Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor (83) catches a 4-yard touchdown pass in front of Houston Texans safety Jimmie Ward during the second half of an NFL football game on Sept. 22 in Minneapolis.Bruce Kluckhohn/The Associated Press
Sam Darnold matched his career high with four touchdown passes, and the undefeated Minnesota Vikings used another dominant performance on defence to trounce C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans 34-7 on Sunday.
Jonathan Greenard had three of the four sacks of Stroud, his former teammate, as the Vikings (3-0) intercepted the 2023 AP NFL offensive rookie of the year twice while rattling the Texans (2-1) with their aggressive and unpredictable scheme – and the crowd noise that cranked up with each stop.
Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones for scores in the first quarter on third down plays inside the 10. In the second half, he delivered a touchdown to Jalen Nailor for the third straight game and got tight end Johnny Mundt one, too.
Jefferson had six catches for 81 yards and Jones rushed 19 times for 102 yards and caught five passes for 46 yards for the Vikings, who were a trendy pick for last place in the NFC North but have beaten back-to-back contenders to start their home slate against San Francisco and Houston.
Darnold went 17 for 28 for 181 yards without a turnover and also tied his career best with a three-game winning streak as a starter, a feat the 2018 third-overall draft pick hadn’t accomplished in three years. He left the game to get his left knee checked after a late hit penalty on former Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter, but he came back to a loud roar after being cleared by the medical staff.
The Vikings improved to 6-0 all time against the Texans, who finally scored with 3:56 left in the third quarter on a pass from Stroud to Cam Akers, who spent part of last season with the Vikings and got his first start with the Texans with Joe Mixon injured.
Stroud went 20 for 31 for 215 yards. This was the first time in 10 starts he’d been picked off.
Stroud’s first pass was swatted at the line by Harrison Phillips, sending the ball straight back to linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill for a gift-wrapped interception he returned to the 21. Darnold scrambled left six plays later and found Jefferson open in the front corner of the end zone for the early lead.
The Vikings nearly took another turnover deep into Houston territory when Grugier-Hill wrestled a short pass away from tight end Dalton Schultz and Stephon Gilmore scooped up the ball for a romp to the 25. The play was ruled incomplete after a long review, but after Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 54-yard field-goal attempt went barely wide right – his first miss of the season – the Vikings again seized their field-position momentum and scored in six plays on a short throw to Jones.
The Vikings had full respect for the talent the Texans presented, starting with the 2023 second-overall draft pick in Stroud as the centrepiece of this on-the-rise team, but they were confident their aggressive and unpredictable defence would present problems of its own.
Greenard, one of three ex-Texans in the mix for the Vikings, had the first sack of Stroud in the first quarter by steamrolling rookie tight end Cade Stover.
The Texans were clearly off-kilter with the crowd noise that fed off the pressure generated by defensive co-ordinator Brian Flores and his protégés, with six of seven first-half penalties coming prior to the snap.