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Last year, the Vikings won just three times at home. It was their worst year at U.S. Bank Stadium with fans allowed in the stadium.
Even in the preseason, when the Vikings were playing for a comeback win against the Las Vegas Raiders, it was clear how much Kevin O’Connell was upset about not winning at home. After a surprise win against the San Francisco 49ers a week ago, the Vikings scored their most lopsided victory since 2019 with another victory over an undefeated team that came to Minneapolis as favorites.
Their 34-7 victory over the Houston Texans, their biggest since a 39-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 15, 2019, was the most dominant of O’Connell’s tenure. Offensively, they caught four touchdown passes from Sam Darnold. Defensively, they sacked CJ Stroud five times and sent him to only the second game of his career with multiple interceptions, holding the Texans scoreless until a third-quarter touchdown that made the game 21-7. But the Vikings closed the game with three more scoring drives, with Will Reichard kicking a 58-yard field goal and stopping Houston in the red zone, ending the game with just seven points allowed.
Why it happened: The Vikings’ 11 sacks in two games and a convincing win over the 49ers that followed their six-point performance against the New York Giants created excitement around the NFL about a Brian Flores defense that had added a nuance or two to the pressure packages it used in 2023. That excitement isn’t likely to fade after this game, a dominant performance that left a high-powered Texans offense searching for answers all day. The Vikings gave up one of their first big plays of the year, a 34-yard pass from Stroud to Nico Collins, but their rush and coverage schemes were again too much for a young QB to decipher.
What it means: The Vikings are 3-0 and one of only two undefeated teams in the NFC (the other, Seattle, plays this afternoon). Two impressive wins in a row against 2023 playoff teams – this time without Dallas Turner, Ivan Pace, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson – cemented the notion that the Vikings are a force in the NFC. A team that couldn’t shake off its opponents a year ago now has two wins by 20 or more points and has finished winning at home for the second straight week.
Gameplay: On a third-and-2 attempt from the Texans’ 8-yard line, the Vikings lined up Justin Jefferson in the backfield and sent him on a wheel route that drew coverage from the middle of the field. O’Connell called for a mesh concept from Aaron Jones and Johnny Mundt with crossing routes from opposite ends of the formation, and Mundt’s route created a moving screen for Jones to find space in the middle of the coverage. Darnold threw him an eight-yard touchdown pass that made it 14-0.
