Patriots Hand Texans 27-0 Loss in NFL

By ESPN

Jacoby Brissett had a 27-yard touchdown run in his first NFL start, LeGarrette Blount added scoring runs of 1 and 41 yards , and the Patriots beat the Houston Texans 27-0 on Thursday night.

It was the Patriots' first shutout win since 2012 and the first time the Texans have been shutout since 2003.

Brissett began the season as the third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady, the franchise cornerstone who is serving a four-game suspension for his role in "Deflategate," and Jimmy Garoppolo -- inactive after injuring his right shoulder last week against Miami. Brissett's start on Thursday was the first time that New England had started a rookie quarterback since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.

The Texans (2-1) entered the game with the NFL's third-ranked defense and nine sacks through two games, but they struggled to put pressure on the 23-year-old quarterback.

Brissett was steady throughout, moving the chains on offense with a diet of short passes and scrambles. The Patriots (3-0) also mixed in lots of pre-snap motion and shifts that helped create both throwing and running lanes for Brissett. He finished the night 11 of 19 for 103 yards, and ran eight times for 48 yards.

Houston didn't help itself on special teams either, turning the ball over twice on fumbled kickoff returns. Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler was 24 for 41 for 196 yards and was sacked twice. He also had a promising drive in the second quarter thwarted by Jamie Collins' interception . The Texans had a chance to get on the board just before halftime, but that drive stalled at midfield.

Lamar Miller rushed 22 times for 84 yards.

Vikings Peterson Out For Some Time

The Minnesota Vikings are preparing to be without running back Adrian Peterson for some time after he had surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee Thursday.

Asked Thursday if it was likely Peterson would miss months, not weeks, after his surgery in the Twin Cities, coach Mike Zimmer said, "I would assume so."

In a statement after Peterson's surgery Thursday, the team said there were "no additional injuries or issues noted in or surrounding the knee joint during the surgical procedure."

On Wednesday, a source told ESPN that Peterson also had a torn lateral collateral ligament. The Vikings had denied that, and Peterson texted ESPN's Josina Anderson, "no torn LCL."

Peterson, who tore his meniscus when Green Bay Packers linebacker Kyler Fackrell tackled him in the third quarter of the Vikings' win Sunday night, had surgery to repair his meniscus, rather than an operation to trim the torn cartilage, which might have brought him back in a matter of weeks. The rehab process for a repaired meniscus often takes three to four months, meaning Peterson could miss most, if not all, of the 14 games the Vikings have left in the regular season.