Sep 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) catches a pass from quarterback Sam Darnold (14) against the Houston Texans in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images.
Sometimes, putting together these post-game reaction pieces involves a lot of scratching around, searching for enough interesting little nuggets to make it worthwhile. Not this week.
The Minnesota Vikings are the talk of the NFL, and everyone has something to say. Here is a collection of the reactions to the Vikings’ win over The Texans.
We start with an in-game tweet from injured rookie Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy declaring what the whole league is starting to learn: The current Vikings starting quarterback is good at football.
We also have New York Jets star CB Sauce Gardner giving a shoutout to the longevity and elite play of Vikings safety Harrison Smith. Gardner’s Jets played on Thursday night and will play the Vikings in London in Week 5.
Another injured Viking praised how the team’s winning start was helping him in his recovery. Like McCarthy, Mekhi Blackmon’s season ended before it had a chance to start with a knee injury.
Postgame, Jonathan Greenard praised the Vikings’ home crowd and the help they gave the team. The Vikings take the show on the road next week to Lambeau Field, where they will be tested against a good team without the home advantage.
Hall of Famer Carl Eller has his game face on, as he enjoyed being in attendance for one of Minnesota’s best performances in a long time. Other former Vikings were bullish about their team’s prospects this season after the dominating win over the Texans.
Jake Reed was pumped, and Jim Kleinsasser claimed that the NFC runs through Minnesota. The Seattle Seahawks join the Vikings as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the conference through three weeks.
The Vikings go to Seattle in Week 16 with the potential of a huge game at this early stage.
Another Hall of Famer, Cris Carter was another to heap praise on the Vikings fans.
Former Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer wanted to make sure the forgotten man of the Vikings coaching setup got his praise. So much is being said of Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores’s job – and rightly so – but the Vikings look to be a well-coached team from top to bottom. Kramer gave OC Wes Phillips a shoutout.
When you start the season 3-0, beating two highly rated teams in the process, the media is going to start paying you attention. Known for his outlandish takes, Colin Cowherd posted a short post-game proclaiming that Sam Darnold is taking the Vikings to the Super Bowl.
Gabe Henderson forwarded Flores as the frontrunner for the assistant coach of the year award. It’s hard to argue with that after the first three games. If the Vikings’ defense keeps this up for 14 more games that award could be in the bag.
Bleacher Report was having fun with the Vikings thrashing of the Texans and the performance of Darnold this season – who leads the league in passing touchdowns.
Will the Vikings lose their underdog tag now? I kind of hope not, but if they keep stacking performances like Sunday’s, the praise will keep getting greater. Minnesota is an early two-point underdog at Green Bay.