Darnold, defense do it again as Vikings blast Texans

Between top-notch QB play and elite defense, the Vikings ran Houston out of their building

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By Matthew Coller

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings are legit, folks.

At US Bank Stadium on Sunday, the Vikings smashed the Houston Texans in a prove-it victory coming off their impressive win last week. In every phase of the game, they outperformed Houston, flustering CJ Stroud on defense and creating big plays on offense. They are showing all the signs of a contender and have raised the bar greatly from the opening of the season.

Here’s how the win over Houston went down….

CJ Stroud was instantly introduced to the Vikings’ newly-dangerous defense on the first two snaps of the game. On first down, he completed a pass down the middle but the referees walked it back 10 yards due to holding. The second play of his career against the purple ended up as a turnover. Stroud’s pass was tipped up in the air by Harrison Phillips and intercepted by linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill.

Sam Darnold and the offense took over at Houston’s 21-yard line. Darnold whipped a pass to the outside toward Justin Jefferson for his first completion of the day and an easy first down. Calamity nearly struck with Darnold scrambled and tossed the ball underhanded to Aaron Jones but the play was ruled an incomplete pass. Two plays later, the mobile QB scrambled out of pressure and flipped an easy touchdown to Jefferson to take full advantage of Houston’s miscue.

What a way to start the day: Less than three minutes in, already up seven.

Stroud got the ball back and felt the wrath again right away. He struggled to find an open receiver on first down and was taken down for a short gain and then the Texans picked up a couple yards on the ground. Facing the possibility of falling way behind the eight ball, Stroud patiently delivered a first-down pass to Stefon Diggs. And then he did it again against a blitz for another first down.

The Texans then caught a serious break from the referees. A checkdown to Dalton Schultz resulted in Grugier-Hill ripping the ball from the tight end’s hands for a fumble. However, despite Schultz appearing to grab the ball and bring it in, the play was overturned, keeping the Texans offense on the field.

Stroud scrambled for a 10-yard gain and then converted on fourth down to keep the drive going. But the Vikings defnese wasn’t done making its presence known. For whatever reason, the Texans’ pass protection allowed Jonathan Greenard to be lined up against a tight end. Greenard blasted Cade Stover for a sack and Houston missed a field goal.

Ball don’t lie.

With 4:31 left in the first quarter, the Vikings took over at mid field. Kevin O’Connell drew up a pretty play-action pass and Darnold found Jefferson open over the middle for 28 yards. The strategy of throwing to No. 18 all the time is bold, yet effective.

Inside the Houston 10-yard line, the Vikings ran Jefferson out of the backfield and Jones on a crossing route from the other side of the field. The Texans were confused and left Jones wide open for a touchdown. 14-0 just like that. Whew.

Things kept going sideways for the Texans even when it looked good. Stroud hit a third-down pass in the middle of the field for a conversion but it got called back for illegal motion. Then he scrambled inti a big hit, forcing the Texans to punt. Stroud hasn’t had too many quarters this miserable. A testament to what the Vikings have on defense.

To start to second quarter the Vikings’ offense hit its first stumbling block, committing an illegal motion penalty of their own that negated a first down and then jumping offside. Ryan Wright punted out of his own end zone, blasting a 54-yarder to flip the field.

The Texans, in need of getting something going, pulled out some trickery. On third down, Stroud threw behind the line of scrimmage to Stefon Diggs, who passed it back across the field for a completion and a first down that brought Houston onto Minnesota’s side of the field.

But US Bank Stadium got in its bag. Houston had three straight false start penalties and then an illegal formation. From field goal position to punting away. You simply will not see an offense run by Stroud looking this shook…ever.

Getting the ball back with around eight minutes left in the half, the Vikings had a dagger opportunity. O’Connell, who has learned how to throw screens since Aaron Jones got here (probably not a coincidence), dialed one up for a big gain to mid-field to start the drive. The drive went no farther though as the Vikings jumped offside and then Darnold’s third-down pass was broken up while he was under pressure from Danielle Hunter.

Games are shaped by the end of the half. Houston got the ball pushed back in their own zone with 5:46 to go and still down 14. The Texans decided to go for a patient approach, hitting a screen for a first down and then finding Diggs to move the chains again. Stroud then made a filthy throw on third-and-long for a completion to Tank Dell but it was negated by another penalty. Who would have thought we’d have to look up the most false starts and illegal motions in a single game?

With another dagger chance, Darnold opened his two-minute drill with a completion to Jefferson to kickstart the drive but it fizzled out as the Texans started to get pressure. Whether it was the O-line finally giving way to the Texans’ rush or O’Connell sending a bunch of deep routes (or both), Darnold looked vulnerable in the pocket for the first time and the Vikings had to punt again.

With 0:34 left in the half, Stroud had a shot at getting Houston back in the game with a completion to Diggs to start the drive but Andrew Van Ginkel sacked him in the backfield to end one of the most dominant halves of football we have seen from the Vikings defense since 2017.

Per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert: “The Vikings blitzed C.J. Stroud on 12 of his 21 dropbacks (57%). It's working. He's 5-for-11 with 49 yards and an interception on those plays.”

Onto the second half…