Vikings Are the Last Unbeaten Team in the NFL

Seven weeks into the 2026 NFL season, one team has not lost. The Minnesota Vikings are 6 and 0 after beating the Indianapolis Colts 16 to 10 on Sunday, their first 6 and 0 start since 2009, and Week 7 took care of everyone else. The San Francisco 49ers lost in Atlanta and the Kansas City Chiefs were shut down in Seattle, which leaves Minnesota as the only unbeaten team in the league heading into Week 8.

It has not always been pretty. The Vikings are winning with one of the best defenses in football and an offense that has scored 10 touchdowns all season. This week they go to Detroit, and the question every power ranking is asking is how long a team built like this can stay perfect.

Two Unbeatens Fell on Sunday

Three teams woke up undefeated on Sunday. Only one went to bed that way.

The 49ers had been holding things together through a long list of injuries, and in Atlanta it finally caught up with them. The Falcons beat San Francisco at home, the kind of upset this season has been full of since seven underdogs won in Week 4. Four turnovers did the 49ers in, including a rare mistake from Brock Purdy that Atlanta turned into points. San Francisco is 6 and 1 and heads into its bye week.

The late game was worse for Kansas City. The Chiefs went to Seattle to face the defending champion Seahawks and were shut down in the Sunday night game, the first loss of their season.

That left the Vikings alone. NFL.com moved Minnesota up three spots to No. 1 in its Week 8 power rankings, and Pete Prisco of CBS Sports put them on top as well, ahead of the 5 and 1 Buffalo Bills.

Minnesota Won It Late Again

Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium looked a lot like the rest of the Vikings' season. Indianapolis led 10 to 6 at halftime, and running back Jonathan Taylor finished with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown. Minnesota did not take the lead until the fourth quarter.

Kyler Murray made the play that flipped it. He scrambled for 35 yards on a fourth quarter drive, then found tight end T.J. Hockenson for a 5 yard touchdown, the Vikings' only touchdown of the day. Murray finished 14 of 24 for 150 yards and that score, and added 39 rushing yards on five carries.

Will Reichard pushed the lead to 16 to 10 with a 52 yard field goal with a minute and 39 seconds left. Then the defense finished it. Safety Harrison Smith intercepted Colts quarterback Daniel Jones with 68 seconds remaining to end the last Indianapolis drive.

Smith almost was not on the field at all this year. The Vikings released him in the offseason after 14 seasons with the team, then signed him to a new contract a week before the regular season began. Six games later, he is making the plays that keep the streak alive.

Defense Is Carrying the Offense

The numbers explain why nobody is calling the Vikings a juggernaut yet. According to Prisco, Minnesota has scored 125 points in six games, which works out to 10 touchdowns on the season. The Vikings rank first in the league in scoring defense and 23rd in scoring offense, and their passing game ranks 29th in yards per game.

"Can a team that is so limited on offense be considered good?" Prisco asked in his Week 8 rankings. He still ranked them first.

The reason is defensive coordinator Brian Flores. His unit has held opponents down all season, and NFL.com wrote that it is getting more creative with its approach each week. The site called Flores' group unquestionably elite and wrote that if the offense ever catches up, Minnesota will become a strong Super Bowl favorite.

For now, the formula is simple. Keep the score low, avoid the big mistake and trust the defense to close. It has worked six times in a row. The challenge is that it leaves almost no margin when a better offense shows up.

That puts the pressure on Murray. Prisco wrote that the quarterback has to be better and the passing game has to improve, or the next four games could be a big problem for Minnesota. The 5 yard touchdown to Hockenson was a start.

Detroit Is Next

The Vikings play the Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, November 1, at noon Central. Detroit is 4 and 2, and a division game on the road is exactly the kind of test that will show whether Minnesota's defense can keep carrying the team.

It is not the only game worth watching in Week 8.

The Baltimore Ravens visit Buffalo in what could be the game of the week. The Bills are coming off their bye, and Prisco expects Baltimore to have Lamar Jackson back. Kansas City tries to bounce back on the road in Denver. The Atlanta Falcons, fresh off the upset of San Francisco, visit Tampa Bay. The Chicago Bears, who earlier this month planned to start Caleb Williams on a torn hamstring, go to Seattle to face the team that just beat the Chiefs. And in Los Angeles, the Chargers, 0 and 6 and last in Prisco's rankings, play their city rival, the Rams.

The 49ers are off, which gives San Francisco a week to get healthy while everyone else chases the Vikings.

Perfection Has Not Lasted Long This Year

The way this season has gone, nobody should get attached to an undefeated record. Upsets have been a theme all season. Twelve Week 3 games came down to one possession, and the weeks since have kept the favorites honest. Close games have a way of evening out, and the Vikings have lived in them.

Still, 6 and 0 is 6 and 0. Minnesota has beaten everyone on its schedule so far, its defense is the best unit in the league by the numbers, and it owns the best record in the NFC while the 49ers sit at home this week.

On Sunday in Detroit, the Vikings get their best chance yet to prove the record is real. Win, and they are 7 and 0 and three games clear of the Lions. Lose, and the NFL heads into November without a single unbeaten team.