MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Jones, Sr., called his mom following Minnesota's Week 1 road win over the Giants and told her, "There's something special about this team."

That feeling has only intensified two weeks later after his first two home games as a Viking.

"I can't quite put my finger on what it is," Jones told media members following the Vikings 34-7 rout of the Texans. "It's different. Because I've been a part of some good teams, but this is a special team.

"After the first game, just the vibe in New York, I was like, 'Mom, I don't know what it is, but this was no stress, it was just fun,' " Jones added. "I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's the guys, what it is … but it's special, and I love it."

The Vikings offense certainly put together a special performance Sunday afternoon, led by Sam Darnold's four passing touchdowns that tied a single-game career high for the QB.

All four TD throws came inside the red zone: a 6-yard pass to Justin Jefferson and 8-yard pass to Jones in the first quarter to give Minnesota an early 14-0 lead, then a 4-yard pass to Jalen Nailor in the third quarter and a 2-yard toss to Johnny Mundt in the fourth.

Darnold pointed to the team's preparation throughout the week and especially Friday, during which the offense specifically focuses on red zone.

"And even on Saturday, being able to rep some of those plays [in walk-through]," Darnold said. "It's the preparation that we put in throughout the week that allows us to go out on the field, play fast and confident."

Minnesota started its first offensive drive at the Houston 21-yard line, thanks to linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill picking off C.J. Stroud on the first official play of the game.

"They gave us a huge lift. They brought the energy," Jones said of the Vikings defense. "We just picked it up and kept going from there. Anytime you can start on the [21] for your first possession, you're feeling good as the offense – the score is 0-0 and it's your first time touching the ball? In our minds, we're putting points up on the board – nothing less. And not threes, either. We're putting seven up.

"That's our mindset when the defense hands you the ball on the silver platter, pretty much, and they've been doing a lot of that," Jones continued. "So we've just got to continue to play complementary football on all three phases."

Darnold did face some duress. He was sacked four times by a talented Texans defense but kept his composure, protected the football and trusted in the team's ability to bounce back on drives that ended in punts.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell called Darnold's outing "really, really good."

"Smart, really decisive, took care of the football, accurate," he said.

O'Connell additionally noted key third-down conversions that included completions to Brandon Powell and Jefferson on third-and-long situations and hitting some chunk plays "when needed" – including passes of 28 and 21 yards to Jefferson, as well as a 20-yarder to Jones.

Darnold exited the game for one play late in the third quarter after being rolled up on by former Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter.

"Obviously he's a great player and not a dirty player whatsoever, but just getting hit low there, we'll evaluate it," Darnold said. "We'll look at it. But felt good enough to be able to go back in the game."

When he jogged back to the huddle after a quick visit to the medical tent, Darnold received a warm reception from a U.S. Bank Stadium crowd that raised the decibels all afternoon.

"The fans' reaction meant everything," Darnold said. "And not just the reaction, not only that, but my entire time here at Minnesota has been amazing with the fans. Just been great."

Darnold finished the day 17-of-28 passing for 181 yards and four touchdowns with a 119.2 passer rating.

"Sam is the leader of the team, and he's the captain, so it was a great job for him," said Jefferson, who recorded six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, moving up more franchise leaderboards. "His composure and his will to go out there, no matter who we're going up against, no matter how many people are doubting us or doubting him, he's going out there confident and just being himself."

Jefferson and his teammates reiterated postgame that Darnold is doing exactly what they've seen him do all spring and summer since signing with Minnesota.

"His ownership of our offense hasn't been surprising," Mundt said. "He's executing at a premier level. I just love having 1-4 back there dealing."

Darnold also pointed to the run game, which established momentum on the ground especially as the game went on.

After netting just 32 rushing yards in the first half, Minnesota finished the day with 118.

Jones accounted for 102 of those, notching his first century-mark as a Viking and adding five catches for 46 yards and the receiving touchdown. He nearly got in the end zone a second time when he bolted 39 yards on a breakaway run but was stopped just short of the goal line. Mundt scored two plays later.

"Best of both words," a smiling Jones said of 100 rushing yards and a touchdown through the air. "But I should have had a rushing touchdown. It was a great, great play. You saw me just lay there for a second [being frustrated], but I'll get back in the end zone; I'll get another rushing one.

"I was happy to get down there, break a big one," Jones added. "I've been telling them on the side, 'I'm this close, I'm this close, I'm gonna break one.' And sure enough, I did. So that definitely felt good."

What feels even better than a big run? Starting the season 3-0 ahead of facing his former team in Green Bay next week.

Jones and the Vikings know there's a lot of football to be played, and they don't plan on letting their guard down anytime soon. But they're also enjoying the ride and feeling immensely confident in one another.

"I'm just happy to be around this group of men, this group of great men, and we're going to continue to do what we've been doing, stacking it daily, and continue to get better," Jones said.

Minnesota is ahead of some predictions offered by external media members and has a game up on the Packers (2-1) heading into next week's Border Battle at Lambeau Field.

"All over the board, we have tremendous guys with tremendous talent, and we've just got to feed off one another," Jefferson said. "Feed off the energy, feed off this 3-0 streak we're going on and just keep going during the week.

"As long as we have our mind dialed in for the week, for us to have great preparation and come out here and do what we need to do, these results will happen time and time again," he continued.

"We knew if this team [came] prepared like we knew we were going to [be], we were gonna come out there and dominate the way we have been … and we know people are going to start talking about us a little bit more," Jefferson said. "But we're just going to keep that noise out of our building and make sure – the people in our building, they're the people we need to go out and fight and keep doing what we need to do."