Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray’s return from a Week 1 concussion adds a separate wrinkle to the Week 3 game against the Buccaneers.
The game means that former Oklahoma teammates Murray and Baker Mayfield will have their fourth NFL meeting. Murray leads, 3-0.
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in 2017. Murray replaced Mayfield in 2018, and then Murray won it.
Their personal rivalry takes a back seat to the bigger picture. The Vikings hope to get to 3-0, and the Buccaneers need to avoid slipping to 0-3.
And there’s one interesting wrinkle that plays into the home team’s favor. Mayfield has faced a Brian Flores defense twice in his career. In 2019, Mayfield and the Browns beat the Dolphins. In 2023, Mayfield and the Bucs stunned the Vikings in Flores’s first game as the team’s defensive coordinator. Mayfield had five touchdown passes and one interception in those two games.