came to town with a good defense last week and Minnesota’s unit was the one that impressed most. US Bank Stadium hosts two good defenses again this weekend, and the Vikings need to come out on top again. An old friend in Danielle Hunter leads his team into battle at the place he called home for nine years. It’s crucial that the Vikings’ defense is once again dominant and makes things happen to assist the offense, which will have a battle on its hands with the Texans’ defense.
2. Win The Turnover Battle
The Kevin O’Connell Vikings are now 19-0 when winning the turnover battle or breaking even.
— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) September 15, 2024
Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings team is undefeated when they at least have parity in the turnover battle during the regular season. Alternatively, the Vikings are 3-14 when they lose the turnover battle. You would expect a team to have more chance of winning if turnovers go in their favor, but it’s almost deciding the game with this Vikings team. The Vikings haven’t been perfect this season, but there isn’t the fumble epidemic of last season, and the defense has so far done a much better job of taking the ball away.
The recipe for success for this team seems to be a simple one. Look after the ball on offense and take it away on defense.
3. Darnold’s Positive TD/INT Ratio Continues
 reacts after the game against the San Francisco 49ers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.</p>
<p>” data-medium-file=”https://vikingsterritory.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=788,height=444,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/darnoldhapp.jpg” data-large-file=”https://vikingsterritory.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1180,height=696,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/darnoldhapp.jpg” tabindex=”0″ role=”button” src=”https://vikingsterritory.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=788,height=444,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/darnoldhapp.jpg” alt><figcaption> Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.<span></span></figcaption></figure>
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<p>The big red flag on Sam Darnold’s career has been the sheer number of interceptions he has thrown, along with not enough touchdown passes. Before this season, Darnold’s TD/INT ratio stood at 63/56 across six seasons. Simply put, that’s not good. In two games for the Vikings this season, Darnold has thrown four touchdown passes and two interceptions. If he continues at that rate across a 17-game season, Darnold would finish with 34 touchdowns – dwarfing his previous best of 19 – and 17 interceptions.</p>
<p>The hope is that Darnold doesn’t throw an interception every game and has some clean games along the way. If he can finish with a total around the 10 mark, it will have been a good season. If Darnold has a clean game on Sunday, there’s every chance the Vikings can win. If he can go 35/10 on the season, there’s every chance the Vikings will play playoff football in January.</p>
<h2>4. Outcoach the Opposition</h2>
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Vikings have never lost to the Texans. Since the Texans came into the league in 2002, there have been five regular season meetings between the two teams. Minnesota came out victorious in all five games. The closest the Texans came to winning was in the first-ever meeting in 2004, which went to overtime. The most recent meeting came in the 2020 season with touchdowns from Dalvin Cook (2), Alexander Mattison, and Adam Thielen, giving the Vikings a 32-23 win that saw both teams going into the game without a win after three games — the opposite of this weekend.
The most important aspect of this weekend to continue is that unbeaten run.
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