Vikings vs. Colts: Blake Cashman and Harrison Smith's 40th Career Interception Keep Minnesota 6-0 in Week 7

Blake Cashman spent Sunday afternoon living in Daniel Jones' pocket like he was paying rent there. The Vikings linebacker piled up 12 tackles, two sacks, four passes defensed and three quarterback hits, Harrison Smith picked off Jones in the final minutes to slam the door, and Minnesota outlasted the Indianapolis Colts 16-10 at U.S. Bank Stadium to move to 6-0.

That makes the Vikings the NFC's last undefeated team, and the formula is getting almost comically consistent: the defense suffocates people, the offense does just enough, and the kicker cleans up. Minnesota scored one touchdown. It needed exactly one. Through six games this defense has allowed a league-low 74 points, which is less a stat line than a force field.

Taylor Strikes Early, Then the Lights Go Out

For a while, this looked like a Colts upset in the making. Minnesota's opening drive died on a fourth-and-1 run that lost a yard, and Indianapolis answered with Jonathan Taylor strutting 38 yards to the end zone on its first possession, his longest run of the season according to the Vikings' site.

Will Reichard chipped back with field goals of 28 and 47 yards in the second quarter, but the Colts kept moving the chains, converting 8 of 15 third downs on the day. They milked a 16-play drive into a 43-yard Spencer Shrader field goal at the horn for a 10-6 halftime lead, and that drive only ended in three because Cashman sacked Jones for an 11-yard loss on second-and-goal, shoving the Colts back to the 25.

Then the second half happened, and the Colts' offense basically turned into a screensaver. Indianapolis did not score again. Cashman's second sack, a 13-yard takedown on the fourth snap of the third quarter, left Jones staring at third-and-33. The Colts finished with 64 net passing yards. Not a typo.

Cashman Plays Every Position at Once

Cashman is the Vikings' green-dot communicator for coordinator Brian Flores, and on Sunday he was also the pass rusher, the coverage linebacker and the run stopper. The Vikings' site noted he became the first NFL player since Chicago's Alex Brown in 2005 to log at least two sacks and four pass breakups in a single game.

"In this defense, we love chaos," Cashman said.

Smith, a six-time Pro Bowler now in his 15th season with Minnesota, was blunt about the group's mood. "There's a lot of fight in this group," he said. His interception was the 40th of his career, tying Ed Sharockman for third in franchise history per the Vikings, and he celebrated by planting the ball on the turf while the building chanted his name.

Kyler Murray was efficient rather than electric, going 14 of 24 for 150 yards and a touchdown with no picks, but his legs produced the play of the day. On the first snap of the fourth quarter, facing third-and-8, he took off for 35 yards to the Indy 5. Per the Vikings, it was the longest run by a Vikings quarterback since Joe Webb's 65-yarder against Detroit in 2011. One play later, Murray found T.J. Hockenson at the left pylon for a 5-yard score.

"I got to Griddy with Justin Jefferson. It's the best," Hockenson said, which is the correct response to scoring the only touchdown of a rock fight.

On the other side, Taylor ran 18 times for 95 yards, Adetomiwa Adebawore sacked Murray twice and Seth McGowan averaged 28 yards on five kick returns. It was a gritty, credible Colts performance with one fatal flaw: they kept leaving points on the field.

The 56-Yard Gamble That Flipped It

Here is the swing. Late in the third, the Colts drove to the Minnesota 37 and faced fourth-and-2 while leading 10-6. Shane Steichen sent Shrader out for a 56-yarder. Shrader, the NFL's leading scorer with 70 points, watched Isaiah Rodgers, a former Colts cornerback, come screaming off the edge, and the kick sailed wide left. So much for his streak of 22 straight made field goals.

Minnesota took over at its own 46 and went 54 yards in six plays for the go-ahead score. The Colts never led again.

It was a cursed day for kickers with streaks. Reichard set a franchise record for consecutive made field goals with his first two kicks, then had a 59-yard try blocked by Grover Stewart. Shrader then missed again, wide right from 48 on another fourth-and-2 with a chance to tie it at 13. Reichard, unbothered, drilled a 52-yarder with 1:39 left. Jones got two snaps of a final drive before Smith jumped a throw near midfield.

Stats That Matter

• 3.7: Yards per play for Indianapolis, on 218 total yards.
• 4 for 44: Sacks and yards lost by Jones, who went 13 of 22 for 108 yards.
• 3: Points the Vikings have allowed across six fourth quarters this season, per the team.
• 11: Consecutive Minnesota wins, the longest active streak in the NFL according to the Vikings.

Minnesota Is Real, Indy Is Sliding

The Vikings are 6-0 for the first time since 2009, per the team, and they are doing it with an offense that has scored just 10 touchdowns in six games, according to the AP. That is either a warning sign or a terrifying thought for the rest of the league, depending on whether you believe the offense eventually catches up. Murray clearly does.

"We'll continue to get better. I know we will. I know we keep saying that, but I felt like we moved the ball well today," Murray said. "We've just got to put the ball in the end zone."

Indianapolis is 2-5 and has dropped three in a row since starting 2-2. Jones, who spent the back half of the 2024 season as a Vikings backup, now has four touchdown passes and seven interceptions in seven games, per the AP. Steichen isn't flinching. "I've got a ton of faith in Daniel," he said.

Jones gave the Vikings their flowers. "I think we expected it to be this kind of game, kind of an ugly game, and credit to them on defense," he said.

Next up, the Vikings visit Detroit and the Colts head to Jacksonville.

Boring Is Undefeated

Every great team has a vibe. Some are flashy, some are loud. These Vikings are the friend who shows up to the party, quietly does the dishes and leaves with your playoff spot. Kevin O'Connell knows it, and he is fine with it.

"We feel really comfortable and confident to win football games when we don't turn it over and we win the field position and boring stuff like that, because we know over the course of 60 minutes what that side can do," O'Connell said.

Boring stuff. Six wins. No losses. The NFC has been warned.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and Vikings.com.