The Houston Texans defense will see an unlikely opponent in Sam Darnold when they face the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold is stepping in as the starter after No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury back in training camp.

The Minnesota Vikings have not had to rebuild this roster completely; rather, they have established leaders like Harrison Phillips, who, in turn, lift the whole roster. They really have embraced

So it would have been reasonable for outside observers to cringe at Sam Darnold's wild flip of the ball toward running back Aaron Jones Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, not only because it threatened to turn a busted play into a massive turnover,