This game went how many thought it would. The Minnesota Vikings jumped out to an early lead and didn’t turn back, grabbing their first win of the season. On the contrary, the Houston Texans find themselves in a 0-4 hole to start the year.
The Vikings put up the game’s initial score in the first quarter on a Dalvin Cook touchdown to take a 7-0 lead, and they did not look back. As a result, Houston was never able to share the lead this game, and they would lose 31-23. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had a bit of a redemption game. In fact, he did not throw an interception this week and tossed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen. As expected, Cook had a field day against the Texans, rushing for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Furthermore, rookie wideout Justin Jefferson continued to connect with Cousins and surpassed 100 receiving yards for the second straight week.
Houston, however, continued to struggle on both sides of the ball. For one thing, quarterback Deshaun Watson dealt with pressure all game. However, he did manage to tack on some late-game yardage and totaled 300 passing yards. Watson also tossed two touchdowns to wideouts Will Fuller and Kenny Stills in the third and fourth quarters. Fuller also led the team in receptions (6) and receiving yards (108) on the day. Despite being behind all game, and not having any success running the ball, the Texans still decided to hand the ball off 26 times this game to their 33 pass attempts. However, they could not get any yardage on the ground this game, and their reluctance to let Watson throw was likely their downfall.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer outcoached Texans head coach Bill O’Brien in this one. The latter continued to make questionable play calls all game and didn’t let Watson be himself. When Watson was allowed to ball-out, the Texans had a late-game drive that saw them drive the field’s length and nearly tie the game. However, Fuller could not hold on to the touchdown pass, and with no timeouts left for the Texans, Cousins and the Vikings kneeled out the game.
Highlights
.@DeshaunWatson finds @Will_Fuller7 for the 24-yard TD! #WeAreTexans
📺: #MINvsHOU on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wvEEn0SFTV pic.twitter.com/yoQU7xRlmk— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2020
Watson tosses a 24-yard touchdown pass to wideout Fuller in the third quarter.
Hang all over @athielen19 and he’s still going to score.#Skol
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/v0NT5FlnAu
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 4, 2020
Cousins fires a pass into the back of the endzone to his wideout Thielen.
So.
Good.@JJettas2
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/iENGSTDwTI
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 4, 2020
Cousins airs it out to rookie Jefferson on a crucial third down.
Running so angry 😡😡😡
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/ph2z0UExgg
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 4, 2020
Cook rumbles into the endzone, breaking several tackles in the second quarter.
The Texans cannot stop the running game this season or get much pressure on the quarterback. This combination allowed Minnesota to mix up the playcalling and keep the defense guessing every play. Houston’s defense is going to need to improve if they want to win this year. This was the third game where they allowed 30 or more points.
For Minnesota, the secondary will need to be more consistent. When Houston was smart, and they passed, they had success against the young Viking cornerbacks. However, if they continue to get early leads, they can hand it off to Cook for the rest of the game and eat plenty of time off the clock.
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Main Image Credit:
Embed from Getty Images
