Kirk Cousins passed for two touchdowns and the Vikings forced four turnovers, fueling a 24-16 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday that stuck Jimmy Garoppolo with his first loss in eight games as an NFL starting quarterback.
Cousins connected with Stefon Diggs in the second quarter and Kyle Rudolph in the third quarter for scores, and the defense finished the job with three sacks and three second-half interceptions of Garoppolo. Mike Hughes turned one pick into a 28-yard touchdown return, the first by a rookie in a Vikings season opener.
Harrison Smith sealed the game with an interception with 1:35 left . He also recovered a fumble by Alfred Morris at the 2-yard line after Linval Joseph stripped the ball just in front of the goal line in the late in the first half and sacked Garoppolo on a third-down safety blitz late in the fourth quarter .
Cousins went 20 for 36 for 244 yards, targeting Adam Thielen 12 times. Thielen caught six passes for 102 yards.
