EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings and Texans have opened an NFL season at 2-0 for the first time since 2016 for each club, which coincidently was the same year as Houston's previous visit to Minnesota.

This time the squads are one of two Week 3 pairings of 2-0 teams along with the Chargers and Steelers.

Kickoff for the sixth meeting all-time between the franchises is set for noon (CT) Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Note: This initial post of the Week 3 Game Preview will be updated Friday.

Vikings Uniform

Minnesota will wear the Vikings Classic uniform that was first worn in Week 1 of the 2023 season as the team celebrates Legends Weekend and the Ring of Honor induction of Bobby Bryant.

4 Storylines

1. Status of skill players

Minnesota's offense is awaiting word on three big-name players: wide receivers Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, and running back Aaron Jones, Sr. The latter was banged up Sunday but finished the game.

Addison wasn't able to practice even in a limited capacity last week because of the ankle injury he suffered in the season-opening win at New York. Minnesota is being smart with his recovery timeline.

Jefferson exited the game against San Francisco with a quad contusion after he was hurt while blocking a run play. He showed up at the facility Monday feeling pretty good after going through some initial recovery efforts after the game.

Jones briefly visited the medical tent during the 49ers game but reappeared and seemed OK. His backfield mate Ty Chandler raced and rumbled for a team-best 82 yards on 10 carries.

On the other side, Texans running back Joe Mixon was forced out against the Bears because of an ankle injury. He returned but played only a few more snaps. An MRI apparently ruled out any serious injury.

2. Sam Darnold overcoming pressure

The first-year Vikings quarterback has rebuked naysayers with two big performances.

Through two games, Darnold has completed 72% of his passes and registered a 111.8 passer rating – a reversal of his completion rate (59.7%) and rating (78.3) that ranked the lowest among 39 players with 1,000 pass attempts from 2018-23. Darnold has been superhuman against the blitz, going 8-for-8 with 207 yards and three touchdowns. Darnold has overcome the pressure so far and is preparing for a Texans defense that has been highly effective at pressuring opposing quarterbacks in 2024.

3. Texan ties

Minnesota's overhauled defense features 2023 Texans Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard and Shaq Griffin. Vikings special-teamer Kamu Grugier-Hill and reserve tackle David Quessenberry had stints in Houston, as well. Grugier-Hill started 20 games at linebacker in 2021-22, and Quessenberry was part of the organization from 2013-17. During that time, Quessenberry beat cancer and played two games.

Cashman and Greenard had the greatest influence of the bunch as core defenders last year. Cashman broke out with 106 tackles in 14 games, and Greenard posted a career-high 12.5 sacks in 15 contests.

4. Impactful kicking

Vikings rookie Will Reichard, whose nickname "Will the Thrill" is starting to catch on, drilled his first three career field goals in Week 2 (his long from 39 yards) and is a perfect 6-for-6 on extra-point attempts.

Visiting kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn has been nails this season, a combined 10-for-10 on field goals and extra points. On Sunday night against Chicago, Fairbairn went 4-for-4 with three field goals of 50-plus yards. Amazingly, it was a repeat of his season-opening airshow at Indianapolis, where he connected on three 50-yarders.

The 30-year-old Fairbairn is the first player in NFL history with multiple games of three field goals from 50-plus, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Dating to last season, Fairbairn has made 34 of 35 tries.

3 Things 'Bout the Texans

1. C.J. Stroud is ascending

The 2023 No. 2 overall draft pick has been slinging it since his debut.

Stroud has passed for 225-plus yards in 14 of 19 starts including the postseason. Last year, he rescued Houston from rock bottom – the Texans were 3-13-1 before his arrival – to the top of the AFC South. In his first career playoff start, Stroud and the Texans obliterated Cleveland 45-14. He's resumed the course in 2024, completing in two games 69.1% of his throws for 494 yards, three scores and zero interceptions.

Flores dubbed Stroud an "up-and-coming, rising star" and praised the quarterback's pocket presence, command of the offense and mobility – Stroud is not a dual-threat but skilled at navigating the pass rush. He does a good job of keeping his eyes downfield when things break down, which can lead to explosives.

Stroud, by the way, hasn't been picked off since Week 11 of 2023. He's gone seven straight starts without an INT, which is the longest active streak in the league. He owns a 26:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

2. Top 10 defense

The Texans defense is in the top five in yards per game (254.0; 3^rd), interception rate (5.36%; 4^th), sacks recorded per pass attempt with nine on 56 (16.07%; 1^st) and first downs per game (14.5; 4^th).

Also, it is top 10 in yards per play, rushing yards per game (per play, too) and passing yards per game.

Houston has been strong against its first two opponents – Indianapolis and Chicago – yielding returns for Head Coach DeMeco Ryans, a former linebacker, and Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke.

Seven Texans have at least one sack. Henry To'oTo'o has 20 tackles. The unit features four first-rounders: DE Will Anderson, Jr., (2023), CB Derek Stingley, Jr., (2022), DE Derek Barnett (2017) and S Jimmie Ward (2014).

3. Hello, old friends

The Minnesota-Houston overlap runs deep. Five Texans players and quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson used to sport the Purple. The longest-tenured former Viking is Danielle Hunter, who racked his first 1.5 sacks in new threads last Sunday night against the Bears. Hunter played 119 games for Minnesota from 2015-23 and ranks sixth in franchise history with 87.5 sacks, including 16.5 in 2023.

Other returnees include the following: RB Cam Akers (six games; 2023), DB Kris Boyd (58; 2019-22) and Minneapolis Miracle WR Stefon Diggs (69; 2015-19). Johnson served as assistant quarterbacks coach for the Vikings in 2022. Case Keenum is on the Texans but won't travel because he is on Injured Reserve.

2 Vikings to Track

Sam Darnold: Entering Week 3, Darnold and Saints QB Derek Carr are the only two quarterbacks with two or more touchdown passes and a passer rating above 100 in each of the first two weeks. Darnold is trying to match a three-game streak with a passer rating above 100 that he posted with Carolina late in the 2022 season.

Pat Jones II: The fourth-year pro has become the first Vikings player to record at least 2.0 sacks in consecutive weeks since October 2022 when Za'Darius Smith posted 2.0 at Miami and 3.0 the following week against Arizona. Jones recorded his personal best of 4.0 that season and is positioned to pass that as early as this weekend. If Jones records 2.0 or more, he will join Mark Gastineau and Kevin Greene as the only three players since 1982 with that stat line in the first three games of a season.

1 Key Matchup

Vikings secondary vs. Texans wide receivers

Flores was straightforward about the possible problems Houston's receiving corps poses.

"They've got receiver after receiver after receiver after receiver," Flores animatedly explained Tuesday. "Diggs, [Tank] Dell, Nico Collins, I mean it's just receiver after receiver. It's a great scheme, similar to the one we just saw last week, with [Texans Offensive Coordinator] Bobby [Slowik] (who was part of Kyle Shanahan's staff in San Francisco from 2017-22). They're certainly going to be a tough, tough challenge."

The Vikings seem cut out for it.

In Week 2, Flores' group limited one of the best yards-after-catch offenses. According to Next Gen Stats, San Francisco led the NFL in 2023 with 710 yards after catches over expectations. Cincinnati ranked second at 445, by the way.

The yards after catch over expectations per reception by the 49ers in 2023 was a whopping 2.1 (Cincinnati and Seattle were next at 1.2), but on Sunday, San Francisco averaged 0.3 yards after catches over expectations.

Minnesota's performance in the secondary is inspiring, but not all surprising when considering the talent and experience added to the group in a series of moves this offseason.

In the backend, Harrison Smith looks destined for the Hall of Fame. Joshua Metellus is effective wherever he lines up, and Camryn Bynum is quick to diagnose plays. At cornerback, original plans included pairing Byron Murphy, Jr., with free-agent signing Griffin, who was injured early in training camp.

Camp signing Stephon Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, has been a staple of Minnesota's success. His familiarity with Flores – both were essential to New England's Super Bowl LIII win over Los Angeles – can't be understated.

"It just allows us to be as creative [as possible] and opens up the playbook, really across the board, as far as the things we would like to do," Flores commented on Gilmore being able to follow designated receivers across formations. "I think Steph' is playing well. I think he's been tight in coverage. They made some tough contested catches the other day, whether it was Deebo [Samuel, Jr.] or [Brandon] Aiyuk or [George] Kittle, which, you know, that's what you expect from good players, and we expect that this week coming up from Houston. … He allows us to really have the entire playbook – you want to play man, we'll play man, [you want zone], we'll play zone.

"He's got instincts. He's got smarts, experience, you know, some things you really can't measure," Flores added in his review of Gilmore's impact. "And he's brought a lot to the group already, just from that standpoint [of] 'Hey, this is how we game plan. We've got to be alert for X, Y, Z,' and he's been great."

All eyes will be on how Gilmore and Co. contain Diggs, Dell, Collins and the rest of the Texans passing game.