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The Vikings are 5-0 on the heels of a 23-17 win over the Jets and plenty of tributes to London.

Minnesota's Harrisons (Smith and Phillips) each recorded sacks and dressed to parts in Peaky Blinders, the British drama.

Safeties Camryn Bynum and Joshua Metellus threw it back to The Parent Trap, showing their age.

Football is fun, and winning football leads to more fun, especially after felling a longtime nemesis when Stephon Gilmore locked up the game by recording Minnesota's third interception of Aaron Rodgers. It was just the sixth time in 236 regular-season games for Rodgers to have three picks in a game.

With the bye hitting in Week 6, the Vikings stayed behind for one more night in London before flying back Monday.

Although the trip is not complete at the time of this writing, the football operations and all support staffs should be proud of the lineman's work they do to work through complex logistics of moving people and things to multiple locations. I won't name names, but I have heard of colleagues who have woken up in the middle of nights thinking about some aspect of this trip. And others who have spent their entire time during a daily workout without it leaving their minds.

I'm constantly impressed every week that involves a road trip, but this one is even more impressive.

This is now the third time I've received the tremendous opportunity to cover the Vikings in London (along with 2017 and 2022). I am sincerely grateful for the tremendous hospitality that has been enjoyed in the United Kingdom and another electric atmosphere at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

I'd also like to congratulate all the participants who ran from Minneapolis to St. Paul on Sunday, including my wife, who completed the 10-miler despite not having much time to train.

Lastly, I'm writing this while the TV in my hotel room has German announcers for the Giants-Seahawks game. I'm not able to comprehend much, but one just said in English, "Don't sleep on the Minnesota Vikings."

Sam Darnold was able to return after missing one play that followed a big hit by former Viking Chazz Surratt, but Aaron Jones, Sr., left the game during the first quarter with a hip injury.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell was asked for an update on Jones after the game and said not much was known yet.

"He was kind of feeling it early on and tried to work through it," O'Connell said. "I think it was one of those things as it started to take a turn, hopefully we avoided anything major by getting him out of there."

O'Connell is scheduled to have a media session on Tuesday, so an update on Jones is likely to occur at that point.

What a game. Rodgers throws two picks to the Vikings in the first quarter. I am certain that has never happened before.

Offense not the same without Aaron Jones — too bad he was injured and hope it is not serious. More disappointing play heading into halftime? Below are my 3 Ups and 3 Downs for the game:

UPS:

1. Nice start to game. Back-to-back three-and-outs to open the game by our defense. And a nice opening drive by the offense for a FG, followed by Andrew Van Ginkel's pick six and then a second interception.

2. Great TD-scoring drive by the offense late in the second quarter. Nicely called and nicely executed.

3. Fourth quarter defensive stand for the win. Very nicely done.

DOWNS:

1. Wasted opportunity on the second pick. Third-and-2 and you pass long on the sideline to Justin Jefferson when you have the easy dump off for first down? Then on fourth-and-2, you throw a bomb? Gift to the Jets.

2. More careless and foolish play late second quarter. Starting with a penalty by Jay Ward on the punt return that costs us 25 yards of field position followed by help for the Jets with the clock, delay of game penalty, and a three-and-out. Then, of course, poor punt coverage and the Rodgers TD pass. All of this starts with the gross special teams penalty on the received punt at 2 minutes. Weak play heading into halftime is getting old. This is just another version of how we gave away our 28-0 halftime lead against the Packers last week. Aaron Rodgers and the Jets just say thank you very much.

3. Our punt teams, both receiving and coverage. They both gave key and repetitive advantage to the Jets, and Aaron Rodgers took advantage. They have to get better; they have to play smarter.

Another close win. Looking forward to the Lions after the well-deserved bye.

Respectfully,

— Jeff Ludwig

That was just the 20^th game in which Rodgers had thrown two or more interceptions and the second time when facing the Vikings (Oct. 24, 2010). Jared Allen, who was inducted to the London Games Ring of Honour at halftime with Osi Umenyiora, picked off Rodgers in the first quarter of that game, and Madieu Williams nabbed one in the second quarter.

Rodgers had never thrown two interceptions in one first quarter against anyone.

That's now 300 minutes of Vikings football and playing from behind for a total of 3:26 this season.

Minnesota has been consistent in building a lead one way or another and has ultimately protected the margin with various methods.

Both offenses struggled, and the Vikings special teams had an up-and-down day.

Placekicking was great — and much appreciated by the locals — and Ryan Wright and the coverage team pinned the Jets deep in their territory two times, but the Jets were getting a good bit of traffic around punt returner Brandon Powell, which can result in some bad outcomes if not fixed.

Darnold took a big hit to his right side in the first half against the Jets and did not look the same after. Kudos to him for still leading us to a win.

Our defense continues to shine.

5-0. Talking heads can stick that in their pipe and smoke it.

— Gary L.

The "Samtember” stats did not extend to October in London, but he showed grit, determination and perseverance to get through a tough game against a talented Jets group.

Darnold was 14-of-31 for 179 yards. He was sacked four times and intercepted once, finishing with a passer rating of 50.3.

But inside six minutes remaining with the game at 20-17, Darnold confidently drilled a throw down the middle to Jefferson for 25 yards on a second-and-9. He added a 20-yard completion to Johnny Mundt on second-and-12 during the possession to move the ball within Will Reichard's range.

The possession consumed 2:57 and resulted in a 23-17 lead, forcing the Jets to try to chase a touchdown in the final 3:07.

Why was our offense so atrocious? Darnold needs to remember that he has other options than Jefferson. We got some flags, but he forced too many.

— Brent

There could be multiple factors — emphasizing not excuses — that worked in conjunction to make it a tough day for the offense.

The Jets have talent and make it tough on offenses. The length of the trip (mileage and time zones) and midweek timing of the departure could put everyone out of sync. Both offenses seemed to struggle with some penalties and drops, in addition to facing tough opponents.

From the "all 22" perch I had, it seemed like there were a couple of missed opportunities that will show up on the game film — if they haven't already been noticed.

Another close one, but a win is a win. I read several people being upset that we "let up" or "took the foot off the gas again." As much as the final score looks that way, I disagree. Here are just a few examples that disregard that notion.

Third-and-4, Darnold gets hurt and with a backup QB, we go empty backfield and throw for the first down.

After the Jets scored before the half, rather than kneel and go to the half, we dropped back to pass on consecutive plays.

Passing on first down several times with the lead throughout the game.

People seem to forget there's another team on the field when a team has the lead, and they get paid to make plays, as well. It's not like we took a knee. We just offensively were not as effective as needed to be, but those guys (Jets players) made some good plays, too.

Off to the bye with a 5-0 record is great. Hopefully we get some guys back healthy and the coaches get themselves a mental break, as well, and keep this thing going against a tough division game after a week off when we host a gritty Detroit Lions team.

SKOL.

— Brandon from Winona, Minnesota

Those are some good examples from Brandon about maintaining an aggressive mentality at different points. Aggressiveness is always good to check with what is needed in that part of the game, but O'Connell pointed to his belief in Flores as a reason he might be willing to take more chances.

I think coaches, players (and hopefully a Monday Morning Mailbag writer) will get some good sleep this coming week.

Roughing the kicker was huge. We need to eliminate those penalties. It gave the Jets life.

And

Our defense won the game for us. Three interceptions and multiple sacks gave us the win. Likewise, the Jets defense played a solid game. Their pressure and sacks kept them in the game. Looking ahead, how will we pressure Jared Goff?

— Gerald Goblirsch

The roughing the kicker penalty on Ivan Pace, Jr., definitely had an adverse impact on the Vikings.

Minnesota went from forcing a punt from the 14-yard line that Brandon Powell returned 35 yards to the New York 29-yard line. Instead, it was the Jets who had a first-and-10 from that yard line.

New York was able to develop a bit of rhythm and keep the ball an extra five minutes before settling on a field goal to make it 17-10 with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Vikings will have a little extra time to prepare for Goff and a high-powered Lions offense that was on bye in Week 5. Detroit (3-1) visits Dallas in Week 6.

Nothing beats winning! Even if it's by the skin of your teeth! We must raise our game time intellect a couple of notches: inexcusable false starts; NEVER touch the punter; block in the back! O'Connell's second half offensive play calling was NOT up to his standard! A huge shout out to Brian Flores and his assistants, to Will Reichard, who has been consistently great, and to Stephon Gilmore whose technique on coverage led to his "walk off" interception. Most defensive backs have eyes only on the receiver. Gilmore had eyes on Rodgers and kept peripheral vision on the receiver. Exceptional technique Stephon! 5 & 0 SKOAL!

— Randy in Las Vegas, Nevada

Reichard had a tremendous day, not showing any signs of 12 extra yards getting added to his first field goal. He calmly drilled the 54-yarder.

Gilmore's play on that back shoulder throw was so rock solid. He's brought such a calm presence to the cornerbacks, and it showed again Sunday at the most critical time.

The Vikings defense recorded three sacks, three interceptions, four tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits and nine passes defensed. Phillips also forced a fumble during his sack of Rodgers, but the QB quickly recovered the football.

Easily my favorite win of the season. Easily. Darnold wasn't as sharp as he's been. Jefferson dropped some balls and wasn't as productive. Reichard made his kicks, but I was using virtual body English on two of them. Special teams made mistakes. There were more penalties than usual. The defense only sent three pass rushers on both NYJ TDs, giving Rodgers too much time (a theme from last week). Aaron Jones got knocked out of the game early. And despite all of that, the Vikings beat a very talented team in a paradoxical home game on the road.

When your team gets a win playing less than their best football, to me THAT'S when you've got something special. An ugly win can be a beautiful thing. However, I never again want to see fewer than four pass rushers on a 'weighty down' in the red zone. Never!! Plenty to work on during the bye. That performance won't beat Detroit.

5-0 Skol celebration!!

— Jeff in Sacramento, California

The ease of the Texans game is probably more the exception than the norm.

It did seem like Rodgers had too much time on his two touchdown passes.

It's quite possible that the effectiveness level might not be enough to defeat Detroit in Week 7.

Vegas Viking. Grew up in Detroit Lakes and bleed purple. Big win. Need to clean up second half struggles.

Special teams great, and I love C.J. Ham's unselfish play and work. WOW to 43 (Van Ginkel) and defensive effort! Rest up, get ready for Lions after break. Great time for Hock (T.J. Hockenson) to be back in lineup. SKOL from Vegas baby!

— Donna Cusey

Kudos to Jeff and Donna and others for tuning, in despite an even greater time difference than those in the Central Time Zone.

In case you missed it, I wrote after the game about Ham's sixth career touchdown and how much he appreciated having his family in attendance for it. He's a captain and a difference maker for multiple reasons.

Van Ginkel playing both New York teams and recording a pick six against each within a five-game span is an incredible showing.

The Vikings opened Hockenson's 21-day window Friday and can return him to the 53-man roster at any point during that window, so he could be back as early as the game against the Lions or the Week 8 trip to face the Rams on Thursday Night Football.