Kirk Cousins passed for 337 yards and four touchdowns and Dalvin Cook rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns to offset four touchdown catches by Marvin Jones Jr. as the Minnesota Vikings edged the host Detroit Lions 42-30 on Sunday.
Stefon Diggs caught seven passes for 142 yards for the Vikings (5-2).
Matthew Stafford passed for 364 yards, and Jones caught 10 passes for 93 yards for Detroit (2-3-1).
Minnesota star receiver Adam Thielen left the game in the first quarter due to a hamstring injury after catching a touchdown pass. Detroit’s top running back, Kerryon Johnson, exited in the first half with a knee injury.
The Vikings took a 28-21 lead on the first possession of the second half. Cousins hit fullback C.J. Ham with a 5-yard pass to complete that drive.
Matt Prater’s 46-yard field goal cut Minnesota’s advantage to 28-24.
Cousins’ 15-yard scoring pass to Kyle Rudolph with 5:40 remaining gave the Vikings a 35-24 lead.
Jones’ fourth touchdown reception, from 2 yards out, cut the Vikings’ lead to five points, but Detroit’s two-point try failed.
Cook’s 4-yard scoring run with 1:55 left clinched Minnesota’s win.
The score was tied 21-all at halftime.
The Lions struck first midway through the opening quarter on a 16-yard pass from Stafford to Jones.
Minnesota tied it with 5:14 left in the quarter. A 28-yard pass to Irv Smith set up a 25-yard hookup from Cousins to Thielen.
The Stafford-Jones connection delivered another touchdown in the final minute of the quarter. Jones beat the one-on-one coverage of Xavier Rhodes for a 3-yard score.
The Vikings tied it early in the second quarter on Cousins’ 1-yard pass to rookie receiver Bisi Johnson, his first career touchdown reception.
Cook capped off a 15-play, 97-yard drive with 3:26 remaining in the half on an 8-yard run.
Jones hauled in his third touchdown from 10 yards out on third-and-goal with two seconds left in the half.
–Field Level Media
