New Orleans had the ball with under three minutes left in a 10-point game, and the only remaining question was how the Saints would fail to make it interesting. Tyler Shough answered it: deep left for Chris Olave, intercepted by Byron Murphy Jr. at the Minnesota 46 with 2:56 on the clock. Murphy's second pick of the day.
That's the read on Minnesota's 23-13 win. The margin says one-score game. The Saints' passing offense says otherwise. Shough went 16 of 25 for 96 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and an adjusted QBR of 38.1, averaging 3.8 yards per attempt. His leading receiver's longest catch covered 16 yards, and he still tried to force one over the top at the end. You don't beat a 5-0 team at 3.8 yards a throw.
Kyler Murray didn't need to be spectacular, and he was better than that anyway: 24 of 30 for 229 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions, an adjusted QBR of 109.6. He also carried 10 times for 51 yards, with an 18-yard long. The touchdown pass went to Justin Jefferson, who caught 6 of his 7 targets for 79 yards with a 21-yard long. Jefferson also lost 11 yards on a rushing attempt and fumbled once without losing it.
The engine, though, was Aaron Jones Sr. Twenty-five carries, 113 yards, 4.5 per carry, a 19-yard long and a touchdown. He also put the ball on the ground and lost it, and his work in the passing game was a waste of everyone's time: 3 targets, 3 catches, 4 yards. That isn't a knock on Jones. It's a note that Minnesota's plan with a lead is to hand it to him and let the defense close the door. Twenty-five carries says this staff trusts Jones to protect a lead more than it trusts Murray's arm to.
Minnesota's defense did the rest. Byron Murphy Jr. finished with two interceptions, 14 return yards, two passes defensed and three tackles, and Blake Cashman had 9 tackles with a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. The Vikings sacked Shough once for 9 yards while giving up 2 sacks for 18. Brett Thorson's 54-yard punt went into the end zone for a touchback at the 4:01 mark, forcing New Orleans to cover the length of the field right before Murphy ended it.
New Orleans got its touchdown from Kendre Miller: 10 carries, 30 yards, one score. Olave's 4 catches for 46 yards on 6 targets led the team, which tells you plenty about a passing game that produced 96 yards total. Gavin Bartholomew out-targeted T.J. Hockenson 6 to 1 and turned it into 5 catches for 33 yards while Hockenson managed 1 for 7. That's a tight end split worth tracking in deeper formats.
Minnesota's 5-0 is real, but it's a Jones-and-defense 5-0, not a Murray 5-0, and the first run defense that forces Minnesota to throw 40 times will test that. As for the Saints, 1-4 is what happens when your quarterback averages 3.8 yards an attempt and your best receiver's long gain is 16. Shough has to show he can push the ball downfield, or New Orleans is playing out the string by November.
