The Houston Texans travel to Minneapolis this Sunday to take on the Vikings, with both teams entering the matchup undefeated at 2-0.

CJ Stroud will be tested against a Vikings defense that specializes in disguising coverages pre-snap, and likes to blitz at a high rate.

Stroud tends to target Nico Collins when being blitzed (62% of Stroud's passing yardage), so don't be surprised if Vikings DC Brian Flores shows Collins some extra attention when bringing the pressure.

Which means this could be the week Tank Dell finally breaks out. Another thing working in Dell's favor is the amount of Cover 4 the Vikings are playing this season. Flores has used Cover 4 over 30% of the time this season, up about 10% compared to last year.

Dell has been Stroud's top target versus Cover 4 since the start of the 2023 season. Of course, the addition of Stefon Diggs could impact Dell's usage against that coverage moving forward.

One thing working for the Texans in this matchup is timing. The Vikings dominated the 49ers last Sunday, giving QB Brock Purdy fits. Per PFF, Purdy had three interception-worthy plays in the game, and none of them came when he was pressured.

It stands to reason that Stroud and OC Bobby Slowik will benefit from watching last week's tape to get some insight into how Flores will attack a Shanahan-style offense like the Texans run.

Texans on defense

QB Sam Darnold has played well in these first two games. And like the Texans offense, Houston's defense also has a lot in common with the 49ers'. Remember, Darnold played for the 49ers last season. He and Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell (Shanahan coaching tree) are very familiar with the 49ers' schemes on both offense and defense.

Superstar receiver Justin Jefferson will keep the Texans secondary busy, and don't be surprised if the Vikings are able to rack up yardage using screen passes to running back Aaron Jones. Jones had 5 catches last week against the Niners.

There were two big takeaways from the Vikings upset of the 49ers last week. First, the San Francisco staff was out-coached on both sides of the ball. Vikings receivers were open all afternoon, and even when the 49ers made plays on offense, they had to do it seemingly with defenders draped on them at all times.

Second, Darnold was able to escape pressure several times and pick up first downs with his legs. Something the Texans struggled with against Caleb Williams and the Bears in Week 2.

The other issue the Texnas defense will encounter is the surprisingly good play from the Vikings o-line. Through the first two games, the Vikings have the fourth-best graded o-line, according to PFF. Sacks could be hard to come by.

X-factors

Revenge could play a role in this game. Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman will both want to prove the Texans wrong for replacing them with Danielle Hunter and Azeez Al-Shaair, at least on some level. Hunter may want to prove a point against his former team as well.

And let's not forget Brian Flores sued the NFL (and added a claim against the Texans), claiming he didn't get the Texans job a couple of years ago because of his lawsuit.

What does Vegas think?

The Texans are favored by 2 points on the road, and the total for the game is 46.

Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap gets you ready for Texans-Vikings!

And don't miss our postgame show live on the SportsMapTexans YouTube channel immediately following the game.