Texans-Vikings

 Finally.

It took four weeks for the Minnesota Vikings to get their first win of the season. It took a dropped fourth down pass to secure the win but they held on for a 31-23 win over the host Houston Texans. The Vikings are now 1-3. The Texans remain without a win at 0-4. 

Something had to give in this battle of teams that were surprisingly without a win. The schedule-makers weren't kind to either team. The Vikings opened with Green Bay, Indianapolis, and Tennessee. Those three teams combined for an 8-1 record entering Week 4. The Texans faced an even more brutal opening three weeks: Kansas City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh. Those three teams also combined for an 8-1 record. The one loss was the Ravens loss to the Chiefs. Something had to give in this game between teams without a win. 

The Vikings simply played better. It started with converting first downs, keeping the ball, controlling the clock, and finally winning the time of possession. 

Time of possession:

Vikings: 36:31

Texans: 23:29

And what a difference that made. The Vikings had only two three-and-outs against the Texans. Two is still two too many but those game-killers were somewhat routine through the first three weeks. 

Not only did the Vikings get their first win, they also played their first game without a turnover. There's surely a connection there. 

The most significant moment of the game might've been a mind-numbing decision by the officials and confirmed by their overseers in New York. That's the moment in the second quarter when Vikings safety Harrison Smith was tossed from the game for “targeting” the head of Texans tight end Jordan Akins. There's no disputing that the hit was deserving of a penalty. Smith dipped his helmet, always a no-no, and led with it. The hit looked more like one between Smith's shoulder and Akins' head. At worst, it was a glancing blow of helmets. I've seen loads of violent helmet-to-helmet hits that are the very reason for the punishment of tossing a player from the game and the offending player somehow remains in the game. This hit wasn't like any of those. If Nick Bosa wasn’t tossed for cheap-shotting Brian O’Neill in the playoffs last year, Smith shouldn’t have been tossed yesterday. Hell, I feel that if there's even a question whether a player should be tossed, he probably shouldn't be. This hit and the ridiculous punishment for it was very questionable. The loss of Smith was huge. The Texans immediately and effectively went after George Iloka. This game isn't close if Smith plays the entire game. 

The decision to toss Harrison Smith was so absurd that I wasn't sure how the officials would rule on the Texans' final offensive play of the game. DeShaun Watson's desperation fourth down toss to Will Fuller V was ruled a touchdown on the field. Replays showed clearly that the ground did more to secure the catch than Fuller's hands. It felt like it took an excruciating ten minutes for the replay people to come back with the easy ruling of incomplete pass. It was only then that the Vikings' first win felt secure. 

As terrible as the Vikings start to this season has been it might surprise a lot of people that the offense has scored at least 30 points in the three of the four games. It was only the Week 2 game against the Colts that the Vikings' offense was as impotent as their critics have claimed the 0-3 start to be. 

It was the Vikings' defense that improved over their play of the first three games. The defense wasn't great but they were better. The biggest defensive issue might've been that George Iloka isn't Harrison Smith. Then again, who is? Young corners Jeff Gladney, Cameron Dantzler, and Holton Hill gave up some plays but they also made some plays. That sort of thing was expected as Gladney and Dantzler are rookies but I like where they are. I like even more where they are soon going to be. 

Despite the rocky start to the season, the Vikings defense has shown a remarkable ability to keep opposing offenses out of the end zone after those offenses have marched down the field. The Texans' final four plays came from inside the six-yard line. Two of the those plays were from the one-yard line. It was awesome and excruciating to see.

Yannick Ngakoue notched his third sack of the past three games. With each game he looks more comfortable in the defense. I just wish that Danielle Hunter was playing on the other side of the line. Maybe, hopefully, in a few weeks. 

No offense to Mike Hughes, the Vikings need him back, but I really like the potential of the cornerback tandem of Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler. 

Some offensive standouts:

Dalvin Cook:

27 carries, 130 yards, 2 TDs

Adam Thielen:

8 catches 114 yards, 1 TD

Justin Jefferson:

4 catches 103 yards

-it was his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game

 

Thielen and Jefferson are rounding into a terrific receiving pair. 

While I don't think Kirk Cousins' passing game was as sparkling as it could've been he did well. He just missed on a few throws. He makes those, and I've seen him make those throws, and the Vikings cruise to this win rather than sweating it. 

His numbers:

16/22, 260 yards, 1 TD, 127.1

He outplayed the much more celebrated DeShaun Watson. 

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that not only did the Vikings get their first win of the season but they did so with a hacked-up week of preparation. With the balancing act that a global pandemic has forced on the league and each of the 32 teams it was expected that team, or teams, would be forced to deal with some hacked-up things. The Vikings played a football game last week against a team in the Tennessee Titans that was in the middle of COVID bloom. While each day of the past week brought news of Titans players and personnel testing positive for the virus each day brought news that no Vikings players and personnel tested positive. Last week's game was an incredible COVID experiment. A single game isn't scientifically conclusive but this game was an indication that a football game might not be a super-spreader. Imagine that, COVID can be spread more easily during a party in a Rose Garden than through the close physical contact of a football game. It's reassuring that the Vikings dealt with a difficult situation like professionals, handled a messed up week of preparation like professionals, and won their first game like professionals. 

Finally, the first win. Now, it's time to get the second. It's going to be tough as the Vikings travel to Seattle (again) for a Sunday night game against the undefeated Seahawks.