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Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen carried the Vikings' offense all season. Sunday night, the reversals of these two men have sank the Vikings.
The New Orleans Saints escaped from US Bank Stadium with a win of 30 to 20, and the turnovers made the difference. Thielen lost a fumble at the end of the second quarter which brought him 54 yards. Cousins launched an interception that was returned for a Saints touchdown early in the third quarter.
It was a revenge of the Minnesota Miracle. The Vikings' fans had gone for revenge with one of the best teams in the NFC. Just before the kickoff, the jumbotron retransmitted Stefon Diggs' spectacular touchdown on a 61-yard touchdown in the final match that saw the Vikings win 29-24 over the Saints in January.
The fans were just as noisy late in the first half when the Vikings led 13-10 and were the first at 10-18 against New Orleans. However, they quickly became very quiet.
Thielen, head of the NFL in catching up and receiving the distance, caught a pass for four yards before fumbling. Saints cornerback Marcus Lattirmore picked up the ball and ran it 54 yards out of Minnesota 33.
Laquon Treadwell, passionate of the Vikings, passed the ball to 18 points. Two players later, the Saints scored on a 1-meter run by Alvin Kamara to take a 17-13 lead at halftime.
It was a track that the saints never lost. Fleeing 20-13, Cousins launched an interception in the hands of cornerback P.J. Williams, who had 45 yards for a touchdown and a 27-13 lead with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
Thielen's failure was only the fourth he lost in a five-year career. This play eclipsed another big night for the former Minnesota State Mankato receiver, scoring seven catches for 103 yards. That broke Charlie Hennigan's 1961 record in the NFL for most 100-yard games to start a season. Thielen now has eight, which matched Calvin Johnson's record of 2012 in Detroit for most games in the 100-meter season.
"Holding a record for 57 years in this league is not that bad," said Taylor Hennigan, whose father died last year. "Congratulations to Thielen where he is due."
Cousins launched his fourth interception of the season. The pass was aimed at Diggs, who seemed to suddenly stop his way, and the ball hit Williams against his chest.
Cousins' turnover came shortly after he was deemed to have lost a fumble against himself 17 on a sack in the middle of the third quarter. However, the call was reversed after it was determined that the Vikings' quarterback was out of touch.
The Vikings dropped to 4-3-1 and fell out of first place in the NFC North, just behind Chicago (4-3). Minnesota may win the division or playoff spot, but catch the Los Angeles Rams (8-0) and Saints (6-1) for one of the top two seeds and a pass to the first tower seem far away.
The cousins completed 31 of their 41 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns. Diggs caught 10 passes for 119 yards.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees did not need a lot of throwing, thanks to two big defensive games. He completed 18 of 23 passes for 120 yards with a touchdown and his first interception of the season by Harrison Smith.
The Vikings played without six injured starters. Four players were dropped on Friday: linebacker Anthony Barr (hamstring), running back Dalvin Cook (hamstring), goalkeeper Tom Compton (knee) and goalkeeper Andrew Sendejo (groin). Before the match, the cornerback Xavier Rhodes (ankle), deemed doubtful, and tackle Riley Reiff (foot), doubtful.
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