In The Know is an ongoing series with the opposing team's beat writer. Mike Wobschall, covering Minnesota for 12 seasons with the Vikings Entertainment Network, gives insight on the Texans upcoming opponent.
The Vikings are undefeated at 4-0 and had to do so without (QB) Teddy Bridgewater and (RB) Adrian Peterson. Give us a sense of what the reaction was in the building when those injuries came out and then how did everybody regroup? What was Mike Zimmer's message to the team?
Wobschall: Mike Zimmer's message to the team is: Find a way. That's kind of the one he goes back to quite a bit, also no excuses. Injuries happen. The reaction when they kept happening to the Vikings, I think, it was just 'Oh my gosh, another one? Alright, well how do you find our way around this? Oh, another one? How do we find our way around this?' 
It's been (CB) Xavier Rhodes and (DT) Sharrif Floyd on the defensive side. Now fortunately, Xavier is back and we hope to have Sharrif back soon, but offensively, it was (T) Matt Kalil and Adrian and Teddy Bridgewater. Two weeks ago in Carolina, we had (G) Alex Boone leave the game early and he didn't come back. Last week against the Giants, we had right tackle Andre Smith leave the game the first quarter and he didn't' come back, so this team just keeps finding a way. 
Mike Zimmer is a guy who's been through some adversity, personally and professionally, during his career. It's never stopped him or slowed him down. He's just kept going, so he expects his team to operate the same way and his team has done that. Of course whenever you start 4-0, that could catch you off-guard or catch you by surprise because this is such a hard league. It's hard to win a game in this league, so when you win four straight, that's an amazing accomplishment, but it doesn't surprise me that the Vikings responded to adversity the way they did because that's what their coach has done during his career and that's what the coach expects from his team.
Eight days before the start of the season, the Vikings trade for Sam Bradford from the Eagles. Bradford has three starts, no interceptions. What's been the key for him getting acclimated to this offense so quickly and building chemistry with those skill players?
Wobschall: First, I would give the coaches some credit because I think they've been pulling all the right strings when it comes to Sam and what he can handle. Our quarterbacks coach is Scott Turner. He's Norv Turner's son. Norv, of course, is our offensive coordinator. Scott has been working very closely with Sam Bradford and did since Sam's first day here, getting him up to speed. I believe he's fully up to speed now. 
Also, I give credit to Pat Shurmur who is currently our tight ends coach, but who's been a head coach in this league and was the Rams head coach when they drafted Sam No. 1 overall, I believe, and worked with Sam in Philadelphia as well. Coach Shurmur knows Sam Bradford well and I'm sure he's been instrumental in this. So I give the coaches a lot of credit for the way they've managed the situation. 
I give Sam a lot of credit for his decision-making, for his poise and just for knowing where he is and what his situation is. He has not turned the ball over, which is incredible, but he's also been efficient. He's pushed the ball down the field. He had 262 yards passing this past week against the Giants on 26-of-36 and he found nine different receivers with those 26 completions on the one-month anniversary of him being traded. I think he's really come a long way in that time. He's accomplished a lot in that time. 
The defense, of course, has carried the way for much of the season, as has the special teams. There's going to be a point though in the season where the offense is going to have to do that because the tides can shift in this league, and I believe with Bradford at quarterback, the Vikings offense is in a position to be able to do that. 
With no Adrian Peterson, who has really had to step up on offense? Does Norv Turner rely more on the other running backs or has it spread across the rest of the position groups?
Well, it's been (WR) Stefon Diggs to a large degree but also (TE) Kyle Rudolph. Kyle Rudolph, our tight end, has a touchdown and in three straight games. He's healthy, he's playing well and he's working well with Bradford. I would say Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph would be the two that have really stepped up but we did see the running game take a step forward against the Giants last Monday night. I think they were at like 2.1 yards per carry this season going into that game. (RB) Jerick McKinnon was at 4 yards per carry. I think he had 88 yards rushing and a touchdown, and the Vikings as a team got over the 100-yard mark. I think the running game took a step forward and that was important against the Giants. 
You had a statistic that said quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Eli Manning all combined for five interceptions and only one touchdown against the Vikings defense in these past three weeks. How is that possible?
Wobschall: You know, I think an underrated part of the whole thing is the Vikings' athleticism at linebacker gives them flexibility and it allows them some creativity in the way they cover some of these talented receivers and the way they defend these quarterbacks that we face every week, who are all really good. I think that athleticism at the second level reduces some of the windows and takes away some of the angles that quarterbacks are used to having. 
I give a lot of credit to our secondary for the way they've been able to cover. (S) Harrison Smith has done a great job. So have cornerbacks Terence Newman, Xavier Rhodes, Captain Munnerlyn, Trae Waynes, they've all been really good. 
The pass rush, it has 15 sacks in the first four games and it had zero against the Giants, but I still think it had an impact on the game because Eli Manning was trying to get rid of the ball quicker than he would ordinarily like to because he knew that pass rush was coming. So even though there weren't any sacks, the pass rush did have an impact on the game. 
What is the best part of the new U.S. Bank Stadium and the whole experience?
Wobschall: Well, you won't think this is the best part but it's been the crowd noise. The crowd has been outstanding in that building for us in the two regular season games we've played there. Now, they've been primetime games. Sunday Night Football against the Packers and of course, Monday night against the Giants, so now we have a noon game on a Sunday against the Houston Texans, but I still expect the crowd noise to be really loud. That's been cool. 
This game against Houston will be at noon, and it's really cool at noon in that building during the day. It feels and looks like you're outside because 60% of the roof and all of the west-facing wall is clear. It's either glass-pivoting door on the west wall or it's ETFE, a clear material that comprises 60% of the roof. It lets a lot of natural light in, and when those pivoting glass doors are open - there are five of them and they are the largest in the world – when they're open, it lets some natural air and the natural light in, so that's really a cool effect of the building. It kind of looks and feels like you're outside even though you're inside.
Another cool part about the building is, it has the closest seat and suites to the field of any building in the NFL, so that really gives the effect of the crowd being right on top of the action. It provides a cool atmosphere for the crowd and, of course, for the players. I think the surface is really fast, so some of your faster players are going to like it. (Stefan Digs) has looked really good on the surface. I would imagine a guy like DeAndre Hopkins is really going to like this surface. So, a lot of really cool parts of this building, but all in all, it's just a first class facility. It was a long time coming for the Vikings – 15 years battling for a new home. They got it and it's beautiful.
I can't wait to see what Will Fuller looks like out there.
Wobschall: Oh man, I should have said him. Yeah, you're right. Nuk is fast but Will Fuller, he has that great speed. He'll love it. We like our Notre Dame players here. Harrison Smith, Kyle Rudolph. 

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In The Know is an ongoing series with the opposing team's beat writer. Mike Wobschall, covering Minnesota for 12 seasons with the Vikings Entertainment Network, gives insight on the Texans upcoming opponent.*
 
The Vikings are undefeated at 4-0 and had to do so without (QB) Teddy Bridgewater and (RB) Adrian Peterson. Give us a sense of what the reaction was in the building when those injuries came out and then how did everybody regroup? What was Mike Zimmer's message to the team?
 
Wobschall: Mike Zimmer's message to the team is: Find a way. That's kind of the one he goes back to quite a bit, also no excuses. Injuries happen. The reaction when they kept happening to the Vikings, I think, it was just 'Oh my gosh, another one? Alright, well how do you find our way around this? Oh, another one? How do we find our way around this?' 
 
It's been (CB) Xavier Rhodes and (DT) Sharrif Floyd on the defensive side. Now fortunately, Xavier is back and we hope to have Sharrif back soon, but offensively, it was (T) Matt Kalil and Adrian and Teddy Bridgewater. Two weeks ago in Carolina, we had (G) Alex Boone leave the game early and he didn't come back. Last week against the Giants, we had right tackle Andre Smith leave the game the first quarter and he didn't' come back, so this team just keeps finding a way. 
 
Mike Zimmer is a guy who's been through some adversity, personally and professionally, during his career. It's never stopped him or slowed him down. He's just kept going, so he expects his team to operate the same way and his team has done that. Of course whenever you start 4-0, that could catch you off-guard or catch you by surprise because this is such a hard league. It's hard to win a game in this league, so when you win four straight, that's an amazing accomplishment, but it doesn't surprise me that the Vikings responded to adversity the way they did because that's what their coach has done during his career and that's what the coach expects from his team.

 
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Eight days before the start of the season, the Vikings trade for Sam Bradford from the Eagles. Bradford has three starts, no interceptions. What's been the key for him getting acclimated to this offense so quickly and building chemistry with those skill players?Wobschall:** First, I would give the coaches some credit because I think they've been pulling all the right strings when it comes to Sam and what he can handle. Our quarterbacks coach is Scott Turner. He's Norv Turner's son. Norv, of course, is our offensive coordinator. Scott has been working very closely with Sam Bradford and did since Sam's first day here, getting him up to speed. I believe he's fully up to speed now. 
 
Also, I give credit to Pat Shurmur who is currently our tight ends coach, but who's been a head coach in this league and was the Rams head coach when they drafted Sam No. 1 overall, I believe, and worked with Sam in Philadelphia as well. Coach Shurmur knows Sam Bradford well and I'm sure he's been instrumental in this. So I give the coaches a lot of credit for the way they've managed the situation. 
 
I give Sam a lot of credit for his decision-making, for his poise and just for knowing where he is and what his situation is. He has not turned the ball over, which is incredible, but he's also been efficient. He's pushed the ball down the field. He had 262 yards passing this past week against the Giants on 26-of-36 and he found nine different receivers with those 26 completions on the one-month anniversary of him being traded. I think he's really come a long way in that time. He's accomplished a lot in that time. 
 
The defense, of course, has carried the way for much of the season, as has the special teams. There's going to be a point though in the season where the offense is going to have to do that because the tides can shift in this league, and I believe with Bradford at quarterback, the Vikings offense is in a position to be able to do that. 

 
With no Adrian Peterson, who has really had to step up on offense? Does Norv Turner rely more on the other running backs or has it spread across the rest of the position groups?

Wobschall:Well, it's been (WR) Stefon Diggs to a large degree but also (TE) Kyle Rudolph. Kyle Rudolph, our tight end, has a touchdown and in three straight games. He's healthy, he's playing well and he's working well with Bradford. I would say Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph would be the two that have really stepped up but we did see the running game take a step forward against the Giants last Monday night. I think they were at like 2.1 yards per carry this season going into that game. (RB) Jerick McKinnon was at 4 yards per carry. I think he had 88 yards rushing and a touchdown, and the Vikings as a team got over the 100-yard mark. I think the running game took a step forward and that was important against the Giants. 

 
Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Eli Manning all combined for five interceptions and only one touchdown against the Vikings defense in the past three weeks. How is that possible?
Wobschall: You know, I think an underrated part of the whole thing is the Vikings' athleticism at linebacker gives them flexibility and it allows them some creativity in the way they cover some of these talented receivers and the way they defend these quarterbacks that we face every week, who are all really good. I think that athleticism at the second level reduces some of the windows and takes away some of the angles that quarterbacks are used to having. 

I give a lot of credit to our secondary for the way they've been able to cover. (S) Harrison Smith has done a great job. So have cornerbacks Terence Newman, Xavier Rhodes, Captain Munnerlyn, Trae Waynes, they've all been really good. 
 
The pass rush, it has 15 sacks in the first four games and it had zero against the Giants, but I still think it had an impact on the game because Eli Manning was trying to get rid of the ball quicker than he would ordinarily like to because he knew that pass rush was coming. So even though there weren't any sacks, the pass rush did have an impact on the game. 

 
What is the best part of the new U.S. Bank Stadium and the whole experience?
Wobschall: Well, you won't think this is the best part but it's been the crowd noise. The crowd has been outstanding in that building for us in the two regular season games we've played there. Now, they've been primetime games. Sunday Night Football against the Packers and of course, Monday night against the Giants, so now we have a noon game on a Sunday against the Houston Texans, but I still expect the crowd noise to be really loud. That's been cool. 
 
This game against Houston will be at noon, and it's really cool at noon in that building during the day. It feels and looks like you're outside because 60% of the roof and all of the west-facing wall is clear. It's either glass-pivoting door on the west wall or it's ETFE, a clear material that comprises 60% of the roof. It lets a lot of natural light in, and when those pivoting glass doors are open - there are five of them and they are the largest in the world – when they're open, it lets some natural air and the natural light in, so that's really a cool effect of the building. It kind of looks and feels like you're outside even though you're inside.

Another cool part about the building is, it has the closest seat and suites to the field of any building in the NFL, so that really gives the effect of the crowd being right on top of the action. It provides a cool atmosphere for the crowd and, of course, for the players.

I think the surface is really fast, so some of your faster players are going to like it. (Stefan Digs) has looked really good on the surface. I would imagine a guy like DeAndre Hopkins is really going to like this surface.

All in all, it's just a first class facility. It was a long time coming for the Vikings – 15 years battling for a new home. They got it and it's beautiful.

 
I can't wait to see what Will Fuller V looks like out there!
Wobschall: Oh man, I should have said him. Yeah, you're right. Nuk is fast but Will Fuller, he has that great speed. He'll love it. We like our Notre Dame players here, Harrison Smith, Kyle Rudolph.