Kevin O'Connell wants to give Vikings' fans game ball after 34-7 win over Texans
Vikings locker room reacts after 34-7 win over Texans
Vikings players Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Greenard, Aaron Jones, Cam Bynum, Stephon Gilmore, Garrett Bradbury, Harrison Smith and Brian O’Neill react from the locker room after a 34-7 win over the Texans on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium and a 3-0 start.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings are 3-0 for the first time since 2016 after a 34-7 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
J.J. McCarthy was watching as a fan like everyone else as he rehabs knee surgery, and went to social media during the third quarter to let the world know what he thinks of Sam Darnold. "Sam Darnold is good at football," McCarthy posted to X.
He’s not wrong. Darnold is playing the best football of his career. He tied a career-high Sunday with four touchdown passes, all to different receivers. His eight touchdown passes through 12 quarters currently leads the NFL.
"Sam Darnold was really, really good all day long. I’m just really proud of him, another day for really good quarterback play," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said after the win.
The big play
The Vikings got the first big play of the game, and it came on defense with Kamu Grugier-Hill filling Ivan Pace Jr.’s spot on defense. Harrison Phillips tipped a C.J. Stroud pass at the line, and Grugier picked it off on the first series.
The Vikings turned it into seven points, with Darnold hitting Justin Jefferson for a 5-yard touchdown and a 7-0 first quarter lead.
Darnold’s big day
Darnold continues to look comfortable and make plays in Kevin O’Connell’s system. He finished the first half 10-of-16 for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He finished 17-of-28 for 181 yards, and four scores, to Jefferson, Aaron Jones, Jalen Nailor and Johnny Mundt.
"Sam is the leader of the team, he’s the captain. It was a great job for him getting us this win. We just dominated all around," Jefferson said. "No matter who we’re going up against, how many people are doubting us or him, he’s going out there confident and just being himself."
Most importantly, he avoided catastrophic mistakes. Darnold also survived an injury scare, taking a low hit from Danielle Hunter in the third quarter to his left knee. He missed one play before returning to a standing ovation.
"The fans’ reaction meant everything to me. Not only that, my entire time here in Minnesota has been amazing with the fans," Darnold said.
He also did not want to speculate on if the injury will force him to miss time.
Aaron Jones receiving TD, no Bank Vault?
Aaron Jones gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead with an 8-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter from Darnold. Earlier this week, Jones said he would do a "Bank Vault" after his first touchdown in a Vikings’ home game. He did a dance, but didn’t jump into the crowd like he did at Lambeau Field.
Jones had 148 yards from scrimmage on the day, and his first 100-yard rushing day with with the Vikings.
The U.S. Bank Stadium home field advantage
Vikings legend Cris Carter tweeted during the first half, "Vikings home crowd is best home field advantage in NFL currently. Texans can’t run their offense."
Fans inside U.S. Bank Stadium were so loud on one Texans’ drive in the first half that they were flagged for four straight penalties. Three of them were false starts, and head official Shawn Hochuli did everything he could not to laugh. It got so bad that Stefon Diggs had to rally the offense on the sideline. The Texans were just 4-of-14 on third down, and many of their 11 penalties were pre-snap because of crowd noise.
O'Connell said he wanted to give every fan inside the stadium Sunday a game ball.
"For budget reasons I can’t give every single one of our fans a game ball, but they certainly deserve it," O'Connell said. "I think we’ve got the best fans in the National Football League, not particularly close. It just kind of feels like a little bit of a tidal wave. Our players feed off it. When fans are willing to show up and willing to have the type of performance they had, we like rewarding it."
Cam Bynum got an interception in the fourth quarter for the Vikings’ second turnover. Jonathan Greenard had three sacks against his former team. Andrew Van Ginkel had a sack, and Jalen Redmond joined the sack party in the fourth quarter. For the second straight week, the Vikings’ defense had five sacks and got two turnovers.
The Vikings are 3-0, and there’s nothing flukey about it. That's after expectations outside the team were not high.
"I told the guys last night I’m not all that concerned about who or what is said about our team. We keep doing what we’re doing, there will be plenty of things to be talked about that they deserve it," O'Connell said.