The Vikings had a chance to go up by two scores after Byron Murphy Jr. mirrored Josh Downs’ route and undercut Flacco’s throw, but Darnold gave the ball back on the next play with a throw to Jefferson in traffic that was picked up by safety Nick. Crotch. Although the Colts gained only two yards on their next three plays, they were in position for a 41-yard Matt Gay field goal that made the score 14-10.

Indianapolis drove to the Vikings’ 40 with a chance to take the lead. But on third and fourth, Harrison Smith came up with two pass breakups, causing Ashton Dulin to release the ball on a fourth-down completion that gave the Vikings the ball back. Darnold hit Addison for 21 yards, the Vikings ran Aaron Jones six times for 25 yards and on a second-and-11 with 2:05 to go, O’Connell called for Darnold to roll to his left on a flood concept. The quarterback hit Josh Oliver as the deepest option in the game for a 14-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.

The Colts scored within eight seconds on a 54-yarder from Gay, but when they attempted an onside kick in an attempt to get the ball back for a game-tying drive, the Vikings loaded their hand team with skill position players, and Jefferson caught the onside kick for Alec Pierce to seal the ball.

The Vikings are now 6-2 before heading to Jacksonville next week to begin a three-game road trip.