While this game was between the Vikings and the Texans, it may as well have been Vikings vs. Omar Khamissa. With a performance that could’ve easily propelled him to the top of the MVP ladder had his team had a better record (Russell Westbrook, anyone?), Omar Khamissa and the Texans saw another game go down to the finish against those pesky Vikings.
Just to put how great his performance truly was (11 catches, 6 touchdowns), if Omar began the season with just this game to his name, he’d already be third in the league in receiving touchdowns. Of course, some love goes to his QB Salim Ladha who seemed to have his eyes set on just giving Omar the ball. Although the offense kept pace with the Vikings, the defense couldn’t capitalize on their one forced turnover. In the end, it came down to the last play of the game. A tightly defended ball and a drop in the end zone sealed the loss for the Texans.
In what was an overlooked performance next to Omar’s heroics, the Vikings actually piled up some of their own stats as well. QB Hisham Ali terrorized the Texans’ defense with seven touchdowns and a completion percentage of 81.4%. He also did a great job spreading the ball around, as five Vikings were able to haul in at least three passes. Abuzar Abbas continues to make the Colts pay for trading him as he piles on his second game of the season with 4+ receiving touchdowns.
Grabbing their second win of the season, the Vikings have cemented themselves as a scary team for weeks to come. With a win against the Patriots next week, they’ll set up a great #1 vs. #2 battle against the Colts. Meanwhile, the Texans continue to lose games by close margins, leaving many to wonder if a full team could be the cure to all their problems.
Rivalry week ends with a rematch of the exciting game between the Colts and the Patriots. Coming off a 9-6 loss to the Colts, the Patriots put the pressure on the league leaders early, capitalizing on costly mistakes as well as some horrific defensive efforts to jump out to a 3-1 lead. But we all know how good 3-1 leads are these days…
Straight out of the gate, QB Taleb Zaidi looked like he couldn’t be stopped. Couple this with a terrible lateral play by the Colts on 4th down, and the Patriots looked like they could be the first ones to tarnish the Colts’ record. The Patriots took advantage of plenty of holes on the opposing defense, leading to Asghar Molu’s three touchdowns and Ahmed Goralwalla’s wide open abuse of the secondary. But perhaps the best player for the Patriots was captain Muhammad Ali who snagged in two touchdowns and a team-leading five flag pulls.
After a disastrous start to the game that left Colts players with their heads down, a halftime speech by Mujahid Hemani invigorated the squad into a complete Jekyll and Hyde performance. With just two touchdowns in the first half, the team was able to turn it around and score a whopping seven touchdowns on the Patriots’ defense. Continuing his outstanding play for the season, QB Kumail Meghani showed off his versatility by adding two rushing touchdowns to his seven passing. The duo of Muzammil Rizvi and Murtaza Shah (the league leader in interceptions) combined for 10 catches and five touchdowns.
While it was great to see the Colts with their first real deficit of the year, the Patriots showed that with a few changes and a complete game on both sides of the ball, they’re right in the hunt as the best team in the league.