The legend of Isaac TeSlaa grows. He remains an up-and-coming rookie at this point, but he ended up being the player who finally caught a touchdown pass against Minnesota’s defense. It’s been a down season for the Vikings, but Brian Flores can put together a defense.
Prior to today, the Vikings had gone six games in a row without allowing a touchdown pass. And they haven’t been doing it against nobody quarterbacks.
Back in Week 10, Lamar Jackson passed for 176 yards and a touchdown against them. He was the last quarterback to toss a touchdown against them. Since then, it’s been Caleb Williams, Jordan Love, Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels, Dak Prescott and Jaxson Dart. Jared Goff finally broke through today, but didn’t actually have a big game.
It's a remarkably impressive streak. In the Super Bowl era, only three defenses have managed to put together streaks of seven games without a touchdown pass, and all were in years where TD passes weren’t as common. Packers in 1972, Steelers in 1976 and Browns in 1988. Teams are averaging 1.5 TD passes per game this year; the average was down at 1.1 in those years in the ‘70s, and 1.2 in 1988.
In the last 20 years, only two other defenses have been able to put together five-game streaks – the 2008 Titans, and the 2019 Patriots.
| CONSECUTIVE GAMES, NO TD PASS ALLOWED | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Defense | G | Pct | Yd/G | TD | Int |
| 1972 | Green Bay | 7 | 49.4% | 129.3 | 0 | 8 |
| 1976 | Pittsburgh | 7 | 40.7% | 112.1 | 0 | 10 |
| 1988 | Cleveland | 7 | 45.0% | 130.6 | 0 | 10 |
| 1969 | Minnesota | 6 | 50.3% | 81.3 | 0 | 15 |
| 1971 | Baltimore | 6 | 49.3% | 96.8 | 0 | 11 |
| 1973 | Atlanta | 6 | 42.9% | 78.7 | 0 | 6 |
| 2025 | Minnesota | 6 | 55.5% | 135.5 | 0 | 3 |
| 1966 | Chicago | 5 | 45.9% | 135.8 | 0 | 6 |
| 1966 | Green Bay | 5 | 47.6% | 122.0 | 0 | 13 |
| 1967 | Detroit | 5 | 38.5% | 61.2 | 0 | 8 |
| 1970 | Minnesota | 5 | 48.9% | 67.6 | 0 | 11 |
| 1974 | San Francisco | 5 | 50.0% | 93.4 | 0 | 8 |
| 1975 | Cincinnati | 5 | 43.0% | 94.6 | 0 | 9 |
| 1978 | Denver | 5 | 61.9% | 141.4 | 0 | 8 |
| 1978 | Washington | 5 | 44.6% | 146.8 | 0 | 6 |
| 1985 | Tampa Bay | 5 | 57.0% | 221.6 | 0 | 8 |
| 1988 | Green Bay | 5 | 47.7% | 151.4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1988 | Miami | 5 | 56.4% | 205.2 | 0 | 6 |
| 1988 | LA Raiders | 5 | 51.8% | 125.8 | 0 | 2 |
| 1990 | Miami | 5 | 49.2% | 119.8 | 0 | 8 |
| 1992 | LA Raiders | 5 | 55.1% | 179.0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1996 | Kansas City | 5 | 50.0% | 203.0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1996 | NY Giants | 5 | 52.1% | 165.2 | 0 | 8 |
| 1997 | Green Bay | 5 | 45.1% | 134.8 | 0 | 5 |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay | 5 | 58.1% | 159.4 | 0 | 3 |
| 2000 | Pittsburgh | 5 | 48.9% | 123.2 | 0 | 9 |
| 2002 | Tampa Bay | 5 | 49.0% | 157.6 | 0 | 11 |
| 2008 | Tennessee | 5 | 58.1% | 183.6 | 0 | 8 |
| 2019 | New England | 5 | 54.2% | 161.0 | 0 | 11 |
—Ian Allan