It’s early, but the Minnesota Vikings look like the best team in the NFL after their 33-13 demolition of the Texans on Sunday. The defending NFC North champs being good isn’t much of a surprise. But Minnesota’s offense looking so good without Adrian Peterson is downright shocking.

The offense has actually looked much better since the star back went down with a torn meniscus. Minnesota scored one offensive touchdown before his injury in Week 2. While the running game has continued to struggle — Peterson wasn’t having much success either — the passing game has broken out.

That’s not a coincidence. The Vikings offense will not only survive without Peterson, but it will also thrive now that it doesn’t have to cater the offense to him.

Peterson is a picky runner. He’s made it clear he’s not a fan of running out of shotgun formations and prefers to run behind a fullback. The Vikings have tailored the offense to suit Peterson, which makes some sense — he is the best running back in the game, after all. At the same time, those adjustments have limited the team’s passing game.

When Peterson missed most of the 2014 season suspended, the Vikings turned to more single-back sets with three wide receivers on the field to help out rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater. Check out the vast difference in snaps with a fullback on the field, via The MMQB.com:

• 2013 (with Peterson): 375 snaps, 23 per game (Felton, Ellison, Line). • 2014 (without Peterson): 140 snaps, 8.75 per game (Felton).

Minnesota went back to the two-back, two-receiver sets when Peterson returned in 2015. That included fewer snaps from the gun.

In 2015, Peterson carried the ball 32 times out shotgun formations. That was a career high. The Vikings attempted 387 runs out of the gun in 2014, per ESPN.com.

Bridgewater enjoyed a stellar rookie season before taking a step back the following year when Peterson returned to the lineup. With Peterson out again, the Vikings have gone back to a more quarterback-friendly approach with more shot gun formations and more receivers on the field.

The Vikings aren’t as committed to the run now that Peterson is out of the equation, which has also helped out the team’s passing numbers. Instead of forcing the issue even if the running game is struggling, offensive coordinator Norv Turner is more willing to turn to the passing game on early downs. The Vikings are passing on 54.3% of their first down snaps in the first half (when time and score isn’t as big a factor in play-calling). That number was 33% in 2015.

That paradigm shift has made the passing game more efficient. While most of Bridgewater’s 2015 attempts came in obvious passing situations — when defenses can bring in sub packages and employ their more complicated coverages and blitzes — Sam Bradford has thrown more passes on early downs against base defenses that don’t know whether to gear up against the pass or defend the run.

The Vikings could continue to pass more on early downs when (if?) Peterson returns, but it’s much harder to abandon the run when you have the league’s highest paid running back on the roster. There’s pressure to feed him the ball. After all, we’re talking about a guy who complained about not getting enough carries in 2015, when he led the league in carries.

Minnesota shouldn’t have to bend to Peterson’s will for much longer. This is likely to be his last season in a Vikings uniform, unless both sides are willing to re-structure his deal. Peterson will count $18 million against the cap in 2017, but none of that is guaranteed. It’s unlikely Peterson would be willing to take less money to stay, and the Vikings would be smart to avoid paying an aging running back top money and create some financial flexibility. Moving on from Peterson makes sense on and off the field.

The future is bright in Minnesota. It might be even brighter without its biggest star.