The NFL has a new lone unbeaten team, and it took a gritty defensive win to get there.
Minnesota moved to 6-0 with a 16-10 victory over Indianapolis, while San Francisco finally slipped and Kansas City ran into a wall in Seattle. By the end of Sunday, the Vikings were standing alone as the league’s only undefeated team.
The day started overseas with Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers opening with a 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s first regular-season game in France. It closed with Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense smothering Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in a 20-3 win.
For San Francisco, the unbeaten run ended in Atlanta after the 49ers blew a 14-3 lead and fell 29-20. Even with a battered roster, the Niners had a chance to seize control late. But Brock Purdy threw his second interception near midfield with under three minutes left, and Atlanta turned San Francisco’s four turnovers into 13 points.
“We had the momentum, we were moving the ball well, I feel like we were running the ball really well offensively and then all of the sudden it’s like a couple plays make you feel like dang, we’re not doing our job,” Purdy said. “Obviously, the most important thing is protecting the football.
That’s really the number one thing in our organization as an offense. … and so when you do have those kind of costly mistakes, it does make you feel like all right we’re not doing anything, we’re not putting up points like we need to. It starts with me at quarterback and I think it bleeds into everybody else, too.”
San Francisco now gets a week off to regroup before hosting Las Vegas on Nov. 8.
Kansas City, meanwhile, is no longer unbeaten either and has to get back on track fast. The Chiefs are 5-1 after Seattle kept Mahomes out of the red zone for the first time in his career and limited him to a 57.6% completion rate. It was a rough night for Kenneth Walker III as well, with Seattle holding him to 36 yards on 14 carries in his first game against his former team.
“You don’t want to perform like this in prime time in a big moment like this,” Mahomes said.
The Chiefs had already used their bye week, so there’s no cushion now. Their next game is a huge one for first place in the AFC West next Sunday at Denver, where the Broncos are 5-2.
Minnesota’s win wasn’t pretty, but it was enough. The Vikings leaned on their defense again, holding Indianapolis to 218 yards and surviving despite generating only 275 total yards of offense. The offense remains a concern, even as the record stays perfect.
“You can’t get down on it right now, just because it’s still relatively early enough that we’re catching our stride,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But at the same time, we know, with the type of teams that are going to be on our schedule the rest of the way and where we want to go with this team, we’ll keep progressing.”
The road ahead is steep. Minnesota travels to Detroit next week, hosts Buffalo, then draws the Packers and 49ers in back-to-back road games. In a division where four teams have winning records, the Vikings will need more from the offense if they want to keep this run alive.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, Detroit nearly handed one away with a gamble that brought back an uncomfortable memory. With the score tied and just under five minutes left, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth-and-1 at his 24.
Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped for a 2-yard loss, giving Green Bay the ball at Detroit’s 22, but the Packers couldn’t cash in. Trey Smack’s 35-yard field goal was blocked, and the Lions later drove for the winning kick.
Campbell’s choice echoed the criticism that followed him after two failed fourth-down tries in field-goal range in the second half of the 34-31 loss in the 2024 NFC championship game. He also drew a parallel to one of Barry Switzer’s infamous calls in 1995.
“Well, I thought we would get it, No. 1.
I really believed we would get that,” Campbell said. “No.
2, I knew we would get the ball back if it didn’t work out. And those were the key thoughts.”
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