MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Darnold threw for 347 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs, and the Minnesota Vikings pulled away from Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 on Sunday for their sixth straight victory.
Darnold added another highlight to his brilliant first season in Minnesota following the departure of Cousins in free agency to Atlanta with a 22-for-28 performance and no turnover-worthy plays despite heavy first-half pressure.
Darnold passed for 250 yards after halftime to help the Vikings (11-2) break a 21-all tie early in the fourth quarter and stay one game behind NFC North-leading Detroit with a final-week matchup looming with the Lions. Jordan Addison had eight catches for 133 yards and three scores and Justin Jefferson racked up seven receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns after going the past six games without scoring.
Cousins threw two more interceptions without a touchdown in his return to Minnesota, where he was greeted by loud boos and left with Atlanta's fourth consecutive loss to tumble out of first place in the NFC South and fall one game behind Tampa Bay.
Cousins has eight interceptions and no passing scores for the Falcons (6-7) over their four-game losing streak, which was extended by a wide array of errors that stretched beyond their 35-year-old quarterback who's coming back this season from surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon that ended his six-year tenure with the Vikings midway last season.
Cousins went 23 for 37 for 344 yards for the Falcons, who crossed midfield on all nine of their possessions. He overthrew Ray-Ray McCloud III on fourth down in the first quarter, and the Falcons settled for short field goals just before and right after halftime to negate their 496 yards of total offense.
Their fate was sealed when McCloud fumbled the kickoff after the Vikings went 70 yards in six plays for the go-ahead touchdown pass to Addison, giving Darnold the ball at the 32 to go get another score to Addison. The Falcons also handed the Vikings another touchdown when Kentavious Street was called for defensive holding during a field goal attempt late in the second quarter, and Darnold hit Jefferson in the end zone three plays later.
Bijan Robinson had 22 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown and Tyler Allgeier rushed nine times for 63 yards and a score for the Falcons against the NFL's leading run defense, but the turnovers were again too much to overcome.
Cousins, who was picked off four times last week, hesitated as he wound up to throw on first down from the Minnesota 47 in a tie game early in the second quarter and then inexplicably fired a pass straight to Josh Metellus as he sat in a zone in front of Drake London. Cousins has a league-most 15 interceptions.
Falcons: Mike Hughes (knee) was back in the lineup after missing two games. Minnesota's 2018 first-round draft pick returned an interception for a touchdown against Atlanta in his NFL debut here.
Vikings: CB Stephon Gilmore (hamstring) and backup OLB Patrick Jones (knee) were out. TE Josh Oliver (wrist/ankle) returned from a two-game absence, and LS Andrew DePaola (hand) and PK Will Reichard (quadriceps) were back from four-game injured reserve stints.
Both teams play next Monday night, Dec. 16: Atlanta visits Las Vegas, and Minnesota hosts the Bears.
