Kyler Murray is walking into a matchup that could force Minnesota to open things up.
The Vikings get the Buffalo Bills this weekend, and the setup is pretty clear: both teams are 6-1, but they’ve arrived there in very different ways. Minnesota has leaned on a defense that has been stingy all season.
Buffalo has powered through with the NFL’s top scoring offense, with MVP front-runner Josh Allen driving the whole operation. If the Vikings are going to keep up, Murray may have to attack where Buffalo has been vulnerable - down the field.
That’s the opening Minnesota should be staring at. The Bills have had real trouble preventing explosive passing plays, giving up 27 completions of 20 yards or more this season.
That total ties them for fifth-most in the league. In a game like this, where the margin could be thin, chunk plays may decide everything.
Buffalo’s issues start in the back end. The safety play has been shaky, and the recent release of starting safety C.J.
Gardner-Johnson only made that problem more obvious. Beyond Gardner-Johnson, Damar Hamlin is their highest-graded safety by PFF at 59.1.
The Bills have also been mentioned as a team needing help at cornerback, even after bringing back veteran Tre’Davious White.
There’s pressure up front too, or rather the lack of it. Buffalo has managed only 15 sacks this season, which puts them in the bottom five in the league.
That should give Murray a cleaner pocket and more time to look for shots. The real question is whether Minnesota can actually turn that advantage into production, especially after last week’s failure to capitalize against the Lions.
That’s where the concern comes in for the Vikings. They’re still in the bottom half of the league in explosive plays, both through the air and on the ground. So while the Bills have handed opponents chances to hit big plays, Minnesota hasn’t exactly been a team built to cash them in.
Murray’s own numbers point to the same issue. He’s ranked 36th out of 38 qualified quarterbacks in attempts on intermediate and deep throws over the middle of the field, with a minimum of 50 passes. That’s a steep drop from what Minnesota got from Sam Darnold in 2024, when he put together a career year and finished near the top of the NFL in deep-passing numbers.
The Vikings knew what they were getting when they signed Murray this offseason, and his deep-ball trend from his Arizona days wasn’t encouraging. But there was a time when Murray was considered an elite downfield thrower. The tools are still there, and this matchup could be the kind of opening that helps bring that part of his game back.
It may also be a chance for Kevin O’Connell to get the offense moving in the right direction again.
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