On Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings visited New Jersey to play the 3-3 Jets and rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. I don’t think Darnold enjoyed his afternoon, racking up stats of 16 of 41 fpr 195 yards and three interceptions. Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen tied a long-standing NFL record with his seventh 100-yard game to start the season.
The New York Jets lost out on Kirk Cousins in March. On Sunday, they lost to him.
Cousins, who considered the Jets in free agency before signing with the Vikings, led to Minnesota to a 37-17 victory at MetLife Stadium.
On a chilly day, with the wind blowing 16 mph at kickoff, Cousins completed 25 of 41 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. He threw touchdowns of 34 yards to Adam Thielen in the first quarter and 34 yards to Aldrick Robinson in the fourth.
Thielen caught nine passes for 110 yards, his seventh straight game of 100 yards receiving or more to start the season. That tied the NFL record set by Charlie Hennigan of the Houston Oilers in 1961.
Vikings running back Latavius Murray had 15 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns. He scored on runs of 11 yards in the third quarter and 38 yards in the fourth. Murray’s second score gave the Vikings a safe 27-10 lead.
With the win, the Vikings (4-2-1) moved into first place in the NFC North.
The good thing is that Darnold will certainly bounce back from this game … just don’t get him monologuing:
This is the face the league will learn to fear #JETS pic.twitter.com/THxyMU3UGe
— Sam Darnold (@TheRealSlim40) 14 October 2018
Christopher Gates wraps up the game report for the Daily Norseman:
Kirk Cousins had some fairly ugly moments during this one, but wound up with a respectable enough stat line. He completed 25-of-40 passes for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Adam Thielen did what Adam Thielen does, as he had nine catches for 110 yards and a score. That yardage figure gave him a tie for the most 100-yard receiving performances to start a season, tying him with Charlie Hennigan of the 1961 Houston Oilers. Robinson’s 34-yard touchdown actually made him the Vikings’ second-leading receiver in terms of yardage, and Stefon Diggs finished the afternoon with eight catches, but those catches only netted 33 yards.
On the ground, Latavius Murray had just 17 yards at halftime, but finished the game with 69 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Roc Thomas had 23 yards on his lone carry.
The defense was the big story in this one. They harassed Darnold all afternoon, forcing him into numerous interceptions and not allowing him to get comfortable. The box score shows just three sacks, but Darnold was under duress throughout the contest.
As we mentioned earlier, this was the first victory in franchise history for the Vikings at the Jets. The team’s all-time record is now just 3-8 against the Jets all-time, but coming into today they were 0-5 against the Jets in East Rutherford.
The Vikings move their record to 4-2-1 on the season with their third straight victory, and they’ve got a huge one next Sunday as they host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday Night Football. The Jets fall to 3-4 on the season, and next week will take on their second straight NFC North opponent as they travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears.
The Minnesota Vikings take down the New York J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets in Week 7 action at MetLife Stadium by a final score of 37-17. Thank you to everybody that got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
