Though the game was actually pretty competitive for prolonged stretches on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings imposed their will in the final quarter to run away with a 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

It was a masterful performance from Sam Darnold in a game against the man he replaced. It wasn’t as good of a game from Kirk Cousins as he struggled to make much of an impact against his former team.

Here are five takeaways from the Vikings’ 42-21 win over the Falcons:

The ascension of Darnold continues

There were audible “MVP! MVP! MVP!” chants as the game between the Vikings and Falcons wound to a close. They were for Darnold, who completed 22 of 28 passes for 347 yards and five touchdowns, proving that the Vikings are legitimate Super Bowl contenders with him at the helm.

There aren’t many quarterbacks in the NFL that have played better than Darnold over the past month. In that span, Darnold has completed 85 of 125 passes for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns, while leading the Vikings to a 4-0 record.

Will he actually win MVP? Not likely. Does he deserve to be in the conversation? Absolutely.

More empty stats for Cousins

Never mind that Cousins put up some prolific numbers, completing 23 of 37 passes for 344 yards. He also threw a pair of interceptions and failed to keep the game competitive.

There were countless games while he was playing for the Vikings that featured a similar script. It was commonplace for Cousins to pad his stats in garbage time of a game that he had no chance of winning.

Now, that’s a problem the Falcons are navigating in realm time. After some strong play from Cousins earlier this season, he has regressed over the past month, and as a result, the Falcons have an 0-4 record in that span.

No answer for Jefferson and Addison

The dynamic duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison rewrote the records books for the Vikings in the win over the Falcons. They became the only players in franchise history to each record more than 100 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns in the same game.

That’s an insane stat considering Randy Moss and Cris Carter played together as did Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen.

In total, Jefferson finished with seven catches for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Addison finished with eight catches for 133 yards and a trio of touchdowns.

An effective game for Jones

After being held in check last time out, Aaron Jones bounced back with a solid effort for the Vikings against the Falcons. He was extremely effective carrying the ball and finished with 13 rushes for 73 yards and a touchdown.

The fact that Jones was able to find pay dirt late in the game was a nice reward for him, considering he was an unsung hero on offense. As explosive as the Vikings proved to be throughout the air, Jones provided a nice changeup on the ground, which helped in chewing up clock down the stretch.

As somebody who had a lot of success in the final month of last season, Jones is well on his way to replicating that this season.

Some opportunistic takeaways

Though the defense for the Vikings struggled at times, allowing nearly 500 yards of total offense, it also stepped up a couple of times to force key turnovers.

Whether it was Josh Metellus recording an interception early, or Byron Murphy with an interception late, the defense needed both of them to help turn the tide in the game. There was also an important forced fumble from Brian Asamoah on special teams that ended up being recovered by C.J. Ham.

On the flip side, the Vikings did not turn the ball over on offense, which helped them pull away in the final frame.

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