Sam Darnold leads Vikings rally to beat Cardinals, maintain pace with Lions in NFC North

It took Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings a bit to get going on Sunday afternoon, but their quest to keep up with the Detroit Lions in the NFC North is alive and well.

Darnold led a Vikings’ rally in the second half to beat the Arizona Cardinals 23-22 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday. He mounted a late game-winning drive, converted on a fourth-and-long and found Aaron Jones for a 5-yard touchdown with about 70 seconds left on the clock. That put Minnesota up by a point, which marked their first lead of the entire game, and eventually pushed them to the win.

That brought the Vikings to 10-2 on the season, which has them just a game back from the Lions in the standings. While it would take a slip from Detroit — which has looked like one of, if not the best team in the league consistently all season — and a win over the Lions in January in their regular season finale, the Vikings still have a legitimate shot at claiming the top seed in the NFC and earning a bye in the first round of the postseason.

Even though the finish was great, the contest was incredibly slow early on. Both teams combined for six straight field goals to start the game, and Darnold managed just 79 yards on nine completions through most of the third quarter.

Finally, after jumping up 12-6 with a pair of field goals on either side of halftime, the Cardinals flew ahead late in the third. Kyler Murray hit Marvin Harrison Jr. for a perfect 15-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone, which put them up 19-6. That came after a deep pass interference call on Fabian Moreau moved the Cardinals into the red zone.

That drive, for whatever reason, sparked the first sign of life in Darnold up until that point. He responded by leading the Vikings on a quick six-play, 70-yard drive that ended when he hit Johnny Mundt for a 4-yard touchdown pass not even four minutes later. That kept them within a single score entering the final period.

Just four plays later, after the Vikings defense was just seconds from sacking Murray deep in the pocket, Byron Murphy came up with an easy interception to give them the ball right back. That set up a 31-yard field goal, which brought the Vikings back within three points.

While Murray marched the Cardinals down into the red zone almost immediately, their drive stalled out after he was called for intentional grounding. They instead had to settle for a short field goal, which led to the Vikings’ game-winning drive. The Vikings are now 7-1 this season in one-score games.

Murray went 31-of-45 for 260 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the loss for Arizona, which marked its second straight and dropped it to 6-6 on the season. James Conner had 68 yards on 17 carries on the ground, and Trey McBride had 96 yards on 12 catches.

Darnold went 21-of-31 for 235 yards and threw two touchdowns in the win. He also had 22 yards on the ground, which matched both Cam Akers and Jones to lead the team in rushing yards. Justin Jefferson had 99 yards on seven receptions. Jefferson officially surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season in the game, too. He’s now just the fourth player in NFL history to have at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first five seasons in the league.

The Vikings will host the Atlanta Falcons next weekend, where they can pick up their sixth-straight win before a divisional matchup against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 16. While it may have seemed like a ridiculous take just a few months ago, after both the Vikings lost their rookie quarterback to a knee injury and seeing how the Lions took off, Minnesota is right on track to make a play for what would be their second NFC North title in the past three seasons.