The highly anticipated matchup on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium was supposed to be about the man who used to play quarterback for the Vikings.

Nobody told that to the man who currently plays quarterback for the Vikings.

With so much hype surrounding Kirk Cousins in his return to Minnesota, Sam Darnold completely stole the show while leading the Vikings to a 42-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Darnold completed 22 of 28 passes for 347 yards and five touchdowns, continuing to rewrite the narrative that once defined his career as a disappointment. On the flip side, Cousins completed 21 of 33 for  passes for 326 yards and 2 interceptions, continuing to prove that he’s well past his prime.

Justin Jefferson finished with seven catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns, while Addison finished with eight catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

After sticking to his side of the field during warmups, deciding not to exchange pleasantries with his former teammates, Cousins led the Falcons right down the field on the opening drive. He capped it by handing the ball off to running back Tyler Allgeier for a touchdown that made it 7-0.

Though it looked as if the Falcons had a chance to take control early, the Vikings forced a turnover on downs, and Darnold immediately took advantage by ripping the ball downfield to Jordan Addison for a 49-yard touchdown pass. That helped the Vikings tie the score at 7-7, and they never trailed again.

The tide turned from there as Cousins became rattled after throwing an interception while Darnold started to settle in.

After being gifted an automatic first down on a made field goal, the Vikings decided to take the points off the boards, and a few plays later Darnold threw a laser to Jefferson for a touchdown to make it 14-7.

After the Falcons got a pair of field goals from kicker Younghoe Koo to make it 14-13, the Vikings took over from there, with Darnold showcasing his arm talent time and time again.

A perfect example came when Darnold escaped pressure up the middle, thought about taking off for what would’ve been a first down, but instead chucked it downfield to Jefferson for a 52-yard touchdown that helped the Vikings stretch their lead to 21-13.

Though it looked like that might be enough to make the Falcons go away, they responded by gashing the Vikings on the ground, with Bijan Robinson plunging into the end zone to tie the score at 21-21.

That set the stage for Darnold to put the game away for good.

After the Vikings went up 28-21 on a nice throw from Darnold to Addison, Minnesota special teams forced a fumble on the kickoff. That gave Darnold the ball back, and he immediately found Addison against to make it 35-21.

In the final minutes of the game, Aaron Jones plunged into the end zone to finalize the score at 42-21.

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