The Minnesota Vikings are the Best Team in Football

It would have been perfectly understandable if the red-hot Minnesota Vikings had cooled down for a game. After an impressive 4-0 start following what looked like a debilitating preseason injury to their quarterback, facing a talented-but-struggling Houston Texans squad for their third home game in four weeks, and immediately before a bye? These are the circumstances that trap games are made of, and it would have been understandable had the Vikings come out flat. They didn't.

Instead, the Vikings delivered their most impressive performance yet. What they did to Houston on Sunday was more than a blowout win. It was a complete confounding of everything Houston tried to do. Sam Bradford, even without breakout receiver Stefon Diggs in the mix for the day, sliced through the Texans defense with ease. It was like the whole offense was hitting one of those "easy button" things before every snap.

#SKOL Sam Bradford to Adam Thielen for a 36-yard @Vikings TD! #HOUvsMIN https://t.co/4yQtTVyglX
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2016

The game ceased being competitive when Vikings returner Marcus Sherels took a Texans punt back 79 yards to the house, widening the lead to 24-0.

That was with ten minutes left in the second quarter.

Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler continued his, uh, troubling trend of getting worse every game, and never really gave his team a chance. His (awful) stat line against the Vikings' fantastic defense tells the tale: 19-of-42 passing for 184 yards, one (garbage time) touchdown, an interception, one fumble, and four sacks. That's a brutal 45.2 percent completion rate, and a meager average of 4.38 yards per attempt.

On the other side of the ball, Bradford completed 73.3 percent of his 30 throws for 9.03 average yards per attempt, for two scores and no turnovers. The jubilant U.S. Bank crowd was treated to an effortless, suspenseless day at the game, and some amazing individual efforts:

FLASSSSHHHH! Sam Bradford.@CeeFlashPee84.
6 @Vikings Points! #SKOL #HOUvsMIN https://t.co/0UcEA4oMyB
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2016

At the end of the day, the Vikings are the NFL's only undefeated team—and, with all apologies to the Atlanta Falcons, the best team in the NFL.

After their Week 6 bye, the Vikings have a six-week stretch during which they will only play two teams with a winning record (Philadelphia, Washington). They will only face two more (Dallas, Green Bay) in their remaining five after that.

How many games can this Vikings team win? It's hard enough to string five Ws together in the NFL, let alone six, seven, eight, or more. But Bradford and company have more than proved they can put up sufficient points to let their league-best defense do its thing. That defense has proved they can dismantle any offense that dares challenge them. It's early, sure, but it's hard to improve upon that.