MINNEAPOLIS — For a defense that prides itself on limiting explosive plays, the Atlanta Falcons let the Minnesota Vikings air the ball out Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 347 yards with five touchdowns. Both were career-high marks for the seventh-year player. And both were a big reason the Falcons lost in Week 14.
The Vikings scored more points against the Falcons than any other team thus far this season in their 42-21 victory.
“That’s a good offensive outfit,” Falcons safety Justin Simmons said. “They do a really good job running the ball, and that creates their explosive passes. … We did a really good job stopping the run when we committed earlier on. We got those sacks. And then, later on in the game, they just dinked and dunked and then hit a big one.”
The Vikings were held to 115 yards rushing and netted out to 318 yards passing. Darnold was sacked four times for a loss of 29 yards.
Issue was, Darnold still averaged 15.8 yards per completion. He had six passes go for at least 20 yards and 13 go for at least 10 yards. According to Next Gen Stats, Darnold was 4 of 6 for a career-high 163 passing yards with two touchdowns on deep attempts, which are passes of 20 yards or more in the air.
“We gave up big play after big play today, whether it was broken plays or plays that were designed,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. “These guys came out ready to play, and we have to get better.”