MINNEAPOLIS _ It will be simple, and tempting, to paint the Vikings' emphatic season-opening 28-12 victory over the Falcons as a manifesto for how they want to approach the entire 2019 season. Their commanding performance required just seven first-half pass attempts from Kirk Cousins, as their zone running scheme produced four of their six longest plays of the day, their withering pass rush set up three turnovers and they blocked a punt to stake their first score.
The reality of the 16-game season will likely demand nuance be added to the narrative; the Vikings faced a Falcons team that ranked 25th in the league against the run last season, and their decision to activate just four receivers on Sunday underscored their belief they could exert their will on Atlanta's defense at home. Upcoming tests, starting with the Packers next Sunday at Lambeau Field, will likely require more balance.
But even if the first performance for the Kevin Stefanski-Gary Kubiak combo was largely based on a single riff, it's one the Vikings didn't have under their fingers for most of last season. They surpassed 150 rushing yards just twice last season, and had only seven runs of 20 yards or more, as an overmatched offensive line and creative dissonance on the coaching staff bewitched their season.
On Sunday, at least, a team that has often struggled in recent years to come up with different ways to win showed itself capable of a new one.
Cousins threw only 10 passes _ the fewest of his career as a starter _ and the Vikings leaned on big gains from Dalvin Cook and rookie Alexander Mattison to pull away from the Falcons. Their defense flashed its commanding form from 2017, holding Atlanta scoreless for three quarters and sacking Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan four times.
Cook scored a pair of touchdowns, and Anthony Harris had two interceptions and a fumble recovery to lead the defense.
Cook ran for 111 yards on 21 carries. Ryan threw a pair of scoring passes for Atlanta in the fourth quarter after it fell behind 28-0.
The Vikings took a 21-0 halftime lead thanks to a pair of early Falcons mistakes.
Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson blocked Matt Bosher's punt on Atlanta's first possession, and the Vikings took over at the Falcons' 21. After a penalty and a run, Cousins hit Adam Thielen for a 23-yard score.
The Vikings quickly got the ball back when Ryan was intercepted by Harris at the Falcons' 41. Cook capped a four-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown run.
Cousins scored the final touchdown of the half on a 1-yard dive after 10-play, 59-yard second quarter drive.
Harris' second interception stopped a potential Atlanta scoring drive early in the third quarter. The Falcons got to the Vikings' 2 on a pass interference penalty on Trae Waynes. Two plays later, Ryan seemed as if he was trying to throw the ball away in the right corner of the end zone, but there was enough room for Harris to get there and make the pick.
The interference call on Waynes, who ran into Atlanta's Calvin Ridley, was challenged by Vikings coach Mike Zimmer under new NFL rules that allow such a challenge.
The Vikings rolled 80 yards to go ahead 28-0 on Cook's 7-yard scoring run. The drive was helped along by two personal foul penalties on the Falcons defense, one of which came after a 31-yard pass from Cousins to Stefon Diggs.
Ryan hit Ridley for a 20-yard score with 9:19 remaining, but the two-point conversion pass was incomplete. Ryan found Julio Jones for a 2-yard touchdown with 1:09 left.
