The NFL’s Weirdest 4-0 Team Has Gone Two Games Without a Touchdown

The Minnesota Vikings are undefeated. Their offense, however, occasionally appears to be playing an entirely different sport.

Minnesota improved to 4-0 in the 2026 NFL season by defeating the Miami Dolphins 15-10 on Sunday. The Vikings scored all 15 points through five Will Reichard field goals.

No touchdowns. No problem.

Even stranger, this was not the first time Minnesota had won without reaching the end zone this season. The Vikings also defeated the Chicago Bears 9-3 in Week 2, giving them two touchdown-free victories in their opening four games.

That combination has not been seen in the NFL for more than 90 years.

Key Takeaways

• Minnesota is 4-0 despite failing to score a touchdown in two games.
• Will Reichard supplied all 15 points against Miami with five field goals.
• The Vikings’ defense has allowed only 13 combined points in those two touchdown-free wins.
• The last comparable starts occurred during the NFL’s earliest decades.
• Minnesota’s unusual formula is working, but its offense will eventually need to contribute more.

The Vikings Just Repeated Some Very Old NFL History

According to The Guardian’s Week 4 NFL analysis, the last teams to begin 4-0 while going without a touchdown in two of those games were the 1922 Chicago Cardinals, the 1923 Chicago Cardinals and the 1934 Detroit Lions.

For perspective, the forward pass was still treated with suspicion during part of that period. The NFL did not introduce its first championship game until 1933, while television broadcasts, Super Bowls and billion-dollar media agreements were still decades away.

Yet the 2026 Vikings have somehow produced a winning pattern belonging to the leather-helmet era.

They beat Chicago 9-3 using only three field goals. Three weeks later, they defeated Miami 15-10 with five more.

Minnesota has therefore won half of its games without scoring an offensive or defensive touchdown.

That is not how undefeated teams are normally built.

Will Reichard Became Minnesota’s Entire Scoreboard

Reichard connected from 47, 50, 33, 41 and 29 yards against Miami. His five field goals matched his career high and made him the only Vikings player responsible for points in the game.

A kicker scoring 15 points is not especially unusual. A kicker accounting for every point in a victory by an undefeated team is much more memorable.

Reichard’s performance also illustrates how NFL kicking has changed. Coaches increasingly trust accurate kickers from distances that once encouraged punts or risky fourth-down attempts.

Minnesota did not require a spectacular offensive play against Miami. It needed enough movement to enter Reichard’s range—and the discipline to avoid giving the game away.

That sounds simple. It rarely is.

The Defense Is Making This Strange Formula Possible

Field goals only win games when the opponent is prevented from scoring touchdowns.

That is where Minnesota’s defense enters the story.

The Vikings allowed three points against Chicago and 10 against Miami. Across their two touchdown-free victories, their opponents scored only 13 combined points.

Against the Dolphins, Minnesota recovered a fumble, recorded four sacks and repeatedly stopped Miami from building consistent drives. Even when the Vikings’ own offense stalled, their defense prevented the game from escaping.

This is the clearest explanation for the 4-0 record. Minnesota is not undefeated because field goals have suddenly become more valuable than touchdowns. It is undefeated because its defense has made modest scoring totals sufficient.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has created a unit capable of disguising pressure, changing its coverage after the snap, and forcing quarterbacks to make hurried decisions.

The results are not always pretty, but they have been effective.

Follow the latest Sports News USA for breaking stories, surprising stats and the biggest talking points across American sports.

Winning Ugly Is Still Winning

There is something appealing about a team refusing to follow the expected script.

Modern NFL conversation is dominated by quarterbacks, explosive passes and highlight-reel touchdowns. Minnesota has temporarily answered with sacks, field position and a kicker who rarely misses.

It is football stripped down to its least glamorous equation: score whenever possible, stop the other team and leave with the win.

The Vikings should not apologize for reaching 4-0 this way. NFL standings do not include a column for artistic merit.

Still, history suggests that winning without touchdowns cannot remain the primary plan.

Can Minnesota Keep Doing This?

Probably not—and the Vikings should hope they do not have to.

Stronger opponents will eventually turn red-zone failures into losses. Five field goals can defeat a team scoring 10 points, but they cannot keep pace with an offense producing three or four touchdowns.

Minnesota moved the ball against Miami. Kyler Murray completed 27 of 37 passes for 247 yards, T.J. Hockenson caught 13 passes for 119 yards, and Aaron Jones Sr. produced 128 all-purpose yards. The missing piece was finishing drives.

That makes the Vikings difficult to evaluate.

A 4-0 record deserves respect. A team that has gone touchdown-free twice also deserves scrutiny. Both things can be true.

The encouraging interpretation is that Minnesota has remained perfect even though its offense has not reached its best form. If the Vikings begin turning those field-goal opportunities into touchdowns, they could become significantly more dangerous.

The less comforting possibility is that their defense and kicker are covering problems that better opponents will expose.

Minnesota Is the NFL’s Most Fascinating Undefeated Team

The 2026 Vikings have already accomplished something no NFL team had managed since 1934: opening 4-0 despite failing to score a touchdown in two games.

It is impressive, confusing, and slightly ridiculous—the perfect NFL statistic.

Minnesota may eventually need a conventional offense to remain undefeated. For now, the Vikings have rediscovered an ancient method of winning football games: kick the ball through the uprights and make certain the other team does even less.