Vikings fans, defensive players both felt the momentum on Sunday
US Bank Stadium was its loudest in a long time and Vikings players felt it vs. Texans
By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — With 9:48 remaining in the second quarter, the Houston Texans shouldn’t have felt like they were in much trouble. Sure they were down 14 points but with plenty of time remaining in the game and the ball at the Minnesota 25-yard line, Houston could easily close the gap behind their young superstar quarterback.
As they lined up for third-and-4, safety Josh Metellus peeked up at the big board and saw that the noise meter read 120 decibels.
“I told 2-2 [Harrison Smith] that s— was loud,” Metellus said. “That’s probably the loudest it’s been since probably, what, the Minneapolis Miracle?”
When US Bank Stadium fans reach their peak volume, there is a reverberation effect off the roof that makes it sound like the rock-concert level decibels are coming from right on top of the field. The Texans felt the weight of the crowd in that key moment and jumped offside, pushing the Texans back to third-and-9.
Then they jumped offside again. Cam Bynum waved his hands in the air over and over, imploring them to amp up the level even more.
And then the Texans jumped offside again. From third-and-4 to third-and-19. When the Texans finally got a snap off — now out of field goal position — they did so from an illegal formation.
“Playing in US Bank Stadium is playing with 12 people, it really is an advantage,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said. “I’m sure the over-communication and complexity of our defense aids in that but if we were playing in an empty stadium that would not have happened.”
Cornerback Shaq Griffin felt that the crowd noise was reminiscent of his days with the Seahawks, where the stadium shakes so much it creates a small earthquake.
“That was something that we needed,” Griffin said. “They’re a team that likes to make checks and it’s hard to make checks against the defense when it’s too loud. I’ve been a part of a team like that before back in Seattle and that’s something that can effect the offense very well.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell opened his postgame press conference talking about the fans’ impact.
“For budget reasons, we can’t give every single one of our fans a game ball, but they certainly deserve it,” O’Connell said. “Really, really appreciate the energy from the jump, five false starts by the Texans today. They're part of the formula.”
Naturally every player and coach is going to praise their home crowd after a win, especially when their opponent struggles with the noise, but there is something more to the conversation. US Bank Stadium’s attendance for home games hasn’t changed, yet the feeling inside was a throwback to some of the best moments in the building’s history.
Something is happening here. The Vikings’ defense hasn’t won games like this since 2017. In recent years, the biggest moments in the game for the defense came along with more anxiety than excitement for the crowd.
Between 2020 and 2023, only the Detroit Lions allowed more total points and only four teams allowed higher passer rating to opposing QBs. Over the last two weeks, this defense has flummoxed two of the top passers from 2023 in Brock Purdy and CJ Stroud. The young Texans star went 20-for-31 with one touchdown, two interceptions and four sacks. They converted just four of 14 third downs.
“I told [Stroud] after the game -- I think he's one of the best quarterbacks in our league,” O’Connell said. “I think he's going to be it for a very long time. I'm a huge fan of C.J. Really always have been. But you could just feel… the stress of each snap and the potential based upon the looks that they were getting, what that was kind of doing. There's a little bit of kind of mental attrition that takes place where every snap you just don't really get a lot of plays where you can just call the play, snap the ball and just go.”
It wasn’t just the clutch defense and big plays, there is an energy to the Vikings’ defense that is visible from inside the stadium. They seem to thrive off each other making plays.
“A lot of guys that love playing with each other,” cornerback Stephon Gilmore said. “We trust each other, we communicate, we play hard, we tackle, we create turnovers. It’s fun playing with a lot of guys who don’t care who makes the play. Whenever the ball falls, that’s who we praise.”
It seems to be a combination of having so many veteran players in key positions along with Brian Flores’ scheme, which has been particularly menacing on opposing QBs, and the environment that has been created inside TCO Performance Center.
“There is a lot of purpose with joy and with a determined mindset throughout the week. It’s not like a, ‘ah, we gotta go to practice, we gotta go to meetings,’” safety Harrison Smith said. “There is none of that. We are doing stuff we all believe in and we like to work together… I enjoy coming to work and pretty much everybody does and I think that does something in the long run.”
The long run is going to start in Lambeau next week where the Vikings will take on another excellent offense, whether Jordan Love starts or not. In fact, it will be quite a while before they return to US Bank Stadium. The goal is for everyone to still feel the same way about the defense and the team overall when they come back against the Lions on October 20.
“What I'm trying to stress to our team is we must respect and understand who we're playing every single week because I think every team in this league is capable of playing at a really high level,” O’Connell said. “And if you don't play at a high level, none of that matters. The opponent, the circumstances of the game, we're going to continue to coach these guys up incredibly hard. We're going to demand a level of performance that our guys are responding to that. They're pushing it further. They want more. They want more scheme. They want more ownership of being able to drive this thing forward. This thing is really about the players in that locker room.”
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