Vikings hang on to beat Texans 31-23, get first win of 2020
Dalvin Cook #33 of the Minnesota Vikings scores on a short run against the Houston Texans during the first quarter at NRG Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Houston, Texas. ((Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - It took nearly a month and they had to hang on until the very end, but the Minnesota Vikings set aside a week of schedule changes and COVID-19 uncertainty to beat the Houston Texans 31-23, avoid an 0-4 start and get their first win of the season.
The week started with players and team staff having to clear TCO Performance Center Tuesday after the Tennessee Titans had a COVID-19 outbreak following playing the Vikings in Minneapolis. They did their work virtually on Wednesday, and had two daily COVID-19 tests done up until leaving for Houston on Saturday, with zero positives.
Coach Mike Zimmer said after the win that a starting player had a false positive point-of-contact test Sunday morning, and three other players had inconclusive tests that forced all four to be re-tested before they got to NRG Stadium. All tests were then clear, and it was back to football.
Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen all had 100-yard days and combined for three touchdowns, and Kirk Cousins threw for 250 yards in the Vikings’ first win of the season.
“Our guys overcame a lot of things during the week as far as all the different things that the league had us do. We even had a couple things happen before the game that we had to overcome. I was proud of the resiliency in the team today. It was good to get a win,” Zimmer said.
Already down Mike Hughes and with other key defensive contributors out, the Vikings' defense had to overcome losing Harrison Smith late in the first half. The veteran safety was ejected after being flagged for a hit on a defenseless receiver, Jordan Akins. Zimmer was not happy with the ejection, which he said came from the league office.
“I love Harrison Smith like he’s my son. My issue is the quarterbacks can throw the ball in the middle of the field and there’s no repercussions whatsoever. Harrison not a dirty player, he’s never been a dirty player and I feel like he tried to get his shoulder in there. The league office ejected him,” Zimmer said. “They want to give us a penalty? Fine. But don’t eject guys. This guy is one of the best players in the NFL and one of the best people in the NFL. He’s not a dirty player. That’s what irritated me.”
The Vikings took the early lead on Cook’s 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then added to it with a Dan Bailey field goal for a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. Cook’s second touchdown of the day, from eight yards out, gave the Vikings a 17-3 lead in the first half. The Titans got inside the Vikings' 10-yard line after Smith's ejection, but couldn't get a touchdown and settled for a field goal, a 17-6 score at the half.
Cook finished the day with 27 carries for 130 yards and two touchdowns, and 146 total yards. That's after 181 rushing yards, and 199 total yards last week. Cook got 29 of Minnesota's 65 offensive snaps. The Vikings collected 410 total yards, 24 first downs and had the ball for more than 36 minutes, 13 more than the Texans.
Cook said after the game he told Smith in the locker room at the half they would get the win for him.
“I told him personally we're bringing this back to the locker room for you. It wasn’t perfect at the end, but we brought it back and that’s what it’s about in the NFL, just winning football games,” Cook said.
Without Smith in the secondary, the Texans took advantage in the second half with 10 straight points to cut the Vikings’ lead to 17-16. Deshaun Watson hit Will Fuller for a 24-yard touchdown to start that run.
The game looked like it might turn against the Vikings after Bailey missed wide right from 55 yards out, but it was at that point Kirk Cousins got more aggressive throwing the ball. He led the Vikings on a pair of touchdown drives to give Minnesota a 31-16 lead. Cousins hit Jefferson for a 20-yard gain on a long third down to keep the first drive alive, then hit Kyle Rudolph for 19 yards.
The drive ended with Cousins hitting Thielen for a 9-yard touchdown and a 24-16 lead.
Following a Texans’ 3-and-out, Cousins again hit Thielen and Jefferson for big plays. Alexander Mattison capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown and 31-16 Vikings lead.
“I told Kubs during the game, I said go ahead and be aggressive here. I said don’t be afraid to throw the ball. Kirk made some great throws, and he got some help from Jefferson and Thielen,” Zimmer said.
Jefferson and Thielen combined for 12 catches and 217 yards in the win. Just four games into his career, Jefferson leads the NFL with eight catches of at least 20 yards. Four of them came Sunday. He had a key third down conversion on a back shoulder throw that the duo admitted they haven't practiced.
Without the benefit of a preseason, and just four games and two starts into his career, it's easy to see why the Vikings took him with the No. 22 pick they got that sent Stefon Diggs to Buffalo. Jefferson is becoming a star.
"After he adjusted and found the ball and made the catch and kept his feet inbounds and finished the play, I looked at whoever I was with and I said '18 can play.' That’s not easy to do. Some of the things he’s doing, it’s just raw ability," Cousins said.
Jefferson said the slow start to the season was enough motivation for his second straight big game.
“Being 0-3 to be honest. Nobody in this locker room wants to be 0-3. We want to win, we want to have a winning season and we want to get to the Super Bowl,” Jefferson said. “In order to do that, we have to come out here with all 22 players and fight to the last second.”
They had to do just that. The Texans answered with Watson hitting Kenny Stills on a 4th-and-10, on a busted coverage, for a 24-yard score to cut the deficit to 31-23 with 5:52 remaining.
The Texans had one more drive with two minutes to play, needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to potentially force overtime. Watson drove them down to the 5-yard line and appeared to hit Will Fuller for a touchdown, but the call was overturned after replay showed the ball hit the ground as he was trying to complete the process of the catch.
The Vikings could go into victory formation, everyone could exhale. After allowing more than 100 yards rushing in three straight weeks, Minnesota allowed 96 to Texans, and just 63 to David Johnson. The Vikings also limited the Houston to 3-of-13 on third down conversions.
“Any time you can get a win in this league, it’s great. It’s a tough league to win in, no matter who you are or wherever you play. Coming here wasn’t any pressure, it was just let’s go out and do what we do. Just playing football,” safety Anthony Harris said.