The Sept. 8 rout of the Giants at MetLife Stadium signified the start of a new Vikings era.

Carrying momentum through the Sept. 15 home-opening win over reigning conference champion San Francisco was big, and laying waste Sept. 22 to the Texans confirmed Minnesota must be taken seriously.

The wins are piling up.

Statements in rival territory at Lambeau Field on Sept. 29 and across the pond Oct. 6 in the London Games against archenemy Aaron Rodgers proved when Minnesota is dealt adversity it can withstand.

Each victory is full of significant moments. But if there's a single date capable of defining the 5-0 start, it's March 14 – when Minnesota made a batch of underappreciated players the prize of its free-agent class.

A handful of solid contributors re-signed with the club earlier last spring and a few other outsiders joined the likes of Sam Darnold, Aaron Jones, Sr., Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel after the initial frenzy of signings – as late even as Aug. 18. The free agency period has been extremely rewarding so far for the undefeated Vikings.

Since the team is resting on its bye this week – recovering and looking ahead to its Week 7 tilt with the Lions – we've laid out a couple win-shaping plays and big-picture stats courtesy Minnesota's newcomers.

This rundown highlights 10 veteran players balling out in their first season in Purple. It's not comprehensive, however, as several signings are left off, such as wide receiver Trent Sherfield, Sr., who has three catches and is doing some really good dirty work, blocking run plays, on 79 offensive snaps.

Blake Cashman

Stat to know: Cashman's impact on quarterbacks is growing. In five games, the Vikings green dot player has paired 40 tackles with a personal-best five passes defended, tying his 14-game mark last season, and is one quarterback hit shy of his career high of five, which he registered consecutively in 2022-23.

Play to watch: Any of the 13 tackles Cashman was in on against San Francisco. Or maybe the snap where he got skinny between the guard and tackle like an expert pass rusher and sacked Brock Purdy. Or the two completely stretched-out PBUs in that game. Any of 'em qualify as special. But the play that dropped our jaw to the floor occurred in London on a second-and-10 with the Jets backed up at their 14-yard line. Cashman exploded out of his off-ball stance, slipped, regained his balance and powered into running back Braelon Allen who was squared up for pass protection. Cashman worked the left half of Allen's body, spinning inside when Rodgers started to climb the pocket, but the quarterback hop-stepped and peeled outside the pocket to his left. Cashman worked around a bend in nonstop pursuit and left his feet as Rodgers tried stopping his own feet to throw across his body. Cashman hung up in the air, extended his left arm and got a piece of Rodgers (or the ball) as it left his hand. Incomplete. Cashman was an action hero.

Sam Darnold

Stat to know: Minnesota's marriage of the run and pass is getting defenses to bite and serving Darnold well on play-action concepts. Darnold is 29-for-44 (65.9%) with 450 yards, five touchdowns and one interception on play-action passes according to Pro Football Focus. Darnold has attempted the fifth-most PA passes and is first in TDs and second in yards, behind Detroit's Jared Goff, in those circumstances.

Play to watch: The 97-yard dot to Justin Jefferson in Week 2, which traveled about 55 yards in the space-time continuum, is the easiest to remember. But we're rolling with a different play. Same game. On third-and-10 from San Francisco's 39-yard line, clinging to a three-point lead with 11 seconds left in the first half, Darnold scanned the field in an empty formation after the snap – and took off, scrambling up the middle and weaving ever-so-slightly right for a season-long run of 18 yards, enabling a field goal.

Stephon Gilmore

Stat to know: The last to the party in terms of signing date (Gilmore became part of the core in the middle of training camp) is first in Vikings fans hearts after his game-sealing interception of Rodgers in Week 5. Anyhow, "Gilly" shared a favorite stat: He's picked off Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Rodgers.

Play to watch: The aforementioned interception, obviously, as it pushed the Vikings to 5-0. Plus, it resembled Gilmore's last play under Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores when the latter called defensive plays for New England in its Super Bowl LIII win. A change of scenery, sure, but … final minutes, man coverage, throw toward the goal line, Gilmore ices the game. We've seen that before.

Jonathan Greenard

Stat to know: J.G. has produced five or more pressures in each game so far and is tied for second in the NFL with 29 total. Aside from a personal-best three sacks Week 3 against his old team, Greenard isn't getting a ton of love on the stat sheet – but his motor and ability to create havoc is noticeable on practically every rep.

Play to watch: Greenard was credited with a sack in Week 2 when he pushed Purdy out of bounds, but he didn't unveil his iconic high-kick celebration to the home crowd until the Texans were in town and he bullied his way to C.J. Stroud. On a second down in the first quarter, Greenard pancaked a tight end who was unfortunately tasked with trying to block him. Big mistake. It kickstarted J.G.'s hat trick of sacks.

Shaq Griffin

Stat to know: Griffin doesn't start but he's played more than half the defensive snaps in nickel or dime packages, which Flores adores. (We should note opponents have often been in passing situations, trying to overcome deficits against a Minnesota team that has trailed less than four of 300 minutes played this season.) The performance has been good. Griffin leads the Vikings secondary in passer rating against (39.6) and completion rate allowed on targets (42.9%).

Play to watch: Griffin was busy at Lambeau Field in Week 4, defending three passes and racing one back for a 28-yard interception return, the longest in his career – but four long yards short of the end zone! Still, it added insult to injury, positioning the Vikings for a quick scoring pass to Jefferson and a 28-0 lead.

Kamu Grugier-Hill

Stat to know: Grugier-Hill has intercepted two passes in 60 defensive snaps this season. Quarterbacks are 4-for-11 (36.4%) targeting him in coverage. The nine-year vet had three picks in his previous 2,520 snaps.

Play to watch: Grugier-Hill sapped the life out of Stroud and Houston's offense, nabbing a pick on a batted ball by Harrison Phillips on his first defensive play this season (the Texans were flagged for holding on the first snap of the game, for what it's worth). Talk about instant impact. But Grugier-Hill's second interception was crazier. In the final minute of the first quarter at Green Bay, the special-teams savage briskly dropped into the middle of the field after showing an A-gap pressure before the snap. Then, Grugier-Hill took a risk, leaving his post running with a tight end up the seam to cut on an in-breaking route. It surprised Packers receiver Christian Watson; Grugier-Hill dove through contact for the pick.

Aaron Jones, Sr.

Stat to know: Jones is tied for seventh in the NFL with 16 missed tackles forced according to PFF, good for an average of 3.2 per game, and is tied for fifth with five rushes so far of 15+ yards. Former Vikings starting RB Alexander Mattison delivered seven plays of that type over 16 games last season and averaged 2.3 missed tackles forced.

Play to watch: Jones ripped off a 39-yard run to Houston's 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter Week 3. It was fun and textbook Jones – bursting through the hole and slashing past the second and third levels. But Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips was rightfully more vocal about Jones' final carry in the 34-7 win. Needing a couple yards for his first game of 100 as a Viking, Jones toted the rock on second-and-4 with 7:04 remaining. One Texans defender got into the backfield. Miss. Another broke free of a block for a shot at Jones before he got past the line. Miss, again. Jones brushed off arm tackles, lowered his pads and churned his legs for 4 yards. Phillips called it one of the best 4-yard runs. It got Jones to 102.

Jerry Tillery

Stat to know: Tillery is one of the leaders of Minnesota's No. 2-ranked run defense, which is yielding 3.6 yards per carry and 67.2 yards per game (both marks trailing Baltimore). The Vikings are one of three teams that's given up only a touchdown on the ground through five games (also Giants and Steelers).

Play to watch: Tillery's first pressure this season may be his best so far. In the third quarter of Week 1 at New York, the 2019 first-round pick looked the part: He exploded into a stunt from the B-gap to the A-gap on the other side of the center; He nimbly angled his 6-foot-6, 295-pound frame into a crevasse, and he was dragged down, sparking a holding call, just as he was going to annihilate the quarterback.

Andrew Van Ginkel

Stat to know: "Gink" is the first player in NFL history with 3.0 sacks and multiple interceptions returned for a touchdown in the first five games of a season. Jason Taylor set the bar for most sacks, 13.5, and 2-plus pick sixes in a full slate in 2006, and Derrick Brooks compiled a LB-record three pick sixes in 2002.

Play to watch: Pick six Nos. 1 and 2 are great places to start. Van Ginkel also had a sequence near the goal line in the season-opener that foreshadowed his dominance. On a designed quarterback run from the Vikings 6-yard line, Van Ginkel kept his outside arm free while engaging a lead block, which forced Giants QB Daniel Jones to cut into the teeth of Minnesota's defense. Gain of 1. On the next snap, Van Ginkel crouched in the B-gap and rushed. The linebacker kept his eyes up, and as soon as Jones escaped the pocket, Van Ginkel stopped his attack and laid out to wrap him up for his first sack while wearing Purple.

Jihad Ward

Stat to know: Ward plays almost exclusively on passing downs and is responsible already for six quarterback hits. He's logged double digits in that category twice – 10 as a rookie in 2016 and 13 in 2022.

Play to watch: Finally, in his 104^th NFL game, Ward intercepted a pass. Welp. Not so fast! The tweener linebacker-defensive lineman aligned with his hand in the dirt parallel to Purdy on a third-and-15 late in the third quarter Week 2. From his stance over the center, Ward faked a pass rush – really he was staying clean, spying Purdy – and reacted when Purdy's "pass" awkwardly came out of his hand. Ward snatched it before it hit the turf and was tackled by the Niners QB at midfield. Ultimately, it was deemed a fumble. Regardless, Ward raced to pull out an awesome choreographed celebration in the opposite end zone.