Sam Darnold leads the Vikings to a 23-22 victory over the Cardinals

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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold #14 celebrates a third quarter touchdown during the third quarter of a game against the Arizona Cardinals at US Bank Stadium on December 1, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images))

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Vikings were outplayed by the Arizona Cardinals for nearly three quarters on Sunday and escaped unpunished.

The Vikings trailed 19-6 late in the third quarter and outscored the Cardinals 17-3 over the final 18 minutes in a 23-22 win.

What it means

The Vikings improve to 10-2 this season and have won five straight. They remain one game behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North and one game ahead of the Green Bay Packers.

The big piece

Trailing 22-16 with 3:20 to play, Sam Darnold led the Vikings with a game-winning 70-yard touchdown drive. It ended with Darnold hitting Aaron Jones from five yards out with 1:13 to play. It was cathartic for Jones, who fumbled twice in the first quarter but responded and made the biggest play of the game.

Parker Romo’s extra point gave the Vikings a 23-22 lead. Shaq Griffin sealed the win with an interception on a deep ball from Kyler Murray with 40 seconds left. The defense made the final play, even though Arizona’s offense spent a total of 77 plays on the field.

You key sequence

The Vikings were down 19-6 and everything seemed to be going wrong. Then Darnold led a touchdown drive, hitting Johnny Mundt from six yards out to make it 19-13. Byron Murphy Jr. intercepted Kyler Murray and the Vikings scored a field goal to get within 19-16 with 11 minutes to play.

What’s next?

In one of the Vikings’ most highly anticipated regular season games in some time, Kirk Cousins ​​returns to Minneapolis next Sunday. Cousins ​​threw four interceptions on Sunday as the Falcons lost 17-13 to the LA Chargers and fell to 6-6.

Cousins ​​left the Vikings after six seasons for a $180 million contract with the Falcons.