MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Darnold’s second touchdown pass of the second half went to Aaron Jones for Minnesota’s first lead with 1:13 left, and the Vikings rallied from 13 points down to beat the Arizona Cardinals 23-22 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.
Darnold went 21 for 31 for 235 yards while being sacked five times by the blitz-heavy Cardinals, who kept the Vikings (10-2) out of the end zone until Darnold hit Johnny Mundt with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter.
Kyler Murray threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter to spoil what had been a stellar performance by the Cardinals (6-6), who fell into second place in the NFC West behind Seattle.
Jonathan Greenard poked the ball out of Murray’s hand on second down for Minnesota’s first sack of the game with 48 seconds to go, and Greenard chased down Murray on the next play for a 3-yard gain in bounds to force Arizona to use its second timeout.
The Vikings then swarmed Murray in the pocket on fourth down, forcing a desperation heave that Shaquill Griffin picked off. Earlier, Murray’s risky fling on third down under pressure was intercepted by Byron Murphy at the Minnesota 32, setting up the Vikings for a third field goal by Parker Romo.
ATLANTA — Rookie Tarheeb Still returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown, his second pick of the game and one of four thrown by Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins as the Los Angeles Chargers handed the first-place Falcons their third straight loss, 17-13 on Sunday.
In a game that neither team seemed eager to win, the Chargers (8-4) overcame five sacks, a fumble deep in their own territory, a fake punt that didn’t work and a largely listless offence.
The 36-year-old Cousins looked like a rookie for the Falcons (6-6) on a fourth-and-5 pass at the Los Angeles 40 late in the third quarter.
Still read the play all the way, stepping in front of Darnell Mooney and sprinting untouched down the sideline in front of the Falcons bench for the touchdown that put the Chargers ahead to stay.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Anthony Richardson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce with 12 seconds left and ran for the go-ahead 2-point conversion, and the Indianapolis Colts beat New England 25-24 on Sunday when the Patriots’ Joey Slye missed a 68-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Richardson finished 12 of 24 for 109 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to help the Colts (6-7) keep their playoff hopes alive. Three of Indianapolis’ final four opponents have losing records.
The Patriots (3-10) have lost four of five. Drake Maye finished 24 of 30 for 238 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Indianapolis capitalized on a pass-interference penalty to get into the red zone with just over a minute left. Then, facing fourth-and-goal on the 3, Richardson rolled out and hit Pierce to get Indy within a point.
After the successful conversion, Maye connected with tight end Hunter Henry on two passes for 20 yards to advance the ball to midfield. The Patriots lined up from there for what would have been an NFL record-long field goal. Slye’s kick was on line but fell short of the crossbar.
