Kirk Cousins' return shows Vikings made right quarterback call

Sam Darnold threw for a career-high five touchdown passes, while Cousins threw two picks in the loss.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins shake hands after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Dec. 8, 2024. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After a dominant 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons and his former quarterback, Kirk Cousins, Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell was asked whether the result of the game validated the team's decision to move on from Cousins in favor of Sam Darnold, who threw a career-high five touchdown passes in the victory.

"No," said a smirking O'Connell, who indicated as he walked away from the podium he was prepared for the question.

While O'Connell won't say it explicitly, the result from Cousins' return to Minnesota on Sunday was an exemplification the Vikings did indeed make the right decision to let Cousins walk and bring in Darnold. You can start by looking at Sunday's box score. On his way to the career-high five touchdown passes, Darnold completed 22 of 28 (79%) overall for 347 yards.

Cousins, meanwhile, completed 23-of-37 passes (62%) for 344 yards and a pair of interceptions.

Related: 5 things that stood out from Vikings' dominant win over Falcons

With the three-touchdown margin, one might assume at least one or two of Darnold's touchdown passes came in garbage time. But that simply wasn't the case. The Vikings needed every one of them, and Darnold always delivered.

Darnold's first touchdown pass — a 49-yard bomb to Jordan Addison — tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. His second — a 12-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson — put the Vikings up 14-7 just before halftime. His third — this one a 52-yard bomb to Jefferson — made it a 21-13 advantage. The fourth — an 11-yarder to Addison — broke a 21-21 tie.

You probably get the picture, but to round it out, his fifth touchdown pass of the day was a 6-yarder to Addison, and it essentially served as the dagger, giving the Vikings a 35-21 lead with 8 minutes, 23 seconds to play in the game.

"I'm just proud of him," O'Connell said of Darnold. "... There's not many guys in our locker room who are surprised about the type of performance he had (Sunday)."

That's because Darnold has been more or less doing it all season. After Sunday's game, Darnold is up to 3,299 passing yards, 28 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions while completing 69% of his passes. In recent weeks, he's continually delivered in big moments like he did on Sunday, leading crucial touchdown drives, including game-winners. His play has helped the Vikings win six straight games and improve to 11-2 to keep pace with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

"(Darnold has) played great. Had a great year," Cousins said. "Did a great job (Sunday), and I'm happy for him and the way he's playing and the way those guys are rolling."

As turnover-prone as Cousins has been the past four weeks — eight interceptions, no touchdowns and four straight losses — he's really not having a bad season. He's thrown for more yards than Darnold (3,396), though that's the only category where Cousins has him beat. He's thrown for fewer touchdowns (17), a league-leading 15 interceptions and is completing a lower percentage of his passes (67%). And that doesn't even account for the fact Darnold is far more mobile.

The advanced metrics also favor Darnold over Cousins. Entering Sunday's slate of games, Pro Football Focus graded Darnold as the eight-best quarterback in football with an 83.2 offensive grade. Cousins ranked 25th in the NFL at 72.8.

Sunday's loss certainly wasn't all on Cousins. Falcons coach Raheem Morris acknowledged postgame the team didn't play well enough around him for Atlanta to win. But at the same time, he also praised Darnold for evading the Falcons' pass rush and making plays when they looked dead in the water. That's never been Cousins' greatest strength, and he did throw two critical interceptions, including one to Byron Murphy on a drive that was a last-ditch effort for a comeback.

Whether O'Connell wants to admit it or not, and as appreciative as he is for Cousins — both O'Connell and Cousins said postgame they exchanged pleasantries and noted how grateful they are for each other — it's become abundantly clear the Vikings made the right call in moving on from Cousins. Darnold is the evidence, and he provided more proof Sunday.

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