Through a brief appearance in Week 1 and a pair of starts in Week 3 and Week 4, Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t seem much like Kyler Murray. The offensive rookie of the year version. The two-time Pro Bowler version. The Road Runner version.
On Sunday, “meep meep” made its way to New Orleans.
Murray looked like the Murray of old again. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 109.6. He added 51 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Per the Vikings, the performance made Murray the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for 200 or more yards with an 80-percent completion percentage while rushing for 50 or more yards.
The first hint of the offense waking up came last week, after the Dolphins cut the score of the Week 4 game to 12-10 late in the third quarter. Murray engineered the drive that extended the lead to five and then, after a three-and-out, Murray guided the offense toward consuming the rest of the clock.
Indeed, since Miami’s touchdown on the next-to-last play of the third quarter, Murray has completed 36 of 43 passes (83.7 percent).
It felt different this week, with Murray playing well from the start of the game to the finish. Even with a couple of significant momentum-shifting miscues, Murray and the Minnesota offense were never rattled. After the Saints returned a Myles Price fumble 87 yards for the game-tying touchdown, the Vikings drove 70 yards in six plays for the go-ahead touchdown. One more scoring drive provided the final margin of 23-13.
Now, the Vikings enter their bye with a chance to get healthy and prepare for games against the Colts, Lions, Bills, Packers, and 49ers in a Sunday night showdown in Mexico City.