Kirk Cousins’ spurning of the New York Jets for the Minnesota Vikings in free agency during the offseason allowed Gang Green to draft Sam Darnold.
On Sunday afternoon in Week 7 action, it was Cousins who came out on top as the Vikings defeated the Jets 37-17 at MetLife Stadium.
Neither quarterback necessarily impressed as they had to deal with blustery conditions in New Jersey. Cousins completed 25-of-40 passes for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns, which was good enough to get past Darnold, who struggled mightily.
The rookie, plagued by drops and mistakes, connected on just 17-of-42 passes for 206 yards, two total touchdowns and three interceptions.
New York clearly had the more difficult time getting any sort of offensive momentum, especially in the third quarter as the Jets didn’t complete a single pass while picking up just 21 total yards.
Minnesota’s run game proved to be the difference maker as Latavius Murray’s two second-half rushing touchdowns paved an easy path to victory for the Vikings.
Murray rushed for 69 yards on 15 carries for the day, good for a 4.6-yard average per rush. New York, a strong run team, could only muster 65 yards on the ground.
It looked as though Jets fans had to start preparing for a shootout at first. Darnold managed to answer a Cousins 34-yard touchdown to Adam Theilen on the Vikings’ opening drive with a 12-yard score to Chris Herndon.
Thielen went on to tie an NFL record with his seventh-straight 100-yard receiving game as he was the only receiver to put up a big game with 110 yards.
However, the offenses would dry up for most of the day as the wind that swirled near 40 miles per hour played a huge factor on the afternoon.
While Darnold and the Jets offense struggled in the first half, as he completed just 8-of-17 passes for 86 yards, a Dan Bailey field goal saw New York trail by three at the half.
Murray’s first touchdown rush of the afternoon with 8:25 left in the third quarter from 11 yards out would put Minnesota up 10 and poised for more after Darnold was picked off on the ensuing drive. But it would only lead to Bailey knocking home his second field goal of the day.
A week after knocking home a franchise record seven field goals, Jets kicker Jason Myers would grab his first of Week 7, a 55-yarder whose degree of difficulty multiplied astronomically due to the wind to make it a 10-point game.
The Vikings would answer by making it a 17-point game early in the fourth quarter after Murray’s second score of the game, a 38-yard rumble, only for the Jets to answer with a nine-play, 59-yard drive that saw Darnold complete his first passes of the second half. He would cap things off with a one-yard keeper with 10 minutes to go.
It would be as close as the Jets would get as Darnold’s second pick of the day led to Cousins hitting Aldrick Robinson from 34 yards out on a 4th-and-8 with five minutes left.
