Only the shaky Vikings are
undefeated after depleted 49ers lose and Chiefs get dominated
[October 26, 2026]
By ROB MAADDI
Brock Purdy and the 49ers couldn’t overcome all the injuries one
more time. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs ran into the defending
Super Bowl champions and their stingy defense.
Only the Minnesota Vikings remain unbeaten — for now — and they
battled to beat the Colts.
Sunday kicked off with Aaron Rodgers leading the Pittsburgh Steelers
to a 16-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s first
regular-season game in France. It ended with the Seahawks shutting
down Mahomes, Kenneth Walker III and the Chiefs in Seattle in a 20-3
victory.
Despite a slew of injuries, San Francisco opened the season 6-0. But
the 49ers wasted a 14-3 lead in a 29-20 loss at Atlanta. The Niners
didn’t have their top five receivers, including Mike Evans and Deebo
Samuel Sr. They lost Christian McCaffrey for part of the game.
Still, they had the ball and an opportunity to drive for the
go-ahead score until Purdy threw his second interception near
midfield down by six with under three minutes left. The Falcons
scored 13 points on San Francisco’s four turnovers.
“We had the momentum, we were moving the ball well, I feel like we
were running the ball really well offensively and then all of the
sudden it’s like a couple plays make you feel like dang, we’re not
doing our job,” Purdy said. “Obviously, the most important thing is
protecting the football. That’s really the number one thing in our
organization as an offense. … and so when you do have those kind of
costly mistakes, it does make you feel like all right we’re not
doing anything, we’re not putting up points like we need to. It
starts with me at quarterback and I think it bleeds into everybody
else, too.”
The Niners get a week off to rest and recover before hosting Las
Vegas (3-4) on Nov. 8.
The Chiefs (5-1) already had their bye week so they have to fix
their problems quickly with a matchup for first place in the AFC
West coming up next Sunday at Denver (5-2).
Seattle’s “Dark Side" defense held Walker to 36 yards rushing on 14
carries in his first game against his former team. The Super Bowl
MVP entered Week 7 leading the NFL in rushing and had four 100-yard
games in the first five.
Mahomes only completed 57.6% of his passes and didn’t guide Kansas
City’s offense into the red zone for the first time in his career.
“You don’t want to perform like this in prime time in a big moment
like this,” Mahomes said.
So the Vikings (6-0) are the last undefeated team in the league. But
they need to improve a shaky offense to stay perfect.
[to top of second column] |
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes against
Indianapolis Colts defensive end Laiatu Latu (97) during the first
half of an NFL football game in Minneapolis, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.
(AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota rallied for a 16-10 victory over
Indianapolis thanks to another stellar effort from the defense,
which held the Colts to just 218 yards.
Kyler Murray threw for 150 yards and the Vikings had just 275 total
yards.
“You can’t get down on it right now, just because it’s still
relatively early enough that we’re catching our stride,” Vikings
coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But at the same time, we know, with the
type of teams that are going to be on our schedule the rest of the
way and where we want to go with this team, we’ll keep progressing.”
The Vikings have a difficult stretch coming up. They visit the Lions
(4-2) next week, host the Bills (5-1) and then face the Packers
(4-3) and 49ers in back-to-back games on the road. They need more
production on offense to stay on top in a tough NFC North that
includes four teams with a winning record.
One of those teams almost gave a game away because of reckless
play-calling. Lions coach Dan Campbell pulled a Barry Switzer and
went for a fourth-and-1 at his 24 with the score tied and just under
five minutes to go.
Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped for a 2-yard loss and the Packers took over
at Detroit’s 22 but couldn’t go anywhere. Trey Smack’s 35-yard field
goal was blocked, and the Lions drove for a winning field goal to
save Campbell from another week of criticism for his questionable
decisions.
Campbell cost the Lions a shot to play in the Super Bowl after two
critical failed attempts on fourth down in field-goal range in the
second half of a 34-31 loss in the NFC championship game in 2024.
His decision was reminiscent of Switzer twice going for a
fourth-and-1 at the Cowboys 29 with just under two minutes left in a
tie game at Philadelphia in 1995. Emmitt Smith was stopped on the
first try but officials said the clock had run down to the
two-minute warning. After the stoppage, Dallas ran the same play,
Smith was stopped again and the Eagles drove for the winning field
goal.
“Well, I thought we would get it, No. 1. I really believed we would
get that,” Campbell said. “No. 2, I knew we would get the ball back
if it didn’t work out. And those were the key thoughts.”
Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than wise.
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