Minnesota visits Houston Sunday in matchup of winless teams
MINNESOTA (0-3) at HOUSTON (0-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox
OPENING LINE - Texans by 3 ˆ½
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Vikings 1-2; Texans 0-3
SERIES RECORD - Vikings lead 4-0
LAST MEETING - Vikings beat Texans 31-13 on Oct. 9, 2016 in Minnesota
LAST WEEK - Vikings lost to Titans 31-30; Texans lost to Steelers 28-21
AP PRO32 RANKING - Vikings No. 27, Texans No. 22(T)
VIKINGS OFFENSE - OVERALL (22), RUSH (8), PASS (28).
VIKINGS DEFENSE - OVERALL (30), RUSH (26), PASS (30).
TEXANS OFFENSE - OVERALL (28), RUSH (31), PASS (19).
TEXANS DEFENSE - OVERALL (23), RUSH (32), PASS (3).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Both of Houston's head coaches prior to Bill O'Brien are on Minnesota's staff: offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and senior defensive assistant Dom Capers. ... Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has already matched his 2019 total with six interceptions. ... Vikings RB Dalvin Cook has 19 rushing TDs in his last 19 games. ... The Vikings lead the NFL with an average of 6.03 yards per rush. ... WR Adam Thielen had seven receptions for 127 yards and a TD in his last game against the Texans. ... Rookie WR Justin Jefferson had seven receptions for 175 yards with a 71-yard touchdown catch last week for the most yards receiving by a Minnesota rookie since Randy Moss had 190 yards receiving in Week 5 in 1998. ... TE Kyle Rudolph has had a TD reception in five of his last six games on the road. ... 2019 Al-Pro LB Eric Kendricks is tied for first in the NFL with 33 total tackles. ... DE Yannick Ngakoue is the fourth player in team history with consecutive games with at least one sack and one forced fumble, joining John Randle, Jared Allen and Brian Robison. Ngakoue is third in the NFL in forced fumbles (16) since entering the league in 2016. ... The Texans will host up to 13,300 fans on Sunday at NRG Stadium after no fans were allowed for the home opener. ... QB Deshaun Watson has 1,804 yards passing with 17 TDs in his last six home games. ... RB David Johnson has a touchdown run in two of the first three games. ... WR Randall Cobb had four catches for a season-high 95 yards and a TD last week. He had six receptions for 106 yards and a score in his last game against the Vikings. ... WR Will Fuller had four catches for 54 yards last week after finishing without a catch in Week 2. ... WR Brandin Cooks had seven catches for 116 yards and a TD in his last game against Minnesota. ... DE J.J. Watt had a sack and forced a fumble in his only game against Minnesota in 2012. Watt has four sacks and has forced a fumble in his last three games against the NFC North. He needs two sacks to become the first player in franchise history with 100 sacks. ... DE Charles Omenihu has a sack in the last two games. ... LB Whitney Mercilus had 1 ˆ½ sacks in his last game against the Vikings. ... S Eric Murray forced a fumble and defended a pass in Week 3. ... Fantasy tip: Cook had a career-high 181 yards rushing last week and the Texans have the NFL's worst run defense, allowing 188.3 yards a game.
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