Still Perfect

The Minnesota Vikings followed their winning formula to precision and are now the last NFL team with a perfect record.

Adam Thielen caught a touchdown pass to cap Minnesota’s opening drive Sunday and finished with a career-high 127 yards, and the Vikings’ defense flustered Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans on their way to a 31-13 victory.

“When your offense comes out on all cylinders like that, it just juices us up even more and wants us to play harder,” defensive end Everson Griffen said.

Marcus Sherels returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown, and Cordarrelle Patterson scored on another sharp throw by Sam Bradford, who deftly guided the offense to a fifth straight turnover-free game in his fourth start for the Vikings (5-0).

“You play from ahead and give our defense a chance to get after the passer, I think it’s pretty tough on the other team,” Bradford said.

Osweiler was sacked four times and overmatched by Minnesota’s relentless pass rush and coverage, finishing 19 of 42 for 184 yards, one interception and a late touchdown pass to Hopkins. The Texans (3-2) were denied on 12 of 13 third downs. Lamar Miller had only eight carries for 20 yards during a game that resembled a 27-0 loss at New England two weeks ago.

“It was bad,” Houston Coach Bill O’Brien said. “It was bad. It starts and ends with me. I’ve got to do a much better job with this football team.”

With the leading receiver Stefon Diggs out for the game with a groin injury, Thielen — who had a career-high seven catches — Jarius Wright and Patterson stepped up for the Vikings. Whitney Mercilus had one and a half sacks as Houston took advantage of a banged-up offensive line to apply plenty of pressure on Bradford, but with touchdowns on their first two drives, the Vikings again unleashed their defense on another out-of-sync quarterback.

“I knew we had a great challenge ahead of us, but I felt confident in what we could do,” Osweiler said. “So I’m very disappointed.”

The Texans rookie Will Fuller was not targeted until the first play of the second half and had only one catch, a fourth-and-16 call in the third quarter at the Vikings’ 39 that netted 4 yards on a screen play. Fuller had seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown last week in a win over Tennessee.

After having stifled Odell Beckham Jr. on Monday night in a win over the Giants, Minnesota cornerback Xavier Rhodes hounded Hopkins. Rhodes was called for pass interference (34 yards) and holding (5 yards) to give the Texans their first two first downs during a second-quarter drive that yielded a field goal, but Hopkins was held without a catch in the first half.