Kicker Will Reichard is injured in the Vikings' win

Will Reichard's first bad night could get even worse on Monday. The rookie kicker, whose perfect start to the season ended with two errors in the first half, said he was “struggling with a little quad issue.”

“I have to get an MRI (Monday) to see how bad it is,” he added.

Reichard was 34 of 34 on all shots before firing wide to the right from 53 yards. “I thought I hit it well,” he said. “I just pushed it a little bit.” He then hit the right post on a 31-yard attempt. “Too much hesitant momentum” because of the quad issue, he said. “It's unacceptable to miss one so briefly.” Coach Kevin O'Connell is uncharacteristically Viking 13-1 when his kicker misses. And he never lost a game because of a missed shot.

All eyes were on new left tackle Cam Robinson as one of the Vikings' oldest problems – an interior offensive line prone to being overwhelmed by big tackles – took center stage as the Vikings trailed 7-0 at halftime were booed off the field. Left guard Blake Brandel was run over by Raekwon Davis, causing Sam Darnold to slide to his left, resulting in a sad interception in the red zone on the first possession. Center Garrett Bradbury was immediately hit on his butt by Grover Stewart on Stewart's strip sack, which led to a fumble return for a touchdown on the third possession. The Colts' front four showed the Vikings why Indy only needs to blitz 15% of the time, less than any other team except Jacksonville.

O'Connell said Stewart should have been held responsible for hitting Darnold in the head and neck with the strip bag. “I thought there was a possible discussion about the fumble,” O'Connell said. “Just to get a little more clarity on protecting our quarterback.”

Sunday marked just the sixth time the Vikings' Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson started and finished a game together. The first drive of the second half showed what they are capable of. Jefferson caught two balls for 22 yards and a first down. Hockenson caught one for 19 yards and a first down. And Addison, forgotten lately, caught an 11-yard pass on third-and-9 from the Colts 15 and then a 4-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone.

“Those three guys are what we want to build our offense around with Aaron Jones and our running game,” O’Connell said. “We have a lot of weapons. We just have to trust that if we get 11 guys on the floor, we’re going to play a good game.”

In their last game together – December 16, 2023 at Cincinnati – JJ, TJ and JA were targeted 23 times, with 19 catches for 258 yards and two Addison TDs. On Sunday, they were targeted 18 times, with 15 catches for 206 yards and a touchdown. Jefferson had nine scores and seven catches for 137 yards. In six games alongside TJ and JA, Jefferson averaged 11 scores, 7.8 catches and 127.3 yards.