the Bucs 43.

It was Addison's longest reception since Week 15 last season and eclipsed his yardage from the first two games in 2026. And it ignited an offense that was gasping after Justin Jefferson injured his left ankle on a catch-and-run on the final play of the opening series.

Addison noted afterward that he knew he had to "take it up a notch" to account for Jefferson's absence. "Whenever the ball came my way, I just made sure I made the play."

Impressively, it didn't take Addison long to do one better than his smooth sideline haul.

Just three plays later, Murray dropped back on third-and-8 and launched his deepest scoring pass since Week 14 of the 2024 slate, laying one up for Addison to catch as he separated just enough from 1-on-1 coverage, twirled in the air and fell to the grass then rolled, untouched, into the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown to retake the lead, 17-10.

"I knew I had J.A. on that route," Murray recapped during his postgame press conference, pointing out that Bucs safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., rotated down into the middle of the field as a "robber" player, which left Addison alone with a defender on the outside. "Obviously, I trust J.A. Hell of a player, made a great play. But, yeah, that was just, that was by design."

Addison's acrobatics increased his career receptions to 180, jumping Paul Flatley for 10^th on the franchise's all-time chart. Moreover, it reintroduced his unique talents to the world.

Understandably often featured after "Jets" in Minnesota's scheme, Addison reminded that he's not a normal WR2. He demonstrated his elite ball-tracking ability and shuffled around to play three different receiver roles.

"A lot of our offense goes through (No.) 18, and then when he goes down, you've got to make adjustments on the fly," Murray said, admitting he didn't know Jefferson was hurt but noticed quickly when the offense went back onto the field without the superstar.

"It wasn't perfect by any means," Murray added. "But at the end of the day we're 3-0."

Murray and Addison nearly connected, again, on a strike with 1:10 left in the first half but J.A. couldn't maintain control of the ball as he elevated and descended back to the earth.

The rapport between the players jumpstarted an offense that struggled after a solid opening drive that was headlined by a 22-yard pitch-and-catch to Jefferson on the first play and a couple good gains on the ground courtesy Aaron Jones, Sr. The progress faded after a holding penalty and amounted to three points from Will Reichard via a 54-yard field goal.

Over their next three series, the Vikings punted each time and netted 8 yards on 12 plays.

That quietness didn't last, though. Addison got hot and gave the crowd at Raymond James Stadium, of which the broadcast estimated was 40% Vikings fans, a reason to be fired up.

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell foreshadowed Addison's breakthrough when he praised his run-blocking at his press conference the day after Minnesota beat the Bears. O'Connell said, "His time's coming as far as registering the things he's capable of in the stat column."

Addison was targeted twice in the season opener but didn't have a catch, and he made two catches for 21 yards when Carson Wentz looked his way five times in the wind and rain at Chicago. His numbers, of course, were affected by the change at quarterback when Murray left the Week 1 contest in concussion protocol, and the less-than-ideal Week 2 conditions.

The circumstances Sunday — clear skies, warm weather, Murray's return and needing to step up with Jefferson leaving — resulted in the version of Addison that Minnesota missed.

And one that Tampa Bay probably wished stayed silent (the Bucs were introduced to the Vikings ancillary star during his NFL debut in 2023 when he posted a 4-61-1 receiving line).

Murray and Addison linked a few more times, including once for 10 to pick up key yardage early in the drive that concluded with Reichard nailing a 56-yard field goal for a 20-16 lead.

Overall, he snatched five of nine targets for 90 yards and that crucial score, while Murray finished 15-for-29 passing (51.7%) with 168 yards, one touchdown and one interception on a batted ball that was brought in by Bucs d-lineman A'Shawn Robinson at the Vikings 22. Murray also scrambled twice for 17 yards and got sacked thrice for a combined loss of 16.

"Being a perfectionist, we didn't execute as good as I thought we would," Murray said. "A lot of guys stepped up and made a lot of plays for us — but offensively, we've got to be better."

To offset going 2-for-15 on third downs (13%) and lacking a single snap in the red zone — the first instance of so in a Vikings win since 2007 per ESPN Research — the Vikings defense limited Murray's counterpart, sacking Baker Mayfield six times and keeping the Bucs at bay on weighty downs (2-for-17 or 12% on third downs; 0-for-2 on fourth downs).

Seven different Vikings tallied at least half a sack, and seven had a pass breakup.

"I'm glad that's our defense and we can lean on them," Addison said it saved the offense.

Reichard and return ace Myles Price were absolute gamechangers, as well. The former extended his streak of consecutive makes to 26, and the latter returned a punt 86 yards for a TD; that was the first of its kind for Minnesota since Marcus Sherels did it 162 games ago in 2016.

Price wasn't surprised in the slightest by Addison's deeds: "I knew as soon as his moments came, he was going to make the most of them. We all keep telling him, 'Just stay the course' — that's what he did."

The passing attack seemingly had the opportunity to take off early in the fourth quarter when Murray attempted stretching the field to T.J. Hockenson, Addison and Jauan Jennings on three plays in a row, but nothing materialized. After going 4-for-5 in the first quarter, Murray went 11-for-24. It didn't help, either, that Minnesota was stymied in the run game.

"We've all got to pick up the slack when you lose your best player, and, obviously, you guys know this, a lot of our plan is built not only for Justin, but then J.A. in spots opposite him — Jauan, the other guys, and then running the football if Justin's going to justify shell coverage — and we've got to do a better job," O'Connell said of the offense. "For the most part it felt tough along the line of scrimmage, and their physical, good front."

O'Connell continued, "This was Kyler's first time playing [an entire game] in this offense, and we had some kind of technical things that happened. … It was good for us all to feel it.

"Kyler had a really good week of preparation, [and] he applied some of those things in the game," O'Connell added. "And I think just like Kyler — just like the rest of our offense — we'll continue to ascend. You know, we're navigating some things right now and navigated some in-game things today, but that's football. We've done that for four-plus years now."

As tough as it was to crack Tampa Bay's front, the Vikings committed to trying.

One week after taking 23 carries for 105 yards, Jones was a workhorse, again, without Jordan Mason. He toted the rock 17 times for 58 hard-to-come-by yards — he picked up 31% of his total (18 yards) on Minnesota's initial drive. Others made minor contributions. DeeJay Dallas chipped in 2 yards on one carry, and rookie Demond Claiborne was called upon to run for the first time in his career but gained only 1 yard on three opportunities.

Jones' 52 rushes in Minnesota's 3-0 stretch is a high for him through three games at the start of a season, topping his mark of 50 at the beginning of his Pro Bowl campaign in 2020.

Tough, gritty, and gutsy, the efforts from Addison to Price to Reichard to Jones — and just about everybody that rotated on defense — were complementary in the team win.

"It's only Week 3. It's only Week 3," Murray said. "We didn't feel like we played our best game, but we're leaving here with a win. It's the NFL. We're going to take those when we can. It's not easy to win in this league. So, we're going to go back to work. We'll get better."

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