Cousins, Vikings rebound for win

MINNESOTA 33 NEW ENGLAND 26

MINNEAPOLIS — Kirk Cousins threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 15-yard go-ahead score to Adam Thielen in the fourth quarter to push the Minnesota Vikings past the New England Patriots 33-26 on Thursday night.

Justin Jefferson had 139 yards receiving and caught one of the touchdown passes from Cousins, who delivered precisely the clutch performance against a formidable defense that the Vikings (9-2) needed to bounce back from a blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The result gave Vikings rookie coach Kevin O’Connell a victory over Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who drafted him with New England in 2008.

Mac Jones passed for a career-best 382 yards and two touchdowns to snap a lagging offense to life for the Patriots (6-5), but they ran out of steam down the stretch. Their fourth quarter included two three-andout punts, a turnover on downs at the Minnesota 39yard line and a desperation last drive that went nowhere.

Jones found Hunter Henry for a wide-open 37yard touchdown pass to start the second half for a 2316 lead. Kene Nwangwu scored on a 97-yard kickoff return to strike right back for the Vikings.

Jones — who went 23 for 27 on Sunday in a win over the New York Jets for a career-high completion rate — appeared to hit his tight end for a second score, a twisting catch at the goal line that was ruled a touchdown on the field.

The replay reversal — Henry’s bottom hand appeared to be under the ball as it bobbled brief ly — forced the Patriots to settle for Nick Folk’s fourth field goal of the game late in the third quarter.

Another vital call went the Vikings’ way a few minutes later when Pierre Strong Jr. was called for running into punter Ryan Wright.

With a fresh set of downs, Cousins and Minnesota cruised up the field for the go-ahead touchdown.