The unbeaten Minnesota Vikings, the surprise package of the NFL season, held on for a fifth straight win with a nail-biting 23-17 victory over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who was drafted by the Jets and then released after three seasons, was well contained by the Jets defense but crucially Minnesota were able to stop Aaron Rodgers at the death.

Rodgers led a 10-play drive as New York searched for a touchdown to win the contest but on 3rd & 10, the Jets quarterback's attempted pass to Mike Williams was picked off by Stephon Gilmore.

It didn't look like being a close contest after the Vikings had opened up a 17-0 lead in the second quarter after they followed up a field goal with a 63-yard interception return from Andrew Van Ginkel.

C.J. Ham then ran in from two yards but the Jets gave themselves some hope with Rodgers moving out of the pocket and finding Allen Lazard at the back of the end-zone to make it 17-7 at the half.

The Jets trailed 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter before Rodgers found Garrett Wilson with a one-yard pass and when the Vikings could only manage a field goal in response, the outcome was in Rodgers' hands.

But the former Green Bay quarterback, who finished with 244 passing yards and two touchdowns, gave up his third interception of the game to leave the Jets on 2-3.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers suffered their third defeat of the campaign with a surprise 24-23 loss to NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals.

The 49ers, beaten in the Super Bowl by the Kansas City Chiefs last season, led 23-10 at half-time but Kyler Murray found Elijah Higgins with a two-yard touchdown pass which was followed by a two-point conversion.

A 35-yard Chad Ryland field goal put the Cardinals a point up but 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had the ball with 1:37 remaining only to be intercepted by Kyzir White, ending the contest.

Elsewhere, the Washington Commanders moved to 4-1 on the season, for the first time since 2008, after a 34-13 win over the struggling Cleveland Browns.

Washington's rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a 41-yard touchdown to Dyami Brown just before half-time to send the Commanders in with a 24-3 lead.

Bryan Robinson Jr. had two rushing touchdowns for the Commanders on what was another miserable day for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. (AFP)