The Minnesota Vikings are 6-0, the NFL’s last unbeaten team, and a sizable portion of the fan base is still waiting for the season to go sideways.
Minnesota’s 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts should have produced nothing but satisfaction. Instead, another imperfect victory gave Vikings fans fresh reasons to inspect the floorboards for trap doors. The offense sputtered. Kyler Murray was inconsistent. Brian Flores’ defense had to finish the job again.
That reaction isn’t irrational. Vikings history has trained multiple generations to treat optimism as dangerous behavior. The 1998 team went 15-1, set an NFL scoring record, and still lost the NFC Championship Game at home. The 2009 team reached overtime in New Orleans with Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson, then watched another Super Bowl chance disappear.
Minnesota Vikings fans have seen great starts collapse before
Recent history hasn’t exactly repaired the damage. The 2016 Vikings opened 5-0 before finishing 8-8. The 2022 team went 13-4 while repeatedly living on the edge, then lost its first playoff game. The 2024 Vikings ripped off 14 wins before losses to Detroit and the Rams ended the season with remarkable speed.
Skepticism therefore comes with the purple starter kit. Minnesota could win a coin toss, and somebody would immediately ask what the coin knows.
The difference in 2026 is that the case for believing in these Vikings isn’t built entirely on late-game escapes. Flores has constructed the NFL’s stingiest scoring defense through six games, allowing 12.3 points per game. The Vikings are also riding an 11-game winning streak dating to last season.
That defense has an identity beyond turnovers or one superstar carrying it. Flores can threaten pressure from everywhere, Blake Cashman can handle coverage and communication responsibilities in the middle, and Harrison Smith still gives Minnesota enormous freedom to disguise intentions before the snap. The extreme pressure approach against Indianapolis was Flores football turned to maximum volume.
Minnesota’s offense provides the legitimate counterargument. The Vikings have scored only 125 points, tied for the second-fewest by a 6-0 team since 1950, according to NFL Research. Murray and Kevin O’Connell still need to prove this offense can win a game when Flores’ defense finally gets punched back.
Detroit provides that test next. A road divisional game against the Lions will reveal more about Minnesota than six weeks of trying to decide how seriously to take this start. Vikings fans don’t have to forget 1998, 2009, or everything that came after. They just have to stop treating those seasons like a preview of what happens next.
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