The Minnesota Vikings moved to 6-0 with a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts in NFL Week 7, their 11th straight victory dating to Week 14 of last season, the longest active streak in the league. The unbeaten start came on a day when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-3 on Sunday night and the Atlanta Falcons ended the San Francisco 49ers’ perfect start with a 29-20 win. The question is whether the Vikings are a genuine contender or an unbeaten team living on narrow margins.
The case for Minnesota is built on defence. According to NFL.com, the Vikings allow a league-low 12.3 points per game, and Harrison Smith’s interception sealed the win over the Colts. The 11-game winning streak is the longest in the league, and Minnesota remains unbeaten while others do not. The other leading teams stumbled around them: the 49ers, who had been undefeated, lost 29-20 despite outgaining Atlanta 400 yards to 295, with Brock Purdy throwing two interceptions and the Falcons forcing four turnovers, and the Chiefs were beaten 20-3 by a Seahawks team in which Jaxon Smith-Njigba had nine catches for 150 yards, his sixth 100-yard game of the season. Michael Penix Jr. became the third quarterback in 25 years to throw three or more touchdown passes without an interception against an undefeated team.
The case against is the offence. The Vikings have scored 125 points through six games, tied for the second-fewest through a 6-0 start since 1950, according to NFL.com. Against Indianapolis, Daniel Jones completed 13 of 22 passes for only 108 yards, and kicker Spencer Shrader missed field goals of 56 and 48 yards in a game decided by six points. Other teams produced more convincing performances on the same day: Cincinnati outscored Baltimore 35-0 in the second half, with Joe Burrow completing 16 of his final 18 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns, and Tampa Bay ran for 258 yards in a 43-13 win over Carolina. Elsewhere, the Dolphins won for the first time this season, 28-25 over the Jets, and the Giants beat the Texans 27-21 in overtime in J.J. McCarthy’s first start for New York, their fourth straight game with 27 points or more, their longest such run since 2010. Patrick Mahomes, meanwhile, went 6 of 13 for 44 yards in Kansas City’s loss, with an interception, a reminder of how quickly the picture in this league can change.
The week matters because the early-season order is shifting. San Francisco’s first loss ends the last perfect record other than Minnesota’s, Kansas City’s 20-3 defeat, with Harrison Butker missing two of three field goals, raises questions about a team that has been a fixture at the top, and the Vikings’ low-scoring wins leave them little room for an off day on defence. In Paris, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints 16-10, with Jaylen Warren rushing for 101 yards, which shows how tight games can be across the league even when the star names are on show.
Minnesota are unbeaten and run a stingy defence, which is more than most teams can say. But a team that scores this little is one injury or one missed kick away from losing.
