Last week, the Buffalo Bills’ caught an incredibly lucky break when the Baltimore Ravens had franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson and longtime veteran second-stringer Tyler Huntley go down during the first two quarters of Sunday’s critical AFC battle.

And, it paid dividends for Buffalo on the scoreboard and in the stat book.

Now, it appears that Bills’ first-year defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s struggling unit might be receiving a second helping of that same luck entering Week 9 as it was announced after the recent game between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions that Vikings’ veteran quarterback Kyler Murray sustained some stiffness in his hamstring during the Week 8 loss to the Lions.

And, with that being the case, his availability for Monday night’s upcoming interconference primetime meeting between Buffalo and Minnesota is in question.

"We're still in the process of evaluating," Vikings’ head coach Kevin O'Connell said to media members on Monday. 

"We're going through a full (evaluation) of (Kyler’s hamstring) as we work through the day today. I'll be able to update you on that as we get into the work week.”

Questions swirling around Murray after recent news of hamstring stiffness

The news comes on the heels of the Vikings’ first loss of the season, which came at the hands of Detroit at Ford Field in Week 8, and there’s seemingly some rumblings about whether Murray should return to the lineup even if he’s healthy.

Despite O’Connell reiterating that the former 2019 No. 1 overall pick will remain the team’s starting quarterback when available, backup quarterback Carson Wentz has actually performed quite well in relief action so far this season.

Murray was removed from Minnesota’s season opener against the Green Bay Packers due to a concussion suffered in the first quarter of that game, and he subsequently missed Week 2, as well.

Kyler Murray is pretty easily playing the worst football of his career pic.twitter.com/Tmy2HoNKx2

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) November 2, 2026

In both outings, Wentz led the Vikings to victory while going a combined 23-of-39 passing for 276 yards and three touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 106.4.

Furthermore, Minnesota also scored the most points in a single game that it’s had so far this season with Wentz at the helm as the team put up 39 points against the Packers in Week 1, which is a far cry from the 18.4 points per game that the Vikings are averaging with Kyler Murray taking the snaps.

Murray vs. Wentz debate ahead of matchup on Monday Night Football

Needless to say, considering Murray is accounting for only 170.3 passing yards per game, 27.8 rushing yards per game, 0.8 total touchdowns per game, and 0.5 interceptions per game, the injury update for the former Arizona Cardinals’ franchise gunslinger might not be a bad thing, at least not for the Vikings.

And, adding in the fact that the aforementioned Wentz is actually 2-0 in his career against quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills, it makes the situation all the more interesting heading into the middle of the practice week.

In two games against Buffalo—one with Philadelphia in 2019 and one with Indianapolis in 2021—the North Dakota State product has a completion percentage of 63.6% (28-of-44 attempts) for 278 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and no interceptions, while also adding 10 rushing attempts for 53 yards on the ground and an average of 5.3 yard per carry.

Wentz’s teams have also outscored the Bills 72-28 in both of those outings.

So, who should Bills Mafia be rooting for to be in the Vikings’ starting lineup on Monday Night Football in the coming days?

Well, given the history of Wentz’s success against the Western New York franchise—coupled with Murray’s continued struggles in 2026—maybe fans should hope for a speedy recovery from Minnesota’s preferred starter.

Ultimately, this will be an area to monitor all week long. Stay tuned to Bills ON SI.