NFL Week 3 live updates: Inactives, schedule, kickoff times, matchups, odds and predictions
By Alec Lewis, Zak Keefer and Amos Morale
Sam Darnold matched his career-high with four touchdown passes as the Minnesota Vikings continued their hot start to the season with a 34-7 victory against the Houston Texans.
Darnold was once again sharp and Minnesota’s defense was stout as the Vikings picked up their third win of the season and handed the Texans their first loss.
Minnesota’s defense held Houston to just 4-of-14 on third down and intercepted Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud twice.
How have expectations for the Vikings’ season changed?
Never once has it been more apparent than with three minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Sunday’s victory over the Texans. Darnold was pulled down to the turf from behind. He remained on the ground, rolling uncomfortably and tugging at his left knee. Trainers jogged out to check on him, and the entire U.S. Bank Stadium crowd held its breath.
This was a man multiple teams had passed on, a man most expected to be a bridge for rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Now, his presence was so pivotal that Vikings fans felt pits in their stomach. Darnold limped to the sideline, visited the medical tent, then returned to “MVP” chants and drove the Vikings down the field. Darnold had four touchdowns on 17-of-28 passing with no interceptions. His success mirrors Minnesota’s in that it all must be taken seriously. — Alec Lewis, Vikings staff writer
How about Brian Flores’s Vikings defense?
Minnesota entered thinking it could offer Stroud one of the toughest tests of his Vikings career. The Vikings did, intercepting him twice, and forcing him to hang his head on the sideline multiple times. Last week, young 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy told Brian Flores after the game that Minnesota had a “crazy scheme.”
Stroud probably felt similarly Sunday, tallying a suboptimal 68.6 passer rating on 20-of-31 with 215 yards and only one touchdown. The Vikings pressured Stroud throughout the afternoon and mixed coverages perfectly. Former Texans edge rusher Jonathan Greenard notched three sacks against his former team, making it three weeks with three notable performances from offseason additions. Andrew Van Ginkel starred in Week 1, Blake Cashman excelled in Week 2 and now Greenard. — Lewis
A frustrating day for the Texans
What an absolute dud for a Texans team that entered Sunday as a heavy favorite in the AFC South and a bonafide contender in the conference. They still might be, but this was a pretty discouraging afternoon of football: five first-half drives netted the Texans exactly zero points, and they were dogged by bad offensive line play and too many penalties (three false starts in a row?!?).
The game was never close after that. The defense gave up four passing touchdowns to Darnold, and Stroud and the offense managed just three conversions on 12 third downs. This game proved Darnold and Minnesota are for real, and revealed that the Texans might have a ways to go before they belong in the same conversation as the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens. — Zak Keefer, NFL staff writer
(Photo: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)
