Vikes Views: Sunday King Texans at Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings destroyed the Houston Texans 34-7 on Sunday. There is a lot of credit to go around.

Sam Darnold – Darnold’s stats aren’t crazy impressive from Sunday. 184 yards isn’t mind blowing at all. The 4 TDs and 0 INTs are obviously the key stats. The Texans turned the ball over 4 times on Sunday, Darnold protected the ball and was efficient in the red zone. That will win you a lot of games.

Aaron Jones – One reason Darnold didn’t have as many yards is because Aaron Jones was a beast. 102 yards on 19 carries and another 46 yards on 5 catches (6 targets). The Vikings went his way 25 times and he gained 148 yards (5.92 avg). He runs so hard and seemingly every time he nears the first down he gets it.

Jonathan Greenard – Greenard showed out against his former team. The 3 sacks were huge. CJ Stroud was never comfortable. All 3 of his sacks led to stops for the defense. The first was on a 2nd and 1. It seems like a guaranteed first down and he takes their free shot play and ends the drive. Just ran over the TE they tried to block him with. The 2nd was the Texans 1st drive of the 2nd half. He started them off with a sack and they punted 3 plays later. The 3rd was to get them in the comical 3rd and 26 that became 3rd and 21.

Brian Flores – Flores’ defense is phenomenal when he has the right players. Flores has hand picked that majority of the defense at this point. The veterans he has brought in have all immediately made an impact this year. Greenard, Grugier-Hill, Van Ginkel are all balling out. He had Laremy Tunsil seeing ghosts out there.

Kevin O’Connell – The entire team is gelling. This locker room is close. The offense is efficient. KOC is the leader of this group and I haven’t felt this good in a long time about the leadership in Minnesota. 3-0 and KOC has outcoached the opponent 3 weeks in a row.

Will Reichard – The man is perfect. Obviously not the most important field goal, but the 58 yarder was impressive. It had the length to go from 68. 6 for 6 on kicks is enough for a nominee from me.