The Minnesota Vikings knocked off the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 behind Sam Darnold's first five-touchdown game. The win was the sixth in a row for Kevin O'Connell's club, which improved to 11-2.
Darnold's career game overshadowed Kirk Cousins' first game back at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the 36-year-old was welcomed by a sea of boos on his first series. Cousins finished with 344 yards and a pair of interceptions as both quarterbacks continued to trend in opposite directions.
Over the last four games, Darnold has tossed 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions while Cousins has thrown eight picks with no touchdowns since Week 9. On Sunday, all five of Darnold's touchdowns went to either Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison.
After starting 6-3, Atlanta now finds itself at 6-7 and trailing in the NFC South. Meanwhile, Minnesota sits just one game behind the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (12-1) with four regular season games left.
This is what the Vikings envisioned when they selected Addison in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. They viewed him as a perfect pair to Jefferson and a player who could separate in one-on-one coverage and torch defenses that sold out against Jefferson. Injuries to both receivers over the last two seasons have limited performances like Sunday. It also did not help that the Vikings were quarterbacked late last season by Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall. But this, Sunday's showing, was always possible in the eyes of Vikings decision-makers.
Addison and Jefferson combined for 15 catches, 265 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers do not include a pass interference flagged on Addison for 47 yards down the field.
Addison caught multiple deep balls through contact. He also tracked a fluttered pass over the middle. Jefferson feasted on the Falcons' defense with in-breaking routes. The Falcons' secondary had no answer for either player when Darnold had enough pass protection to launch the ball down field. -- Alec Lewis, Vikings staff writer
Cousins' return to his last NFL home didn't end the way he had hoped. The Falcons' quarterback played better than he did in his last outing, but that was a very low bar. Cousins, whom the Vikings allowed to leave in free agency, finished 23-for-37 for 344 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns. For the season, he leads the league with 15 interceptions, eight of them coming during the Falcons' current month-long losing streak.
Atlanta gave Cousins a four-year contract that guaranteed him $100 million and could be worth up to $180 million, but head coach Raheem Morris now will either have to replace Cousins in the starting lineup with rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. or explain why he's sticking with Cousins.
The conversation "makes sense. I get it, but I don't think the Atlanta Falcons are going to abandon Kirk Cousins less than one year into a four-year contract," FOX color commentator Greg Olsen said during Sunday's broadcast. "All that being said, that conversation definitely is not going to quiet down." -- Josh Kendall, Falcons staff writer
The Falcons knew the Vikings knew were going to hunt big plays Sunday, and still Atlanta could do nothing about it. Darnold had completions of 52, 49, 47 and 42 yards on Sunday. Addison had three catches of more than 40 yards by himself. Addison (eight catches, 133 yards) and Jefferson (seven catches, 132 yards) both topped 100 yards receiving, and Darnold finished with five touchdown passes.
The problem wasn't the pass rush. The Falcons had four sacks, giving them nine in the last two weeks, but their secondary often looked completely lost. Twice, cornerbacks were left laying on the ground while a Minnesota receiver walked into the end zone.
The Falcons entered the game seventh in the league in explosive play rate surrendered at 10.3 percent, according to TruMedia, but gave up explosive plays on 21 percent of their plays Sunday. -- Kendall
Speaking of Darnold, he became the first Vikings quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in a game since Daunte Culpepper in 2004. Darnold finished with 347 yards and five touchdowns on 22-of-28 passing. He's also run for a touchdown. He led the Vikings a few weeks ago in Chicago in overtime. He charted last week's Cardinals comeback. And Sunday, he distributed the ball the way O'Connell always seeks from quarterbacks.
One of the questions entering the season was how explosive Darnold could be while also mitigating turnovers. After a brief rough patch against the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars in November, Darnold has arguably been as good as any quarterback in the NFL. It's a combination of toughness, arm talent and decision-making that makes this 11-2 team formidable. -- Lewis
The Falcons' loss combined with the Buccaneers' 28-13 win over the Raiders gives the Bucs a one-game lead in the NFC South. The Falcons (6-7) have lost four straight with their last win coming Nov. 3 against Dallas. After that win over the Cowboys, Atlanta had a 93 percent chance to win the division, according to The Athletic's playoff projections. -- Kendall