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 left 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 in the game, 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, whose PAT kick followed Darnold’s TD to Jones.
Justin Jefferson had seven receptions for 99 yards for the Vikings, who stayed one game behind Detroit in the NFC North by scoring on their final three full possessions.
The Cardinals led only 9-6 at halftime despite racking up 228 yards on offense.