MINNEAPOLIS — When Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold stepped onto the field Sunday with a chance to take down the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, he was missing some of his usual weapons.
Star receiver Justin Jefferson had just left the game on their previous drive with a quad injury, fellow receiver Jordan Addison was inactive with an injured ankle and tight end T.J. Hockenson was on the IR recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered last season.
The former No. 3 overall pick, however, wasn’t deterred.
Darnold completed 5 of his next 6 passes for 46 yards to march the Vikings into field goal range for a potential game-clinching field goal attempt. Kicker Will Reichard drilled the 27-yard field goal and Minnesota took a two-possession lead with just 3:30 remaining.
"When (Jefferson) goes down, there's so many moving (parts). It's musical chairs," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said. "I rely on those guys in that moment to try and piece together some plays on the fly there, and I thought — it was only for a field goal — but I thought it was our biggest drive of the day, for sure."
Darnold, who was a backup for the 49ers last season, finished the game 17 of 26 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to help the team start 2-0 for the first time since 2016.
On that final scoring drive, Darnold went 3-for-3 on third downs, including a 26-yard strike to Jalen Nailor on third-and-8 to help give their rookie kicker a more manageable field goal attempt to secure the victory.
“The amount of work that goes into that position on your quarterback journey when everybody decides that you cannot play — we always believed in him and it felt awesome to see him go do that thing,” O’Connell said. "I'm really proud of Sam Darnold."
There were plenty of questions entering the season about how Darnold would look in O'Connell's quarterback-friendly system. On Sunday, he supplied a few answers.
“Sam has been making a whole bunch of great decisions," Jefferson said. "We’ve got to just keep trusting in him to make those decisions."
Darnold's decision-making will once again be put to the test on Sunday when the Vikings welcome the Houston Texans, who currently possess the third-stingiest defense in terms of total yards. Here are a few other storylines entering Sunday's contest between the two unbeaten teams:
Pass rush continues to derail drives
The season is still very young, but the team's revamped pass rush is wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks. The Vikings currently lead the league with 11 sacks, including six on Sunday against the 49ers. Pat Jones II is leading the way with four sacks, despite being on the field for less than half of the defensive snaps.
"He played lights out," said Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores about Jones. "Just from his physicality in the run game on early downs — I know it's the sacks that everyone talks about — those are great, but there's a lot of other plays on early downs. ... He did a lot of nice things and two sacks (against the 49ers) on top of it, but it's those other snaps that I'm really looking at."
Familiar faces
The pass rush was somewhat of a question mark for the Vikings entering the season after parting ways with All-Pro edge rusher Danielle Hunter in the offseason. Hunter left Minnesota with the sixth-most career sacks in franchise history, but on Sunday, he'll line up across the Vikings as a member of the Houston Texans. And he won't be the only player Vikings fans will recognize.
Star receiver Stefon Diggs, the Minneapolis Miracle man, will also be at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday after the Buffalo Bills traded him to the Texans in the offseason. Cornerback Kris Boyd, who was drafted by the Vikings in 2019, and running back Cam Akers, who spent part of last season wearing Purple and Gold, are also on Houston's roster and could see the field Sunday against their former team.
Nailor continues to answer the call
Jalen Nailor just needed an opportunity. Coaches were high on the third-year receiver out of Michigan State after a promising preseason, but he wasn't expected to climb higher than No. 3 on the receiving depth chart with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison occupying the top two spots.
However, an injury to Addison in Week 1 against the New York Giants changed the game plan and Nailor immediately took advantage of the opportunity. Five plays after Addison went down, Nailor hauled in his first touchdown of the season — a 21-yard strike to the right side of the end zone.
Nailor filled in as the No. 2 receiver in Addison's absence against the 49ers and, again, found the end zone on a 10-yard pass midway through the third quarter. He later hauled in a crucial third-down catch on a drive late in the fourth quarter to set up the Vikings with a game-sealing field goal in the closing minutes.
With Addison's status uncertain for Week 3, Nailor has proven to be a reliable option should the second-yea receiver miss a second consecutive game.
"Speedy's been great ... It's not a surprise to us what he's been able to do out there," said Darnold. "Just gonna continue to trust him, along with the entire skill group. Crazy things happen during a season and guys are going to have to step up, and when their number is called, I know that they will."
Houston's triple threat
The Vikings secondary will have their hands full on Sunday as the Texans possess their own triple threat at receiver with Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell.
Collins currently leads the league in receiving with 252 yards, as well as one touchdown. He's coming off a year where he caught 80 passes for 1,259 yards and eight touchdowns as he's quickly becoming one of quarterback C.J. Stroud's primary targets.
Diggs, as most Vikings fans remember, is no stranger to making big plays. The Minneapolis Miracle Man was a rising star in Minnesota and quickly became an All-Pro in his first season with the Buffalo Bills. He's been a Pro Bowler each of the past four seasons and has reached the 1,000-yard receiving mark in six consecutive seasons. His addition in the offseason gives Stroud another big-play receiver to work with as he continues to develop into one of the top young quarterbacks in the league.
Dell had a solid rookie season with the Texans last year, finishing with 47 grabs for 709 yards and seven scores. He complimented Collins well, and the Texans finished the year with the seventh-best passing attack in the league.
The trio certainly presents a lot of challenges for opposing defenses and will be a tough test for Minnesota's cornerbacks all afternoon.
Quarterback of the future
C.J. Stroud is one of just three quarterbacks this season with at least 40 pass attempts to have not thrown an interception. He has the sixth-best quarterback rating (104.7) with the seventh-most passing yards (494), and he's doing it as a second-year signal caller.
As a rookie, he threw for 4,108 yards, 23 TDs and just five interceptions to lead the Texans to their first postseason since 2019. He went on to win his first career playoff game with a near-perfect quarterback rating (157.2) and was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. He certainly looks comfortable at the NFL level and could soon join the conversation of being one of the top passers in the league — if he hasn't already.
Rushing resurgence
Despite starting running back Aaron Jones rushing for just 32 yards on nine carries, the Vikings were still able to piece together a solid rushing attack against the 49ers. Ty Chandler led the way by amassing 82 yards on 10 carries, while Sam Darnold added 32 rushing yards on five attempts.
Minnesota struggled mightily to produce a consistent run game last season, but so far this season, the Vikings have been able to compliment their passing attack with a serviceable ground game. Through two games, the Vikings averaged 128.5 yards per game, but perhaps the most important stat so far is their 5.1 yards per carry — ninth-best in the league.
Last season, the Vikings finished with the fourth-worst ground game and averaged a mere 4 yards per carry, so adding that additional yard per carry could prove to be crucial in keeping the offense to manageable second and third-down opportunities. The Vikings have utilized both Jones (23 carries for 126 yards) and Chandler (18-99) out of the backfield, while Darnold has been able to slip away for 35 yards on eight carries. He already has 10 more yards rushing this season than former quarterback Kirk Cousins had in eight games last season.
An effective ground game could be pivotal for the Vikings' success, but it won't come easy on Sunday as the Texans currently boast the seventh-best defense against the rush this season.
Houston, they have a problem
The Vikings have never lost in the five games the two teams have played since the Texans were introduced to the league in 1999. The last time the two teams met was in 2020 at NRG Stadium — where then Vikings running back Dalvin Cook ran for 130 yards and a pair of scores to help lift Minnesota to a 31-23 victory.