MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings took a double-digit lead at home on Sunday and again watched an opponent come back to slip ahead of them in the third quarter.
But a pair of third-quarter touchdowns within 1:47 put them ahead for good, and their defense held a dangerous Cardinals offense to three points on Arizona's final four drives. At the end of a back-and-forth game that stretched nearly three and a half hours, the Vikings improved to 6-1 with a 34-26 win.
A wild second half featured 40 points, four turnovers — a strip sack for the Cardinals, two interceptions and a recovery of a fumbled punt for the Vikings — and two stops from the Vikings to close the game out.
Jordan Hicks stopped Eno Benjamin a yard short on fourth down on the first one, and the second stop came as Za'Darius Smith and Harrison Phillips sacked Kyler Murray on back-to-back plays to run out the clock.
At 6-1, the Vikings can increase their NFC North lead to three and a half games if the Packers lose to Buffalo on Sunday night.
Dalvin Cook finished with 111 yards on 20 carries, and caught five passes for 30 more yards. Smith, who mimicked Vikings Ring of Honor inductee Jared Allen's calf-roping celebration with his first sack, finished with three, despite the fact he was in and out of the game with an injury in the second half.
Kirk Cousins completed 24 of his 36 passes for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Vikings got the ball first, and for the third time in four games, they turned their opening drive into a touchdown. Their 10-play, 75-yard march started with five straight runs, and ended with seven points because of two things: Cousins' arm and Cousins' legs.
He hit Justin Jefferson for 29 yards on a deep shot off play action, as K.J. Osborn's shallow crossing route occupied Byron Murphy and left Jefferson one-on-one with linebacker Isaiah Simmons. Then, a play after Cousins was hit off a Cardinals blitz, he scrambled away from pressure again, beating Zach Allen and Markus Golden to the right sideline and diving for the pylon ahead of Budda Baker. The 17-yard touchdown run was the second-longest of Cousins' career, and it staked the Vikings to an early lead.
Patrick Peterson's leaping pass breakup against A.J. Green in the end zone held the Cardinals to a field goal on their first drive, and the Vikings built a 14-3 lead at the end of a nine-play, 83-yard drive where Cousins found a wide-open Johnny Mundt for his first career touchdown. Coach Kevin O'Connell called a play that had wide receiver Jalen Reagor motioning through the backfield, occupying the Cardinals defense's attention and creating an easy release for Mundt.
Murray came back before halftime, though, with a pair of completions to DeAndre Hopkins against Cameron Dantzler and a third-down throw to the back of the end zone that Hopkins hauled in with a dazzling one-handed catch behind solid coverage from Harrison Smith. The Cardinals blocked Greg Joseph's 56-yard field goal before halftime, making it 14-10 Vikings through two quarters.
After Arizona took the lead with a Murray touchdown to Zach Ertz in the third quarter, Cousins directed a TD drive that featured an improbable 30-yard one-handed grab from Justin Jefferson in tight coverage against Antonio Hamilton.
Then, after a Cardinals penalty meant Murray would start his next drive from Arizona's own 9, he threw deep while trying to avoid getting sacked in the end zone for a safety. Harrison Smith picked off the pass, and O'Connell dialed up another motion from Reagor in the red zone a few plays later.
The wide receiver looked like he was going to catch a push pass from Cousins, similar to his TD against the Bears, and the Cardinals focused their attention on Reagor as he motioned through the backfield. It created an easy lane for Cook to score, putting the Vikings up 28-17 in the third quarter.
The Cardinals got to within 2 on a Rondale Moore's 38-yard catch and run and Matt Prater field goal after Cousins' fumble on a strip sack at the Minnesota 30.
Cousins would hit K.J. Osborn on an out route for a five-yard TD pass after Troy Dye recovered a muffed punt at the Arizona 25 to finish the Vikings' scoring for the day midway through the fourth quarter.
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