It doesn’t really matter what happened the last time these two clubs met, because the results have never really changed.
On Sunday, the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings will meet for the sixth time. In 22 seasons, dating back to 2002, the two clubs have in fact only met five times, with this weekend’s hotly anticipated encounter serving as the sixth. A sixth that will see an AFC favorite taking on an NFC upstart in a clash that will likely be anything but predictable.
The Texans are the toast of the AFC, with a roster heralded for its talent and name value. The Vikings rebuilt their unit over the offseason but lost rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy to injury to start the season. Now with Sam Darnold as the squad’s quarterback, the Vikings are hoping to be the 2024 version of the 2023 Texans
An upstart team with nothing to lose, a chip the size of their home state, and a run that no one saw coming. Both teams are in the driver’s seat to start 3-0 but if historical significance is anything to keep in mind, the Texans have a much taller mountain to climb when this weekend’s contest gets underway.
Originally, this was going to be a piece about what happened the last time these two teams faced off. That would have been in 2020 when the Vikings beat the Texans 31-23. It was the last season Deshaun Watson played for the Texans and really was the end of that era. Yet, when looking at that game and then the others the two teams have played, the outcomes started to look very similar.
: Vikings 31-Texans 23
2016: Vikings 31-Texans 13
2012: Vikings 23-Texans 6
2008: Vikings 28-Texans 21
2004: Vikings 34-Texans 28 (OT)
In every one of the prior five encounters, the ending has always been the same; the Vikings win. There has never been one Texans win in this very-one-sided “rivalry” and it’s a streak the Texans hope to bring to an end this weekend.
If the Texans were to win this weekend, they would only have one team left that they’ve never beaten, the Philadelphia Eagles. A team that they can only beat this year if they see them in the Super Bowl.