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The winning touch that so often escaped the Minnesota Vikings last season is back in their hands.
The Arizona Cardinals can vouch for it.
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Za’Darius Smith had three sacks to help a fired-up defense hang on against Kyler Murray, and the Vikings beat the Cardinals 34-26 on Sunday in Minneapolis for their fifth consecutive victory.
Dalvin Cook rushed for a season-high 111 yards and a touchdown, Kirk Cousins passed for two scores and ran for another and the Vikings (6-1) remained unbeaten at home in coach Kevin O’Connell’s rookie year.
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“I thought we were a really good football team last year,” Cousins said. “We just couldn’t find the inches in too many games. Why we found them now, I don’t know.”
Murray passed for 326 yards and a season-high three touchdowns, including a one-handed grab by DeAndre Hopkins with 47 seconds left in the second quarter, but he threw two second-half interceptions that proved costly for the Cardinals (3-5).
In an action-packed matchup last year in Arizona, Murray had three touchdowns and two interceptions in a 34-33 win. The Vikings lost eight games by eight points or fewer last season. All five of their wins in the streak have been within that margin.
“It feels good,” Smith said. “I just hate that people still are not talking about us, but it’s OK. We’ll continue to be the underdogs.”
Hopkins had 12 catches for 159 yards in his second game back from a suspension, Rondale Moore had seven receptions for 92 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown and Murray’s speed kept an active Vikings defense honest all game.
The Cardinals went ahead 17-14 on Murray’s touchdown pass to Zach Ertz early in the third quarter, but the lead lasted only 3:26.
The Vikings drove the other way for a touchdown run by Alexander Mattison. Then they went 31 yards in four plays for a touchdown after Murray’s dangerous heave under pressure from his own end zone was picked off by Harrison Smith.
Patrick Peterson, who jawed at his former team all game, was so excited he turned toward the Cardinals sideline and started dancing while Smith was still on his return.
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“It’s built in us,” said Peterson, who had three passes defensed. “We’re just waiting on that moment to where we can go take the ball away.”
Cousins connected with K.J. Osborn on third-and-2 from the 5 for a 34-26 lead that Greg Joseph failed to pad when his extra point hit the upright. That touchdown was set up by a fumbled punt return by Greg Dortch at his 25.
“We just crushed ourselves, just did too many things that we can’t do,” Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt said. “Against a good football team, they’re going to beat you.”
The Cardinals crossed midfield on each of their last three possessions in the last half of the fourth quarter while trailing by one score — and never got closer than the 37.
Murray’s throw for Ertz was way behind and picked off by Camryn Bynum. Then former Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks dragged down Eno Benjamin just short of the marker on fourth-and-4 to turn the ball over with 2:39 left.
Finally, with the Cardinals out of timeouts on their last drive, Murray was sacked by Za’Darius Smith at the 44 with 10 seconds remaining and Harrison Phillips brought him down for a big loss on the last play to end the game.
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“We’re right there. It’s not like we’re getting blown out,” Hopkins said. “This is one of the best teams in the NFL, and we had a chance to win today.”
Said Cousins: “You’ve just got to keep earning your way. The difference between 6-1 and 1-6 is pretty thin.”
Cardinals: Five starters were inactive with injuries: LG Max Garcia (shoulder), LT D.J. Humphries (back), OLB Dennis Gardeck (ankle), RB James Conner (ribs) and C Rodney Hudson (knee).
Vikings: DE Dalvin Tomlinson (calf) left in the third quarter. … Za’Darius Smith (knee) came out twice for treatment on an aggravated injury but returned both times.
Cardinals: Host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, their first of three straight games against NFC West foes.
Vikings: Visit the Washington Commanders on Sunday, the first trip there for Cousins to face his former team since coming to Minnesota in 2018.
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Tua Tagovailoa dropped back, set his feet and went through three options before finding a wide-open teammate.
Tagovailoa’s cool, calm progression led to his third touchdown pass — a go-ahead 11-yarder to Mike Gesicki late in the third quarter that capped the Miami Dolphins’ rally from a double-digit, second-half deficit for a 31-27 win over the Lions on Sunday in Detroit.
“That was the first time we’ve ever hit that route on that concept, and you rarely ever see it,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “It was No. 4 in the progression.”
Tagovailoa usually doesn’t need to get to his third or fourth read because he has a pair of options on pass plays that are tough to stop.
Tyreek Hill had 12 receptions for 188 yards and Jaylen Waddle had eight catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Hill and Waddle have a combined 1,688 receiving yards, setting a Super Bowl-era record for two teammates through the first eight games of a season.
Does the duo feel unstoppable?
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“Always,” Hill said.
Hill had more than 160 receiving yards for the fourth game, one short of the NFL record set by Roy Green with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984.
The Dolphins (5-3) have won two straight since Tagovailoa returned from a concussion. The third-year quarterback was 29 of 36 for 382 yards with three touchdowns,
The Lions (1-6) have lost five in a row, collapsing in a season that started with higher expectations at least in part because of their appearance on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in the preseason.
“We couldn’t stop their receivers,” said second-year coach Dan Campbell, a former Dolphins interim coach. “We didn’t hit them at the line, and that was part of the game plan. We didn’t want to turn it into a track meet, and it was a track meet.”
The Lions scored on all five of their possessions in the first half to lead 27-17 after scoring a total of six points in their previous two games.
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The Dolphins opened the second half with a touchdown drive, capped when fullback Alec Ingold took a snap that fooled the defense and scored on a 1-yard sneak.
The Dolphins took their first lead late in the third on Tagovailoa’s pass to Gesicki, who was wide open in the end zone, to score on a fifth straight possession.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was 27 of 37 for 321 yards with a touchdown. Goff would have had a second scoring pass at the end of the first half, but Josh Reynolds dropped a pass in the end zone and the Lions settled for a field goal. The four-point difference ended up critical.
“Turns out that that was significant,” said Campbell, adding a lot of penalties proved pivotal as well.
Goff had a chance to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 35 on his last drive, but he threw deep for Reynolds and missed an opportunity.
“I wish I would’ve thrown a better ball,” Goff said. “If I left it outside, maybe we had a chance.”
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D’Andre Swift was healthy enough to play after a three-game absence and had a 7-yard touchdown reception that gave the Lions a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Jamaal Williams had two touchdowns for the Lions, who had a 21-7 lead after he scored for a second time early in the second quarter.
“In the second half, we stalled out with penalties and drops,” Campbell said.
Dolphins: LG Liam Eichenberg had a game-ending knee injury in the second half.
Lions: TE Brock Wright left the game with a concussion and CB A.J. Parker (hip) was injured during the game.
Dolphins: Visit the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Lions: Host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Ford Field.
