Kyler Murray stayed calm, kept his feet moving, scanned the field and spotted Jeshaun Jones.

Only then did Murray let the ball sail, spiraling toward the receiver left open by a busted coverage and landing in Jones' hands for a 32-yard gain.

The third-quarter play marked Minnesota's longest of the day en route to a 23-13 defeat of New Orleans. It also marked one of Murray's 24 completions on a day the offense started humming.

Murray seemed to pick up where he left off last week. After finishing the game against Miami 13-of-14 passing, he went 12-for-12 against the Saints Sunday before his first incompletion in the second quarter.

"I felt great. I think with the reps and all that stuff, I like to enter a flow state of completions again," Murray said. "There's a deeper meaning to throwing completions. That allows you and the offense to get into a flow and feel good about things, whether it's a check-down — if it goes for 1 yard or 10 yards, it's a mental thing that, I think for any quarterback it's good to feel the ball get caught and go forward."

Murray finished his day in The Big Easy 24-of-30 passing for 229 yards and an impressive touchdown throw to Justin Jefferson, who shined back in his home state. The Saints logged two sacks of Murray, who had a 109.6 passer rating.

The Vikings QB connected with 10 different pass catchers, Jefferson leading the way with six receptions for 79 yards. Gavin Bartholomew stepped in when T.J. Hockenson suffered a concussion early in the game and recorded five catches for 33 yards, and Tai Felton had 27 yards on two catches.

"Really treating it like there's just nameless guys out there and trusting my reads," Murray said. "A lot of zone out there today and letting [the defense] determine where the ball goes. 'They want to play this? OK, this is where we're going with the ball.' I think that's what we were able to do today to be able to distribute the ball."

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell noted Murray "played really good football."

"Spitting completions all day and using his legs," O'Connell said. "We saw some of that athleticism, moving the chains, keeping us on the field, making plays."

Murray rushed 10 times for 51 yards (including three kneel-downs in victory formation for minus-3 yards) and moved the chains with his legs three times on third down.

On third-and-10 early in the third quarter, he looked to be contained but managed to escape the rush and scramble for 18 yards — keeping alive the drive ultimately capped by the Jefferson TD.

"They send an all-out pressure. He ran around it," O'Connell said. "That's a play that [you can probably] count on one hand the [number] of guys in the league that make that."

Murray ran for 10 yards later in the quarter, and with 11 minutes left in the game, he needed a yard and picked up 5. Will Reichard kicked a 55-yard field goal six plays later. On another occasion, Murray got out of trouble and threw back across the field for a first down to DeeJay Dallas.

"Those off-schedule plays he made, scrambling and using his feet to create those first downs and just creating that momentum for us was definitely big," Jefferson said. "When it comes to a play that doesn't look like much, but he's making something out of nothing, that does a lot for us.

"That's something we were looking for and expecting out of him, creating those plays and getting the scramble and looking downfield to create those big, sparkling plays," Jefferson added. "He played tremendous."

Murray never wants to force a run, he emphasized, but will take advantage of an opportunity if it presents itself.

"When it's there, it's there," he said. "It kind of ignited us offensively in moments, just trying to make plays on my feet.

"I love to do it when it's there, but it's not something I'm going out there searching for," Murray added. "[I'm] trying to play within the rhythm of the offense, and if it happens, it happens. But yeah, turning the back the clock a little bit today, it was good. It was fun."

Murray and the Vikings offense entered Sunday's game hobbled and navigated further adversity throughout the afternoon.

Ryan Van Demark and Joe Huber started on the offensive line in place of Christian Darrisaw and Donovan Jackson, respectively. Bartholomew and Ben Yurosek — who just this week was activated from Injured Reserve — contributed in the absence of Hockenson and Josh Oliver, and Minnesota also was without Jordan Addison.

O'Connell said Addison, who is dealing with a minor hamstring injury, came close to playing.

"We wanted to let him move around a little bit, but that soft-tissue stuff … he was going to have to feel pretty darn close to 100% for us to possibly risk it," O'Connell said. "It took everything in his power — I was really proud of the way he was honest about it, and we almost got him there, but we thought it was best to just make sure we. Can put this thing behind us and come out of the bye as healthy as we can."

O'Connell anticipates having Jordan Mason back in action following next weekend's bye, as well, which would provide another boost to Minnesota's offense.

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Aaron Jones, Sr., continued to give it his all, racking up 113 rushing yards.

"He just keeps going," Murray said of the veteran running back. "A true warrior. A true team guy, leader, captain of this team. I can't say enough good things about A.J.

"I'm just glad I get to play with him," Murray smiled.

Jones scored the Vikings second touchdown of the day after earlier having the ball punched out inside the red zone. Myles Price also had a fumble, which was returned 87 yards by New Orleans for a touchdown.

O'Connell stressed, "This team is never OK with putting the ball on the ground," and Jefferson echoed the sentiment. The offense maintained composure despite the turnovers, though, and Murray showed poise and command in the huddle.

As he continues to stack reps on top of one another in the Vikings offense, Murray's comfort level becomes more evident.

"This is, really, his third full game plan, and [we're] just seeing him continue to progress and get better," O'Connell said. "I never thought this would start out in a way where we would just snap our fingers …  it's the NFL, it's hard. It's hard to win. This team, and what they've been through early on in the season and the way they just keep doing [their game] is what I'm so proud of.

"And Kyler is a big part of that," O'Connell added.

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