Heading into week six of the regular season, the Minnesota Vikings held a record of 4-1 when they had to play on the road against the Miami Dolphins, who have won eight in a row at home dating back to last season. The Miami heat was in full effect during the noon kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium. On the Vikings’ sideline, they were experiencing an on-field temperature of 120 degrees. The Dolphins had rookie Skylar Thompson start the game at quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa, the typical starting quarterback for the Dolphins, was cleared from concussion protocol after his scary injury against the Bengals. Still, the team decided to give him an additional week of recovery. 

Both teams started the game slow offensively, causing both sides to punt the ball multiple times during the first quarter. The Vikings looked entirely out of sorts, especially the offensive line, during the first quarter with four straight three-and-out drives giving Miami the ball with good field position. Minnesota’s defense had a few key sacks and tackles for a loss to prevent Miami from kicking a field goal.  

On Miami’s third drive of the game, their quarterback, Skylar Thompson, injured his hand when his throwing hand hit a Vikings player in the helmet, causing him to exit the game. Backup quarterback and former Minnesota Vikings first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater entered the game after clearing concussion protocol from the previous week. Bridgewater played for the Vikings from 2014-2017, where he was expected to be the long-term solution at the quarterback position for Minnesota until a devastating knee injury in 2016 caused him to be out of football for over a year. After Bridgewater’s tenure with the Vikings, he played for the Saints, Broncos, and Panthers as a starting and backup quarterback. 

During Bridgewater’s opening drive of the game, Miami scored the first points on a nine-play 36-yard drive ending in a 44-yard field goal by Jason Sanders. After a poor offensive start by Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota offense, Minnesota strung together a good drive finding themselves on the scoreboard. Minnesota converted a touchdown to Irv Smith Jr. on a one-yard throw, successfully operating a seven-play 75-yard touchdown. 

In the final minute of the first half, the Dolphins were looking to try and get into field goal range to make the score 7-6 going into halftime. Teddy Bridgewater targeted Jalen Waddle at their 41-yard line, where former teammate Harrison Smith intercepted the pass with 23 seconds remaining in half. Kirk Cousins targeted Adam Thielen at Miami’s 20-yard line, which resulted in a pass interference penalty setting up Greg Joseph for a 34-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 10-3 lead going into halftime. 

The third quarter started similar to the first, with multiple three-and-outs by both teams. The first score of the second half started with Kirk Cousins finding Adam Thielen in the endzone on a two-yard pass. Justin Jefferson caught a 47-yard pass to set Minnesota up deep into Miami’s territory. Greg Joseph missed the extra point, giving Minnesota a 16-3 lead. 

Miami found itself in the Vikings’ endzone the following drive to cut the lead back to 16-10 with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Teddy Bridgewater found tight end Mike Gesicki for a four-yard touchdown on a seven-play 75-yard touchdown. 

With under eight minutes remaining, Miami stopped the Vikings’ offense allowing themselves to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater completed a pass at the Minnesota 28-yard line to Jalen Waddle, who had the ball stripped by Camryn Bynum, resulting in a fumble recovery for Minnesota with four minutes remaining. 

Minnesota scored some insurance points on a 53-yard rush by Dalvin Cook. The Minnesota Vikings escaped the Miami heat with a 24-10 win against a tough Miami Dolphins football team. Minnesota goes into their bye week with a 5-1 record and a two-game lead on the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.