Athletic: Vikings keep on winning, but Kyler Murray-led offense has to raise its game

It was seriously ugly, but to quote a famous football philosopher, "Just win, baby."

I told Kyler to save his breakout for when I'm there next week. He obliged. Flores gets Malik Willis and the Dolphins terrible o-line next week. That should be fun to watch.

“With one game and a win under his belt, Murray should get better the more comfortable he gets in, what is still, a new offense, and he’ll have to for the Vikings to realize their goals.”

- John Shipley of the @PioneerPress on Kyler Murray and the Vikings offense pic.twitter.com/hR6EipEeyX

— SleeperVikings (@SleeperVikings) September 28, 2026

Kyler royally stunk out the joint. Didn't run the ball enough, didn't look that fast, didn't have many/any (?) schemed runs (classic Kevin!), didn't look comfortable in the pocket, didn't look big enough to see the field... and don't get me started on his passing.

But he mostly protected the football and he looked better when 18 was out there. Man I hope Jefferson's injury isn't too serious.

The O-Line was solid for the THIRD game in a row 😉 but otherwise, our "weapons" without Jefferson are not good. Addison needs to get forcefed the rock next week I think because to my eyes Jennings was getting zero separation, Hock has the mobility of a wading hippo, and Aaron Jones was running hard into brick walls.

Going 3-and-out every drive didn't help QB or Coach get into a rhythm yesterday. I hope the scheme is better and more dynamic next week.

K1 did look better with 18 out there, I agree with @pattersaur on that one.

I think he's got lots of rust to shake off, he'll improve each week going forward, but he's gotta do that or we may as well just be playing 9 again

I thought this was the OL's worse outing since the first 1/2 of GB

I just didnt understand the play calling on offense once Jettas hurt the ankle.

I really am tossing shade at our anemic running game

purplefaithful wrote:

K1 did look better with 18 out there, I agree with @pattersaur on that one.
I think he's got lots of rust to shake off
I think he'll improve each week going forward, but he's gotta do that or we may as well just be playing 9 again
I thought this was the OL's worse outing since the first 1/2 of GB
I just didnt understand the play calling on offense once Jettas hurt the ankle.
I really am tossing shade at our anemic running game

I hope Murray improves with each passing game because like I said in the other thread, what we've gotten from him and Wentz so far looks an awful lot like the offensive production we got from JJ McCarthy most of last year (outside of a couple games he looked very good). If we can't do better than this, we should probably think about seeing what the young kid has at some point later this season.

That said, losing Jefferson early definitely had an effect on the offense and game plan. When you are locking in a game plan based on what the Bucs will likely do with the attention he commands, that got thrown out the window after the first quarter.

Basically we had to adjust everything we planned to do on the fly, and Murray missed some opportunities for explosives (sailed a pass over Jones on that screen and missed a couple down field throws badly).

The most concerning thing is just how uncomfortable he looked at times. He's a 7 year veteran and used his legs to pick up yards and a first down and after that he just sat in the pocket and danced around for sacks or throw aways.

The offensive production has to get better regardless of who is under center. We're badly missing Mason right now and I still stay a dynamic RB would do wonders for the offense. We don't have one on this year's roster.

There are some smaller players who play much bigger than they are, Murray actually looks and plays smaller than he is. He looks lost behind the line, poor vision, batted balls and for someone who is suppose to be mobile he has awful pocket presence and seems more immobile than Cousins, if he gets out of the pocket he can run, but he doesn't get out of the pocket, he is too slow to react to plays and he has absolutely no quickness. It is obvious why AZ was willing to pay him 30 million plus to just go away and they are getting a lot better play with Jacoby Brissett. At one million, I thought he was a low risk move, but he is actually very high risk, because he is taking the place of someone else who may actually be able to move the offense.

MAD GAINZ wrote:

I hope Murray improves with each passing game because like I said in the other thread, what we've gotten from him and Wentz so far looks an awful lot like the offensive production we got from JJ McCarthy most of last year (outside of a couple games he looked very good). If we can't do better than this, we should probably think about seeing what the young kid has at some point later this season.
That said, losing Jefferson early definitely had an effect on the offense and game plan. When you are locking in a game plan based on what the Bucs will likely do with the attention he commands, that got thrown out the window after the first quarter.
Basically we had to adjust everything we planned to do on the fly, and Murray missed some opportunities for explosives (sailed a pass over Jones on that screen and missed a couple down field throws badly).
The most concerning thing is just how uncomfortable he looked at times. He's a 7 year veteran and used his legs to pick up yards and a first down and after that he just sat in the pocket and danced around for sacks or throw aways.
The offensive production has to get better regardless of who is under center. We're badly missing Mason right now and I still stay a dynamic RB would do wonders for the offense. We don't have one on this year's roster.

K1 supporter or detractor, he played like s hit after Jettas went out and he has to improve. Or (as we both have said) might as well see where 9 is at this season.

Murray is playing for another contract somewhere and the pressure is on him if he wants to be a Qb1 again in 27.

And yah, a dynamic back could be the straw that stirs the KOC cocktail. We can take Achane off that list now. Hell, if the Vikings had a solid running game to pair with the D? That alone could get you some tailwind in post-season.

MaroonBells wrote:

I told Kyler to save his breakout for when I'm there next week. He obliged. Flores gets Malik Willis and the Dolphins terrible o-line next week. That should be fun to watch.

Okay, I laughed at this lol. I sure hope, and I think you're right. It is the Dolphins. If he can't next week, we have far bigger issues that need to be figured out.