Then Minnesota lost its best weapon. Justin Jefferson hurt his ankle and was listed as questionable to return, which left Murray throwing to what was left of the receiver room for most of the second half. Tampa Bay lost a wideout too. Jalen McMillan was ruled out for the rest of the game with a knee injury, on a day the Bucs were already missing linebackers Josiah Trotter and Rueben Bain Jr. and 2 guards, Billy Schrauth and Luke Haggard.
The Vikings did their scoring early. They put up 10 points in the 1st quarter and 7 in the 2nd to go into halftime up 17-10. After that the offense went quiet. Minnesota was shut out in the 3rd and added 6 in the 4th, which was just enough to keep the Bucs at arm's length.
The line score is the whole Tampa Bay story. The Buccaneers scored 7 in the 1st quarter and then 3 in every quarter after that. The preview flagged this exact problem: an offense that stalls close to the end zone, coming off 4 Chase McLaughlin field goals in the loss to Cleveland. The Bucs got 1 touchdown all afternoon, and 3 field goals don't erase a 7-point deficit. The box score we pulled didn't include lines for Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving or Emeka Egbuka. For Tampa, the only number that matters is the 1 touchdown.
The preview said this would be won by Minnesota's defense, and it was. A week after holding Chicago to 3 points, the Vikings held Tampa to 16 on its own field and kept the Bucs out of the end zone over the last 3 quarters. That's 3 games in and the defense still hasn't needed the offense to carry anything. Brian Flores's unit has now carried a Wentz offense and a rusty Murray offense to the same result.
Minnesota's real worry going into next week is Jefferson's ankle. The center spot is still unsettled with Nick Samac on injured reserve, and a quarterback who completed barely half his throws needs his No. 1 target healthy. Tampa Bay's worry is bigger. At 0-3, a team whose problem was supposed to be finishing drives has now gone a full afternoon without finishing one after the 1st quarter.
Minnesota is 3-0 and has won ugly twice in a row. Tampa Bay has lost 3 straight games that were all decided by a single score. The Vikings are winning with defense and not much else. The Buccaneers keep getting close without getting over the line.