Vikings’ Cousins sharp, Broncos’ Keenum not

DENVER — Kirk Cousins was perfect in his first game for Minnesota on Saturday night, completing all four of his passes, including a 1-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs in the Vikings’ 42-28 exhibition victory over the Denver Broncos.

Case Keenum wasn’t nearly as sharp in his Denver debut.

He completed just 1 of 4 passes for 5 yards spanning two drives that went nowhere, lamenting after getting taken out that “I definitely did” want another possession. “I’ll be honest, I wanted one series with a few more plays and [to] score a touchdown.”

Cousins, the former Washington QB, was the crown jewel of this year’s free- agent class of quarterbacks, signing a fully-guaranteed, three-year $84 million deal in Minneapolis.

Two months after leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game, Keenum signed a two-year, $36 million deal in Denver, and the Broncos traded Trevor Siemian to the Vikings to serve as Cousins’ backup — so long as he beats out another former Denver QB Kyle Sloter. That left Paxton Lynch and Chad Kelly vying for No. 2 duty in Denver. After Cousins’ single series, Siemian led Minnesota on three scoring drives, most notably a screen pass to Roc Thomas that beat the blitz for a 78-yard score. Siemian was 11 of 17 for 165 yards, two TDs and an interception against his old team. Lynch, the former first-rounder twice beaten out by Siemian in Denver, was just 6 of 11 for 24 yards and an interception. Despite 17 yards passing overall in the first half, the Broncos only trailed 24-14 at halftime thanks to Isaiah McKenzie’s 78-yard punt return for a TD and rookie Royce Freeman’s 23yard TD scamper — Denver’s only first down before halftime.